Morea Baru in the race for another award

After delivering his best performance by far in the Olympics last year in Paris, male weightlifter Morea Baru's name was listed again among the 36 finalists of the 2025 SP Sports Awards.

Finishing fifth in the men's 61kg weight category, just two places shy of winning an Olympic medal, the 35-year old is once again in the race for the Male Athlete of the Year Award, along with fellow athletes: PNG Kapuls skipper Alwin Komolong and swimmer Josh Tarere.

The winners will be announced on June 16th at the Awards Night. 

Having won the award for Male Athlete of the Year trice, in 2017, 2022 and 2023, the three-time Olympian continues to represent the country with pride at all major international events on the weightlifting calendar.

PNG Weightlifting Federation President Dika Toua confirmed that the Hanuabada native will also be competing at the upcoming Pacific Mini Games in Palau next month [June 29th -July 9th] and is one of those athletes expected to win gold for Team PNG in their quest to defend the title.

Toua described this as another achievement for the weightlifting fraternity.

The other two weightlifters also commended for being announced as finalists are: Thelma Toua [Female Athlete of the Year] and Ani Geau Gavera [Junior Female Athlete of the Year].

"Our families and the community as a whole we are grateful for all the support we received from all stakeholders, special mention PNG Olympic Committee, Trukai Industries who have supported us for the last 20 years and all the other corporate companies, individuals and families who play a huge role in our success," Toua said.

The PNG Weightlifting Federation is yet to announce its final squad for the Pacific Mini Games pending official justification procedures with the PNG Olympic Committee.