{"id":22187,"date":"2026-06-12T02:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T02:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=22187"},"modified":"2026-06-12T02:59:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T02:59:00","slug":"maori-champion-junior-powerlifter-shares-his-journey-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=22187","title":{"rendered":"M\u0101ori champion junior powerlifter shares his journey to success"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"photo-captioned photo-captioned-full photo-cntr eight_col \" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media.rnztools.nz\/rnz\/image\/upload\/s--uk0qwnKb--\/c_crop,h_1903,w_3044,x_0,y_375\/c_scale,h_1903,w_3044\/c_scale,f_auto,q_auto,w_1050\/v1781221611\/4KOI827_World_Juniors_89_of_2385_1_jpg?_a=BACCd2AD\" width=\"1050\" height=\"1412\" alt=\"New Zealand junior men's powerlifter champion, Tiaki Mason\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"photo-captioned__information\">\n<span itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"caption\">Tiaki Freeman hopes to stand on the podium at the world championships within the next two years. <\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"credit\">Photo: <span itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">ELC<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Champion junior powerlifter Tiaki Freeman fell in love with the sport while trying to get stronger for rugby.<\/p>\n<p>When he started out, the 22-year-old civil engineer of Ng\u0101i Tahu and Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu whakapapa had no idea where the sport would take him. However, in his four years of competing, Freeman has travelled to places including Costa Rica and Malta. He will head to South Africa in August for the world championships.<\/p>\n<p>Powerlifting consists of three different lifts &#8211; squat, bench press and deadlift. A competitor is allowed three attempts on each lift and is judged on the combined total of the weight lifted. That total is compared with the other competitors&#8217; totals to determine the winner.<\/p>\n<p>Competitors are grouped by weight class and gender. Freeman competes in the 105kg division for 18- to 24-year-olds.<\/p>\n<p>Freeman has to train to maintain his strength so that he peaks at the right time to coincide with competitions. A training programme lasts around 12 weeks, with the last four weeks crucial so the athlete can reach peak strength on the day of the contest. Preparing for competition also means closely monitoring nutrition and making sure that his diet supports recovery between training sessions.<\/p>\n<p>At the August world championships in Sun City, Freeman will face competitors from the US, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Britain, Singapore and many other countries. In his first IPF World Junior and Sub-Juniors Powerlifting Championships in 2024, he placed 22nd. Last year he placed ninth. He hopes to maintain that trajectory and stand on the podium within the next two years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"photo-captioned photo-captioned-full photo-cntr eight_col \" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media.rnztools.nz\/rnz\/image\/upload\/s--aPnSZk_E--\/c_crop,h_1707,w_2731,x_0,y_1068\/c_scale,h_1707,w_2731\/c_scale,f_auto,q_auto,w_1050\/v1781223582\/4K1L9OG_World_Juniors_214_1_jpg?_a=BACCd2AD\" width=\"1050\" height=\"1574\" alt=\"Tiaki Mason placed 9th in IPF World Junior and Sub-Juniors Powerlifting Championships in Costa Rica\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"photo-captioned__information\">\n<span itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"caption\">Tiaki Freeman placed ninth last year in Costa Rica. <\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"credit\">Photo: <span itemprop=\"copyrightHolder\">ELC<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Freeman holds the national squat and deadlift records for 105kg junior men. His best squat is 310kg, best bench press 170kg and his best deadlift 325kg.<\/p>\n<p>Freeman believes that with the right coaching and motivation, M\u0101ori and Pacific people could excel at powerlifting and other strength-based sports.<\/p>\n<p>He advised anyone keen to get into powerlifting to search online for Powerlifting NZ or NZ Powerlifting. This would lead to the local federation, which regulated competition.<\/p>\n<p>Regional, novice or club competitions were a good place to start, he said. These stepping stones were essential for anyone wanting to get to national-level and potentially international-level competitions.<\/p>\n<p>Freeman said the inspiration to keep going and succeed in the sport came from &#8220;my close circle of people around me&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/radionz.us6.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=211a938dcf3e634ba2427dde9&amp;id=b3d362e693\">Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, <b>a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/sport\/598033\/maori-champion-junior-powerlifter-shares-his-journey-to-success\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tiaki Freeman hopes to stand on the podium at the world championships within the next two years. Photo: ELC Champion junior powerlifter Tiaki Freeman fell in love with the sport while trying to get stronger for rugby. When he started out, the 22-year-old civil engineer of Ng\u0101i Tahu and Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu whakapapa had no idea [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":902,"featured_media":22188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[273],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-powerlifting-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>M\u0101ori champion junior powerlifter shares his journey to success - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=22187\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"M\u0101ori champion junior powerlifter shares his journey to success - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tiaki Freeman hopes to stand on the podium at the world championships within the next two years. Photo: ELC Champion junior powerlifter Tiaki Freeman fell in love with the sport while trying to get stronger for rugby. When he started out, the 22-year-old civil engineer of Ng\u0101i Tahu and Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu whakapapa had no idea [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=22187\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T02:59:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/media.rnztools.nz\/rnz\/image\/upload\/s--uk0qwnKb--\/c_crop,h_1903,w_3044,x_0,y_375\/c_scale,h_1903,w_3044\/c_scale,f_auto,q_auto,w_1050\/v1781221611\/4KOI827_World_Juniors_89_of_2385_1_jpg?_a=BACCd2AD\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Moera Tuilaepa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Moera Tuilaepa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=22187#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=22187\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Moera Tuilaepa\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8a83fc70344e134a530071ddb9128467\"},\"headline\":\"M\u0101ori champion junior powerlifter shares his journey to success\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T02:59:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=22187\"},\"wordCount\":450,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=22187#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/4KOI827_World_Juniors_89_of_2385_1_jpg.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Powerlifting News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=22187#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=22187\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=22187\",\"name\":\"M\u0101ori champion junior powerlifter shares his journey to success - 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