\u201cSo I tried CrossFit. I thought I liked it, but I realised it was more the people I was seeing, and I hated doing burpees and running \u2013 it was the lifting I enjoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patolo-Tipene then switched to Olympic weightlifting and now works out in the homemade gym in her backyard in the small Northland settlement of Pipiwai. Her husband, Zion, built the gym from an old shipping container, and the pair train there together every morning at 4.30am.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could have lived my whole life never coming across weightlifting,\u201d the 36-year-old says. \u201cBut it\u2019s little things like my wedding dress that have led me to finding out I\u2019m actually quite good at this niche thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
She could have continued following her mother in netball instead. Her mum, Silver Ferns legend Rita Fatialofa-Patolo, was a world champion and one of New Zealand\u2019s finest ever attacking players.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut netball never felt like home the way weightlifting does now,\u201d Patolo-Tipene says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s so cool that in New Zealand, women outnumber men at competitions. And I love seeing the young girls competing, because I wish I\u2019d have come across this in high school. I would have really benefited from the lessons I\u2019ve learned in weightlifting at a younger age.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have appreciated what my body can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Growing up in Auckland, Patolo-Tipene was at Lynfield College before taking up a netball scholarship at Saint Kentigern College \u2013 captaining the premier team in her final year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to be like my mum,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Silver Ferns wing attack Rita Fatialofa won the 1987 World Cup then coached Samoa. She also starred in softball, winning the 1982 world champs with the White Sox, and was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.<\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly, she\u2019s been a major inspiration to her daughter.<\/p>\n
Patolo-Tipene played netball for Auckland age-grade sides, but when she reached university, she pared it back to club level. She loved training, though: \u201cSo in my twenties, I practically lived at the gym. It\u2019s amazing I\u2019ve found I\u2019m good at weightlifting, because it\u2019s so far from netball,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n
With a Bachelor of Health Studies from the University of Auckland, Patolo-Tipene now works as a court reporter for the Ministry of Justice. The role allows her to work remotely, transcribing digital recordings of court hearings from around the country.<\/p>\n
Working eight-to-five, Monday-to-Friday also allows her to do her lifting training at home, usually before dawn.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we moved to Pipiwai, I knew I had to stay consistent with my training, and we needed somewhere quick for me to work out from. So my husband bought a shipping container off TradeMe and built a lifting platform inside,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that flash \u2013 it has holes everywhere that he\u2019s patched up \u2013 but it does the job. My coach has lent me equipment like blocks and the barbell. So I\u2019m really grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tu\u2019i-Alofa Patolo-Tipene and David Liti with their coach Tina Ball at the NZ team naming for Glasgow. Photo \/ The NZ Team<\/p>\n
Once a month she travels to Auckland to train with renowned Olympic weightlifting coach Tina Ball, but before the Games, she\u2019s been living with her parents, who will be in Glasgow to watch her compete.<\/p>\n
Zion, a freelance graphic designer and M\u0101ori artist, will be staying back in Pipiwai.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith technology, we\u2019ll be able to talk every day,\u201d Patolo-Tipene says. \u201cI\u2019m going to Glasgow to compete and do well at these Games. That\u2019s my No 1 focus. I don\u2019t think I\u2019d be able to see him much if he came over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patolo-Tipene first found Ball in 2020, when she went searching online for a weightlifting club. Strength HQ run by Ball \u2013 who took David Liti to two Commonwealth Games medals and two Olympics \u2013 appealed to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did half a year in 2022, took a break, and came back in 2024 and I\u2019ve been lifting ever since,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Her first international competition was last year\u2019s Pacific Mini Games in Palau, where she and gym-mate David Liti were the New Zealand flagbearers. \u201cThat was an incredible experience, with the whole of the Pacific in a multi-sport event,\u201d Patolo-Tipene says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I was able to hit the international standard for my category, I won bronze in the snatch and came fourth overall.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the Oceania championships in May, Patolo-Tipene set a new Oceania snatch record of 113kg \u2013 the heaviest snatch ever achieved by a New Zealand female lifter \u2013 on her way to silver in the 86kg+ category with a 131 total. It also secured her ticket to Glasgow, ahead of three other Kiwi lifters vying for that spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my best friends, Judy Soloai, was also in my category, and she came close too. It was so cool competing against each other,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s so good we have that competition to push each other as much as we can.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m one of the older lifters in the category and I love that some of my competitors are still in high school or university \u2013 it\u2019s such a diverse group of women and girls. And even as one of the oldest, I\u2019m still one of the newer competitors \u2013 whereas the younger girls have been around for quite a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patolo-Tipene and Ball at the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau. Photo \/ Instagram<\/p>\n
Next week, Patolo-Tipene will travel with Ball and Liti to set up camp in Nottingham, England, arriving in Glasgow the night before the opening ceremony. \u201cThey\u2019ve planned it so I can go to the opening ceremony for the first time,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I reflect on how I could easily have been living my life and never come across people like Tina and David if I hadn\u2019t made that decision to start weightlifting.\u201d<\/p>\n
The down-to-earth pair have developed a close bond with Patolo-Tipene away from the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one thing they\u2019ve both encouraged me to do is pursue the sport at a high level \u2013 not just to participate, but to believe in myself,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started the sport over 30 and I had no intention of going to the Commonwealth Games when I started. But it was Tina who pushed me, and David who believed in me, and I\u2019m so grateful to have them in my corner.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my husband, who\u2019s like, \u2018Why not you? Why can\u2019t you do that?\u2019 That\u2019s why I\u2019ll be fighting to land on the podium.\u201d<\/p>\n