Edmonton’s national championship Olympic weightlifter competing in Pan Am Championship

Olympic weightlifting is a sport that requires strength, explosiveness and technique, and an Edmonton athlete is proving she is strong in all three areas.

Gina McGonagle began Olympic weightlifting as a hobby while she was in high school, but she admits she was not a natural.

“I was awful when I started. Awful,” McGonagle said.

But current coach, Dan Schultz, saw excellent qualities in the young athlete.

“The biggest thing that stuck out to me was her sheer dedication to training and doing well in performances, pushing herself too. She definitely had a fire within her,” Schultz said.

McGonagle became committed to the sport and it showed when she competed. She won junior nationals as a teenager, and this spring, at the age of 21, she captured a senior national championship.

“Winning senior nationals was kind of my next big goal, so to be able to do that right away was really exciting,” McGonagle said.

“She trained really hard and we made a few adjustments to the technique, probably about four months previous,” Schultz said. “It was just an awesome feeling. Everything worked out.”

The result has earned McGonagle a spot at the Pan Am Championship in Columbia July 24-29. It will be a step up in competition for the Edmonton resident.

“It’s cool because these people are the people I watch on TV and now I’m competing with them,” she said.

McGonagle has enjoyed a fast rise in the sport while balancing a demanding career. She is a full-time nurse at the Alberta Hospital. It has required the 21-year-old to be very discipline, although she does not mind.

“It’s honestly easier now that I’m not in school because all I have to do now is work and train. So I get up, I train, then I go to work, then I go to sleep, then I do it all over again.”

In terms of expectations at her first the Pan Am Championship; McGonagle is taking the attitude of enjoying the experience and doing her best.

“It’s not really about where I place. The goal was to get there, so now that I’m there it’s about beating myself and wherever I end up I’ll be really happy with it, as long as I do my best,” she said.

Regardless what her result is at the Pan Am Championship, McGonagle’s future in the sport is bright.

by Global News