Dropping karate creates doorway for Jon-Antohein Phillips to become SA's highest-ranked weightlifter
South African weightlifter Jon-Antohein Phillips. Picture: Supplied.
JOHANNESBURG - Little did he know that a switch from karate to weightlifting in primary school would seal his fate as the highest-ranked weightlifter in South Africa.
For Jon-Antohein Phillips, this was previously a far-fetched idea but it's his reality now.
“When I was in primary school, I was doing karate and my dad asked me if I would like to try weightlifting. My dad knew Aveenash Pandoo the South African national weightlifting coach at the time,” said Phillips.
Weightlifting is a sport where athletes lift barbells loaded with weights. The sport tests the strength, power and technique of athletes.
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The weightlifting club was based in Phillips’ neighbourhood and as a skinny 12-year-old boy he wanted to build his muscles.
He has since represented South Africa at multiple competitions.
“I've been doing weightlifting since 2012, so this has been a long journey for me and still a lot to come. There was a period where I was coaching myself for a few years, but now I am glad to have my coach Lyle Du Plooy working with me.”
The Strand weightlifter brought home three bronze medals in the 73kg category from the recent African Games, where he lifted an impressive 122 kg in the snatch and soared through a 153 kg clean & jerk.
“I was so proud of my performance at the African Games because I had to cut 6kg over 4 weeks, directly after I came back from the African Championships in Egypt in February 2024 and the African Games in March 2024. I had to drop from 79kg to 73kg, as my coach and I decided I would compete in the 73kg division for this competition.”
The athlete tells Eyewitness News that dropping weight while maintaining as much strength as possible was hard but it paid off.
“Africa is starting to prove its presence on the world stage by competing against the best of the best. The problem is that South Africa does not have the weightlifting infrastructure needed compared to a lot of the countries we compete against.”
Phillips holds nine South African records, three as a junior and six as a senior. Moreover, he has a full-time job in the corporate world.
But he trains every day while competing against athletes who lift full-time.
“They earn a salary doing the sport they enjoy and have access to medical support and don’t have to worry about how they will pay to go to a competition, I will never use that as an excuse, but it plays a huge role. South African weightlifting is improving so hopefully athletes in the future won't have to face the same hardships that I needed to,” explained Phillips.
In 2022, the 23-year-old competed in Mauritius for the Commonwealth Qualifying Games winning Gold in his division. He was placed in the Top 10 for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games held in the UK.
He further won the male champion of champions (best male) award that year at nationals.
“The importance of consistency and hard work. I've seen people far better than me, lose to me because I was more consistent and never stopped training. I like the quote ‘hard work beats talent, when talent fails to work hard’.”
He tells Eyewitness News that weightlifting has taught him that he can do anything he sets his mind on through hard work.
“I mean, I am a kid from the “ghetto” who has managed to become the highest-ranked weightlifter in South Africa, that’s something I never saw happening.”