Edmonton’s national championship Olympic weightlifter competing in Pan Am Championship – Edmonton
Olympic weightlifting is a sport that requires endurance, explosiveness, and technique, and an Edmonton athlete is proving to be strong in all three areas.
Gina McGonagle started participating in the weightlifting Olympics as a hobby in high school, but she admits she wasn’t born.
“I was terrible at the start. It’s horrible,” said McGonagle.
But the current coach, Dan Schultz, saw great qualities in the young athlete.
“The biggest thing that excites me is that she gives her all in training and performing well, as well as pushing herself. She definitely has a fire in her,” said Schultz.
READ MORE: Georgian weightlifter breaks world record to win Olympic gold
McGonagle has become dedicated to the sport and it showed when she competed. She won the national junior championship as a teenager, and this spring, at the age of 21, she won the senior national championship.
“Winning for senior national players is my next big goal, so to be able to do that right away, is really exciting,” said McGonagle.
“She trained really hard and we made a few technical adjustments, maybe about four months before that,” says Schultz. “It was just a great feeling. Everything worked out.”
READ MORE: Olympic weightlifting gold medalist Maude Charron returns home to Quebec
The result earned McGonagle a spot at the Pan Am Championships in Columbia from July 24-29. It will be a step up in competition for Edmonton residents.
“It’s great because these guys are the people I watch on TV and now I’m competing with them,” she said.
McGonagle has enjoyed a rapid rise in the sport while balancing a fraught career. She is a full-time nurse at Alberta Hospital. It requires a 21-year-old girl to be very disciplined, even though she doesn’t mind.
“Honestly, it would be easier for me to not have to go to school now because all I have to do now is work and train. So I wake up, I work out, then I go to work, then I go to bed, then I do it all over again.”
READ MORE: Canadian weightlifter finally wins Olympic gold, 6 years after competing
On the expectation of her first Pan Am championship; McGonagle is having an attitude of enjoying the experience and giving it his best.
“It’s not really about where I put it. The goal is to get there, so now I’m there to beat myself up and wherever it ends up, I’ll be really happy with that, as long as I give my best,” she said. .
Regardless of her results at the Pan Am Championship, McGonagle’s future in the sport is bright.
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.