Hitting above their weight: girls showcase weightlifting skills
Weightlifting might seem like a male-dominated sport, but it was the girls who were celebrating on Family Day as they lifted far heavier weights than the boys.
Monday marked the first day of competition in the 2018 Saskatchewan Winter Games, hosted in the Battlefords. Weightlifting events took over the Dekker Centre as boys 50 kg and 56 kg and girls 44 kg and 48 kg categories competed. Many competitors were well under the maximum limits for their weight classes, but lifted well above their own weights. Saskatoon weightlifter Isabella Brown, 14, only weighed in at 39.9 kg, but that didn’t stop her from blowing away the competition for both genders.
Brown lifted a 43 kg snatch and a 52 kg clean and jerk, competing in the 44 kg weight category. According to the judges, Brown is lifting more compared to her bodyweight than anyone in the province. She beat the scores of the top finisher in the weight class above her, and also bested both male categories.
Kari Adane, 13, from Parkland Valley, won gold in the 48 kg category. She managed to snatch 28 kg and gave Brown a run for her money in the clean and jerk, putting up 45 kg.