Oliver ‘Ollie’ Saxton is a weightlifter who was awarded a Tier 3 Scholarship within the 2023 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program.
Born in Perth in 2003, as the son of three-time Commonwealth Games medalist and 1988 Olympian, Andrew Saxton, Ollie has had weightlifting bars in his hands since before he could walk. He first started training and lifting properly in 2011, at 8 years old and harbours great ambitions to follow in his father’s footsteps and represent his country on the biggest stages.
Ollie made his platform debut at the 2015 WA Weightlifting Open, then a year later, he made his national competition debut at the Australian U15 and Youth Championships. At 17-years-old, he made his international debut at the combined 2019 Pacific Championships/Oceania Championships/Commonwealth Championships in Apia, Samoa where he won silver and bronze in the youth age category.
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ollie’s focus shifted slightly, and he secured a plumbing apprenticeship which helped him navigate a difficult period in which many sporting events were cancelled or postponed. Then, in 2021 at the AWF Senior Championships, he placed a personal best fifth overall, before he competed at the 2022 Junior World Championships where he finished seventeenth. He stood proudly on top of the podium later that year as he accepted Oceania Junior Championship gold.
Ollie remains hopeful of representing Australia in the 89kg category at the Commonwealth and Olympic Games and hopes to show weightlifters of all ages what anybody can achieve with hard work and determination.
“To be a scholarship receiver to me, means to finally be recognised for all the hard work and dedication I’ve put into training and my sport over the last few years.” – Oliver Saxton on being selected as a 2023 Tier 3 Scholarship Holder.
Honours & Achievements
- 2019: Commonwealth Championships, Youth – Silver and Bronze
- 2021: AWF Senior Championships – 5th
- 2022: Junior Worlds, Greece – 17th
- 2022: Oceania Junior Championships – 1st
- 2023: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder
Bio Pic Credit: Perth Fit Fam
