Bay of Plenty weightlifter and 2021 North Island gold medallist, Xavier Albert, has once again qualified for the National Championships later this year.

Carrying the momentum of a gold medal going into the National Championships last year, Xavier was hit with a massive blow – the Nationals were cancelled due to Covid-19.

However, this was just one of the setbacks Xavier had to deal with. 'Nationals was cancelled last year and that set back my training quite a bit. [Then] Just before November last year I ended up getting injured a couple of times.

'I did both my neck and back which set me back in my training,” says Xavier, who thankfully enjoyed some good luck three months later.

'I got an opportunity to lift in the New Zealand international in February. I chucked the New Zealand suit on for the first time which was quite cool.

'That was an opportunity to try and crack the Commonwealth team but I think due to my injuries occurred last year, it just made it a bit tough. Competing for New Zealand was a milestone in itself for me.”

Both Xavier and his coach, Jason Hylkema, have been pragmatic about their approach to Xavier's goals and training.

'I sat down with my coach and we both agreed to try and get these niggles out of the way first to build up to these nationals in November.

'So I've had two months of conditioning work so that my body doesn't get injured again.”

This year's North Island Championship was not ideal for Xavier, but the main goal was not a medal.

'I got fourth – I didn't even make it onto the podium, which is a bugger. The whole goal was to not get injured again and after that comp I felt fine and I felt healthy.”

Jason Hylkema, Xavier's coach, is satisfied with how Jason currently is tracking.

'Coming off a year of not really doing anything as such and having a few niggles, we spent the last three months just prepping the body and bringing him back to a nice blank canvas,” says Jason.

'After North Islands Champs we started a build-up getting ready for Nationals, so he's training using Olympic lifts now that the body's healthy.”

'Xavier is naturally filling out into his weight category and what we've seen with his lifting so far with basic training is that he's been able to hit some pretty impressive numbers without really committing to full Olympic cycles.”

Xavier is back on track and revving to go. 'This month we've started my actual training block of specific Olympic weightlifting training. At the moment, in terms of Nationals, the goal is to try and take it out, which would be quite nice,” says Xavier.

The next Commonwealth Games is the main goal for Xavier and his coach.

'We have a four-year plan leading up to the next Commonwealth Games and my coach says he's pulling me back a bit in terms of the competitions. So not making the podium last competition didn't worry him because that's not the main goal.”

There's a quiet confidence in the camp. 'I've seen Xavier snatch and power snatch weights that I haven't seen done around New Zealand before; that's why I'm pretty confident that we can push onto some higher honours and potentially chase down some New Zealand records,” says Jason.

The Weightlifting NZ 2022 Masters and Junior & Senior National Championships are on from November 25-26.