Nauru

Nauru is the third smallest country in the world but boasts a proud Commonwealth Games record that many larger nations would envy.

Only the Vatican City and Monaco are smaller than this Pacific island, meaning it is the smallest nation in the Commonwealth, and you can circumnavigate by car in just 25 minutes.

With only around 10,000 people you would not expect a place like this to pull up many trees on the sporting stage.

Nauru has, however, won at least one medal at every Commonwealth Games it has entered since it first appeared in Auckland in 1990.

Nauru is the smallest country in the Commonwealth but has a fantastic medal record in weightlifting ©Getty Images

The country has won 10 gold medals, 10 silver and nine bronze with all of the success coming in one sport - weightlifting.

Leading the way is Marcus Stephen, who boasts seven Commonwealth Games titles, including the first Nauru gold in Auckland and three triumphs at both Victoria 1994 and Kuala Lumpur 1998.

Stephen went on to become President of the country, address the United Nations and meet the President of the United States at the White House.

Seven weightlifters will be hoping to continue Nauru's proud tradition at Birmingham 2022, including Shadrach Cain, Ditto Ika and Ezekiel Moses in the men's events.

My-only Stephen, Bernice Detudamo, Nancy Abouke and Maximina Uepa will be lifting in the women's competitions.

Marcus Stephen became President of Nauru following his Commonwealth Games successes ©Getty Images

Leona Cain, the Nauru Chef de Mission in Birmingham, told insidethegames that the team's lifters were in good shape.

People from Nauru are said to have the perfect physique for the island's national sport, as they are "short, stocky and strong".

Nauru had no membership of the Commonwealth Games Federation until just three days before the 1990 Games in Auckland, when Stephen was finally cleared to lift.

His success, spearheaded by Australian coach Sam Coffa, sparked a craze for the sport with youngsters then starting to become involved.

Coffa moved to Nauru in the 1990s to set up the acclaimed Oceania Weightlifting Institute and the sport now rivals the island's well-known phosphate supplies as the most famous thing to come out of the country.

Cain, an Executive Committee member of the Nauru Olympic Committee and the President of both AFL Nauru and the Nauru Basketball Federation, will also be overseeing two boxers, three judokas, one wrestler and three track and field athletes in Birmingham.