Richie_Patterson
Richie Patterson
New Zealand weightlifter (born 1983)
Richard John Edward Patterson (born 30 April 1983) is a weightlifting competitor for New Zealand.
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi he won the silver medal in the men's 85 kg weightlifting event.[1] Four years later, at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, he won the gold medal in the same event.[2] He was New Zealand's flagbearer in the 2014 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony.[3]
To qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics Patterson had to rely on fellow New Zealand teammate Tavita Ngalu to lift 150 kg at the Oceania Championships. In a selfless act Ngalu did so while injured with ripped quadriceps and New Zealand's highest ranked weightlifter (Patterson) qualified for the Games.[4]
Patterson married fellow weightlifter Phillipa Hale in Glasgow on 31 July 2014, after both had competed in the Commonwealth Games (Hale competed in the women's 53 kg event).[3][5]