You could say weightlifter Garcia, from Timor Leste, got lost in translation at this staging post on his route to the Olympic Games.

Whether he makes it all the way to Paris 2024 is down to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Tripartite Commission, which hands out invitations to developing nations that do not qualify any athletes.

Timor Leste is applying for five places in all sports and hopes Garcia will be among the six weightlifters invited.

He already has the support of solidarity funding from the IOC.

Garcia is the only weightlifter from his country, he has to use Google Translate to take instructions from his coach because he cannot understand a word she says, and he failed on his big day at Hangzhou 2022.

But none of that will deter Garcia, 24, in his quest to become the first weightlifter from Timor Leste to compete at the Olympics under his own flag.

Garcia's Olympic journey was fist revealed when insidethegames met him in Thailand in April.

He moved from Timor Leste to Thailand in search of a coach last December.

He found Pensiri Laosirikul, a Beijing 2008 bronze medallist.

He speaks Tetum and Indonesian, she speaks Thai and the only way they can communicate is via Google Translate on their phones.

“We have both have a few words of English, hello, yes, no, but weightlifting is a very technical sport," said Pensiri, via a translator, at Xiaoshan Sports centre Gymnasium, where Garcia bombed out of the men’s 81 kilograms B Group.

“For communications about training we have to use Google Translate on our phones.”

One of the first things she learned from him, on the app, was, “People in Timor are afraid of weightlifting because they are lifting heavy weights without any teaching how to do it safely.

“There is a risk of injury.”

A communications breakdown of another sort ruined Garcia’s big day today when he failed with all three snatch attempts and was out of the contest by halfway.

“There was a mix-up with the Timor Leste team, and they entered his total at 260kg when it should have been 220kg,” said Pensiri.

“It made him worried, and it went badly."

Garcia knew he could never match the entry numbers.

“I felt I was getting into something new here, a completely new level for me,” he said.

“At least I got out there on the platform at my biggest ever competition and that’s what it’s all about as an athlete.

“Now I’m more determined than ever to make it to Paris.

“I’m going back to Thailand to work harder, and I’ll try again at the Olympic qualifier in Qatar in December.”

He weighed 90kg when he started training with Pensiri and is now down to 79kg but will have to shed another six kilograms to try for a total at the Olympic weight of 73kg.

“It’s going to be hard work for him,” said Pensiri.

“But he has improved.

“When he started, he had no technique at all, he desperately needed a coach.”

There are none in Timor Leste.