This weightlifter dances at the Olympics for a very important reason

A weightlifter for Kiribati has become a social media star for his trademark dance during the Rio Olympics -- but the reasons behind his moves are actually very serious.

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In 2015, David Katoatau lost his newly built house in a cyclone. He'd built it with the state reward for his gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

The 32-year-old athlete has been trying for some time -- with his dance -- to raise awareness about climate change and the threat it poses to his island nation.

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"Most people don't know where Kiribati is," Katoatau told Reuters. "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."

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Kiribati, in the Pacific Ocean, is suffering "extreme coastal erosion not just of the beaches but also of the land," according to its government.

"This is now displacing come people from the traditional house plots they have occupied since the early 1900s, the same people who are losing their coconut trees, papaya trees and other varieties of vegetation they rely upon," it said.

"Many of the country’s islands are so narrow that there really is no place to go. Kiribati has more than 100,000 citizens and its main island, Tarawa, suffers from severe overcrowding."

Katoatau says he trains on the beach because the country lacks resources for gyms and sports facilities.

"We don't have the resources to save ourselves," Katoatau, who now lives and trains at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in Noumea, New Caledonia, says.

Read Katoatau's open letter about rising sea levels here.

The Olympian's open letter. Credit: screenshot