South Australian weightlifter Kiana Elliott is preparing to represent Australia at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, competing in the 63kg category as part of a 27-strong South Australian contingent. The 28-year-old is no stranger to the Games, having made her Commonwealth debut at Birmingham 2022 — a campaign she completed despite suffering a serious injury just two months before competition began.
From Sydney 2000 to the Commonwealth stage
Elliott's connection to elite sport began early. As a three-year-old, she watched the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and felt the spark of ambition take hold.
"There was a little seed planted in my head," she said.
She initially pursued gymnastics as her pathway to the podium, but a career-ending injury at 14 forced her to look elsewhere. It was while searching for a way to stay active that she stumbled across weightlifting — a sport she had never previously encountered.
"I didn't even know it existed, and I found it fun," Elliott said. "I pursued it, and I've kept going and I'm still going."
That persistence has taken her a long way. Over the past 13 years, she has represented Australia at multiple Junior World Championships, three Pacific Games, and the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Birmingham heartbreak and lessons learned
Elliott's first Commonwealth Games appearance in Birmingham 2022 was marked as much by resilience as by performance. Having sustained an injury just eight weeks before the event, there were serious doubts about whether she would compete at all.
"There was a big question mark on whether I'd be able to go," she said.
Ultimately, she took to the platform and lifted at roughly 90 to 94 per cent of her personal best — a performance that landed her in fourth place, agonisingly close to a medal. That experience has shaped how she approaches Glasgow, with Elliott emphasising the importance of mental preparation alongside physical conditioning.
"Sport is like a little microcosm of life — it's the stories of the underdog, the triumph, the adversities," she said. "It puts you in a situation where it counts right now, so anything can happen on the day."
Smart training approach ahead of Glasgow
Elliott's preparation for Glasgow has been carefully managed to account for her injury history. Her physical preparation coach at the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI), Michael Nash, said the training program had been tailored specifically around her needs.
"We feel good about how she's progressing," Nash said. "She's had a few setbacks with injuries as well, so my main priority with her is to look at what she's been doing and adjusting her sessions to make sure she's getting the most out of them so she can perform as well as she can."
Nash described Elliott as one of the most technically accomplished weightlifters he had seen in Australia — a testament to her years of dedicated work in the sport.
Elliott herself said she deliberately avoids pushing to maximum weights during training in the lead-up to competition. "I personally don't push too hard in terms of maximal weight and maximal attempts in the gym because I need to keep myself physically intact for competition," she said.
Growing the sport for women and girls
Beyond her own ambitions, Elliott is proud of the broader impact her career may be having on participation in weightlifting. She noted that significantly more women and girls have taken up the sport since she first started over a decade ago.
"That's super exciting," she said. "Maybe I've played a little bit of a part in making that visible."
She described gym environments as traditionally masculine and ego-driven, making it all the more meaningful to champion female participation. "There's nothing better than pursuing your own strength and pursuing your own capability," she said.
Elliott will face what she calls "really great" athletes she deeply respects when she steps onto the platform in the 63kg competition in Glasgow. If Birmingham taught her anything, it's that being close to your best — and keeping your head right — can be enough to make history. Weightlifting is increasingly drawing high-profile attention at the Commonwealth Games, with the sport capturing imaginations well beyond the gym floor.
