Michelle Jenneke, you have a worthy competitor.

He’s an Olympic weightlifter who finished last in his event, but got a bigger cheer than the gold-medal winner.

David Katoatau, from the tiny Pacific Island nation of Kiribati, came sixth in his group and 15th overall in the 105kg weight class, but has become one of the sensations of the Rio Olympics for his post-lift dance routines.

Watch David Katoatau dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8ThAnSNW3k

Katoatau’s routine actually has a deeper purpose — to highlight the dangers of climate change, particularly to his island nation which is under threat from rising sea levels.

He has spoken previously about how he lost his home to extreme weather, and how the Kiribati government maintains the country is “suffering extreme coastal erosion, not just of the beaches but also of the land”.

Katoatau once said despite being one of the world’s strongest men, he’d “never felt so helpless in my life”.

Speaking to Reuters this week, Katoatau said: “Most people don’t know where Kiribati is. I want people to know more about us so I use weightlifting, and my dancing, to show the world.

“I wrote an open letter to the world last year to tell people about all the homes lost to rising sea levels. I don’t know how many years it will be before it sinks.”

Katoatau, who won a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2014, also lost a home to a cyclone in 2015. He had bought the home for his parents after winning the Commonwealth gold.