The lifter with a beaming smile hoisted up a total of 348 kilograms to win the men's 105kg title in Glasgow, and delighted the crowd with his joyous dancing celebration.

Katoatau even tried to drag a reluctant team official onto the stage to join him as he deservedly enjoyed the remarkable achievement of winning gold for his tiny Pacific nation, which is home to only 120,000 people.

It remains as Kiribati's only medal at the Commonwealth Games and he received a predictable hero's welcome when he returned home.

"I guess we didn't really expect it," said Nemani Tebana, the Kiribati Chef de Mission for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

"I was in Fiji and we only knew about the gold medal win on Facebook!

"But at the same time we were really proud.

"There were big celebrations, especially when the team returned.

"It was a really big welcome for the delegation.

"He's a role model for everyone."

Katoatau would reprise his dancing antics at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where he finished 14th and became known to a much larger audience.

Despite the fun and laughter of his displays, there was a serious message to what he was doing as Katoatau wanted to draw attention to the threat of climate change.

Kiribati, like other Commonwealth neighbours in the Pacific such as Tuvalu, is on the front line in the battle against rising sea levels.

The country consists of 32 atolls and one coral island, which are spread out across the ocean in a gigantic area the size of India.

These islands are all tiny, low and narrow. The capital Tarawa is shaped like a thin triangle and is only two miles long, meaning the concern about being submerged is only too real.

In many places on Tarawa the width of the island is a matter of metres across, meaning you can see both sides - the Pacific Ocean and the lagoon - with ease.

"I want to see a future for Kiribati and our youth," Katoatau, who grew up in Nauru and was inspired by the country's legendary weightlifter Marcus Stephen, said to The Guardian in 2016.

"I don't want my country to disappear."

Tebana, who will oversee a team of six athletes at Birmingham 2022, described climate change as a "very big issue".

"We are constantly putting up sea walls, and rebuilding sea walls, because they are just getting battered by the waves," he said.

"But it's not just the beaches that are being affected.

"Our President has just announced a state of emergency because we're in a drought.

"So it's also the plants and the lack of rainfall.

"All of that is blamed on climate change."

Tebana said that people in Kiribati, the only country in the world to have land in all four hemispheres, were trying to carry on with their lives.

"It's the politicians and the leaders who kinda worry but otherwise, everyone else, they are just going about their daily business as usual," he said.

"We're leaving everything to the leaders who are campaigning for us."

Kiribati's team in Birmingham will compete in boxing, athletics and weightlifting - although David has now retired.

His brother Ruben will be in the squad, however, after finishing sixth in the 69 kilograms at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

When asked if Ruben would continue his brother's promotion of climate issues by dancing in Birmingham, Tebana said that "he's got the moves as well".

A team of three was sent by Kiribati to Tokyo 2020, including 100 metres sprinter Lataisi Mwea who has trained for Birmingham in Brisbane.

The entire Olympic squad was based outside the country as COVID-19 prevented anyone from leaving directly from the islands.

Birmingham will provide more opportunities, with the squad also finding preparation at the ongoing Pacific Mini Games in the Northern Mariana Islands.

"We were fortunate to have overseas athletes who took part in the Olympics last year," said Tebana, who is a vice-president of the Kiribati National Olympic Committee.

"We could have sent some from here but the Government wouldn't open the borders."

The geography of the country makes finding space for sporting facilities difficult, but Reuben does have his own club with basic equipment.

"We're narrow and flat so we can't do hill runs or that sort of training," Tebana said.

"We do have a sports complex which holds a full size basketball court.

"That was built by the Chinese a few years ago, but at the moment it's being used as a quarantine centre for repatriating stranded citizens.

"So that sporting facility has been closed off."

Tebana, who will be serving as Chef de Mission for the first time and is also the President of the country's taekwondo association, said there was more awareness of the Pacific Games than the Commonwealth Games because of the potential of sending a larger squad.

Birmingham 2022 was promoted through the Queen's Baton Relay visit, however, although this took place while the country was in a lockdown.

"The rules were very strict, so we couldn't really run with the baton," said Tebana.

"But the acting New Zealand high commissioner, she ran with it.

"The New Zealand High Commission office is next to the Australian High Commission, and Australia was the next stop for the baton.

"So when we took it over to New Zealand, we were supposed to put it back in the bus.

"But she just said 'no I'll run with it, it's nearby, it's next door'.

"So she ran with it, we were all surprised as we weren't expecting to run.

"She just ran in her dress shoes, she didn't have any proper running shoes.

"She had just arrived in the country and just got out of quarantine."

Another highlight of the relay saw the baton presented to the Unimwane, the male elders of the community who performed a welcome ceremony.

Kiribati's appearance in Birmingham will be their seventh at the Games since they debuted in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

The country's name is often said incorrectly as it is pronounced Kiribass due to the sound "ti" makes in the Gilbertese language.

Tebana said the team in Birmingham would mainly come from the Gilbert Islands.

"We're divided into three island groups," he said.

"We have the Gilbert Islands, where Tarawa is.

"We have the Phoenix Islands, where there is the Phoenix Islands protected area, and we have the Line Islands where Christmas Island is."

Tarawa is known for the Second World War battle which took place there between American and Japanese forces in 1943.

Kiribati's vast distances mean the country once had islands on both sides of the international date line.

The line was redrawn in 1994 when December 31 was removed from the calendar for those on the east side of the line, with December 30 morphing into January 1 instead.

"Christmas Island is closer to Hawaii and we're closer to Samoa," said Tebana.

"Because of the distance, travel is very difficult. It's a four hour flight from Tarawa to Christmas Island.

"It's closer to go to Fiji than to go across to Christmas Island!

"We rely a lot on Australia and New Zealand, and sometimes the French from New Caledonia.

"They send surveillance planes to police the ocean area because there's a lot of illegal fishing.

"We don't have the facilities to monitor that."