Darren Liddel (born 6 May 1971) was an Olympic weightlifter for New Zealand. At the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

he won three gold medals, one in each of the men's 105+ kg

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without rest ...

, snatch and combined total. He also competed at the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

in Victoria where he placed 5th in the men's 108+ kg. Of his return to Te Atatū from Kuala Lumpur Liddel said: "Little did I know three weeks ago that I would be returning home to this kind of welcome. I’m speechless". The contest worsened a wrist injury, and within two years he had stopped weightlifting.

References

Living people 1971 births New Zealand male weightlifters Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games weightlifters for New Zealand Weightlifters at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1998 Commonwealth Games People educated at Rutherford College, Auckland 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen 21st-century New Zealand people Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in weightlifting {{NewZealand-weightlifting-bio-stub