Noah on an arc to the top

Thirteen-year-old Noah Gear is Marlborough’s latest national champion.

The humble, quietly-spoken Marlborough Girls’ College Year nine student claimed the New Zealand secondary schools’ under-15 women’s +85kg weightlifting title at the recent champs in Auckland.

She exceeded her personal bests at the event, snatching 63kg and hoisting 76kg in the clean and jerk discipline to claim the overall title.

The teenager’s combined efforts in Auckland have left her just 8kg shy of the qualifying total for the forthcoming national open champs, underlining Noah’s potential and the speed of her progression.

Not only has garnered attention among the ranks of NZ lifters, her exploits have also prompted a reaction among her friends’ group at school.

“They think it is really cool,” the youngster says, “they talk about it every day … they say things like ‘Noah could just pick you up and throw you in the air’ and stuff like that. Even my teachers think it is pretty cool.”

With her parents being involved in the fitness business for the past decade or more, Noah has been in and around gyms most of her life.

However, over the past two years she has opted to pursue weightlifting and took to the demanding sport immediately.

“Mum and Dad owned a gym from when I was young and I just wanted to give [weightlifting] a try when I was about 11,” she said. “It just began from there … I really enjoyed it from the start. I love the feeling of being strong and the mindset that goes with competing.

“The mental side is about 50 percent with the other half being technique.”

Learning that technique is time-consuming, Noah putting in at least five two-hour sessions each week.

She includes powerlifting in her training regime, but feels she is better suited to weightlifting at this stage of her budding career. Another incentive, and long-term goal, is the potential to earn a spot on the Kiwi team at the Commonwealth Games.

She is coached by former Olympic lifter Cam McTaggart, who is still active in the sport and based in Auckland.

In the early stages of Noah’s lifting, Mum Maria and Henry Leov helped with her coaching but, after hearing about Cam’s track record, Maria got in touch via Instagram.

Noah takes up the story. “Mum asked me if I wanted to start taking weightlifting seriously because I was just doing it for a sport. I said ‘yeah, why not’ so she went out about three months ago and found Cam and he has been such a good coach.”

Maria was staggered by the impact Cam has had on Noah’s lifting in such a short space of time.

“I am so glad I passed her onto another coach,” said Maria. “Watching her all the way and with her technique improving, I felt I just had to step back and I am so glad I did.

“Watching Noah walk into the [NZ schools champs] venue on Saturday morning I saw a girl with low confidence, looking like it wasn’t going to happen … then seeing that kid transform into this other kid that stepped out onto that platform was amazing. I have never seen Noah lift like that before, walking out there and just believing in herself … that was all thanks to Cam who had total faith in her. I was so proud.”

So, what did the coach say when the gold medal was confirmed? Apparently, a smiling, “not too bad for a first comp”, was his understated comment which, given Noah’s potential and attitude, may be his peek into the future of this talented teen.