Pacific Gladiators
This is the story of a 26-year-old weightlifter. His name is Itte Detenamo. He comes from the smallest republic in the world, Nauru, and has represented his country at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2012 Olympic Games in London. After smashing five Commonwealth records in the super-weight category at the last Arafura games in Australia, Itte was credibly aiming at a medal in London. That could have been the first Olympic medal for his country, an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with about 10,000 inhabitants, once famous for the world's highest per-capita income and now sadly known for its poor economic conditions and its high rates of nutritional diseases.
Nauru has the world's highest concentration of people affected by diabetes or obesity. With his talent and discipline, Itte embodies Nauru's hopes for a better future, where its inhabitants will be able to reestablish a lasting symbiosis with the surrounding environment.
The story of Nauru, where past short-sighted management of natural resources led people from extreme wealth to absolute poverty in the blink of an eye, is a parable of the world's destiny. Ultimately, Itte thus represents the world's hopes that humanity will one day learn to look beyond its short-term interests to the benefit of future generations and the planet on which they will one day live.
In May 2011, I spent three weeks with Itte, his trainer, and his family. In the first week I was in New Caledonia, where Itte trains, together with other athletes from Nauru and other Pacific islands. In the second week, I attended the competitions at the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia. Finally, I spent the last week in Nauru. This photo reportage tells the story of those days.
Part of this reportage appeared was published on The Mirror, 2 June 2012
(c) Mario Mariniello 2011.
