Do you believe that whatever men can do, women can do and sometimes even better? From time immemorial, some activities have always been associated with either men or women. For instance, any job that involved lifting heavy things or climbing was male-dominated and cooking was for women.
Jobs like that of a roof contractor, architect, soldier, pilot, astronaut, and mechanical engineers are just a few that were meant for men. In sports, football, baseball, weightlifting and rugby were all considered male sports. But today, things have changed. Every sport has got a male and female league.
There are some female names that have made an indelible mark on female Olympic weightlifting records. They include Jenny Arthur, Sarah Robles, Mattic Rogers, and Morgan King, among other names. Sarah Robles has even inspired a female weightlifting association. Up next we’ll tell you about two of them.
Jenny Arthur
She is an American weightlifter who qualified for the 2016 summer Olympics. Jenny Arthur was born on December 11, 1993, in Georgia, United States, weighs 81kg and is 1.66m tall. She attended Chestatee High School.
She accomplished the youth national weightlifting championship in 2010. In 2016, she qualified for world weightlifting championships. She completed 6th at the Rio Olympics and in the 75kg category. She crushed the record of American weightlifting with a 107kg snatch.
That means she is the current holder of the All-American Weightlifting record in her weight class category. She has been coached by Kevin Doherty and doesn’t belong to any team or club. Her favorite training lift is snatch off the blocks.
Apart from sports, Arthur loves reading the Bible, eating Chinese food and spending time with friends and family. She also loves Track and Field, watching Extreme Home Makeover and reading magazines. Other sports activities that she enjoys are softball and tennis.
Sarah Robles
Sarah Robles was born and grew up in San Diego, California, USA. Born on August 1, 1988, Sarah Robles weighs 124 kg and has a height of 1.78 m. She is of Mexican ancestry and is a Mormon. In 2012, she was among two women who qualified for the London Summer Olympics.
She is known to have Madelung’s deformity in her arm which leads to a shorter and bowed radius. This deformity causes her pain during lifts which she treats with warming creams and wrist wraps. In 2013, she is also known to have failed a drug test which led to her suspension.
Like you have seen, her sports career is not free from scandals and problems. But that did not discourage her from chasing her passion and emerging a champion.
You probably heard her name mentioned during the Rio Olympics. She managed to bring home the first Olympic Weightlifting medal for Team USA after 16 years. In the 2016 Olympics, for a total of 631lbs, she made a clean and jerk of 353lb.
She is the first female American athlete to win an Olympic weightlifting medal since 2000. That’s no easy feat. She also inspired a female weightlifting association singlehandedly.
Final Say
Female weightlifters have taken the sports world by storm. They have even won medals in the Olympics. Therefore, strong female athlete numbers are rising by the day. Even the young ones have these medal winners to look up to.
To win at weightlifting, you have to be disciplined, consistent, do more practice, understand the transfer effect and start smart. Just 100 years ago, no woman would have imagined women lifting weights heavier than most men can carry, it shows everything is possible if you believe.
