'Weightlifting is a misunderstood sport'

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Story Content

• Competed for teammates
• Weightlifting is cool
• Strict workout regiment
• Mom's the word

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Jeane Lassen, a champion Canadian weightlifter, turned down an invitation to compete at the 2007 Pan American Games in Brazil even though she was considered a top medal contender.

She had already qualified to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, so heading to Brazil wasn't essential.

Instead, the 27-year-old Yukon native chose to compete at an event closer to home, in Kelowna, B.C., where she could help Canada secure an extra place for women weightlifters in Beijing.

Spots for the Olympics, Lassen explained, are team-based and by competing in the Kelowna event, which was held at the same time as the Pan-Am Games, her results helped secure an additional place for Canada in Beijing.

"I just thought, because weightlifting is a misunderstood sportgetting one more spot for the team was key to turning the sport around in the public's view," she said.

Lassen holds six Canadian senior records and is expected to make the podium at most international events. She has won medals at Commonwealth Games, Pan-Am Games, university world championships and senior world championships.

Competed for teammates

Lassen also had her teammates in mind at competitions in Thailand and the Dominican Republic. Because she had already qualified for Beijing, she was free to take chances with the amount of weight she attempted to lift, but instead of pushing her limits she chose the route that would be sure to garner more points for Canada.

"I'm really proud of those performances. I could have taken more risks, but I really tried to put the team first," she said.

The McGill University grad will take the stage for Canada at the Beijing Games in August as a strong medal contender in the 75kg weight class.

Women have only competed in weightlifting since 2000, and Canada has only had one female competitor at each of the Games in Sydney and Athens. That was Maryse Turcotte, who recently retired. Thanks in part to Lassen's efforts, this year there will be three.

"It's special, because there are three of us, that's something to be proud of," Lassen said."Canada should be really proud. We have no national program, no paid staff, we're all out there and our own clubs are toiling away. It's amazing that with few resources we can still work together."

Lassen hopes the stronger Canadian presence of female weightlifters at the Games will help increase Canada's interest in the sport.

Weightlifting is cool

"If people saw how cool it is to do it properly, it would have more of a following," she said. "It's a lot like swinging a golf club and your swing is off. When you connect properly, it's a cool sensation and you want to do it again."

Lassen is bothered by stereotypes of her sport that say that size and bulk are where it's at, but it's a misconception she's working to change.

"A lot of people imagine it's about arm strength, and they're always asking us to flex our pipes or to arm wrestle," she said, adding that some confuse weightlifting with bodybuilding.

"In body building the goal is to develop muscles to look as good as possible, but we're trying to develop muscle to be as efficient as possible. We want the muscle to be able to lift more without getting bigger," she said.

"I try to explain to them as much as possible, that that's not what we do, it's generated from the legs. People don't realize the athleticism involved," she explained, pointing out that speed, flexibility, agility, balance and strength are the desired goals.

Lassen holds nine Canadian records (three junior, six senior). She's a 15-time medallist at the University World Championships, won a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games (she broke the Games record in the clean and jerk), a silver medal and bronze at the 2006 senior world championships, a silver at the 2004 Pan-Am Games.

Strict workout regimen

She hopes to add an Olympic medal to the list, so she's maintaining a strict and rigorous workout regimen. A typical day includes hitting the gym at 7:30 and 10:30 in the morning, followed by an evening session. Her program includes strength exercises, speed and technical drills.

She admits she didn't always train properly.

"I didn't break it down like that.," she says. "I was trying to do it at 110 per cent, but I was over-training. I wasn't directing my energy in the most positive direction," she said.

Lassen says much of the sport is about risk management and learning how to take calculated chances. For example, with the Olympics less than two months away, she's not doing sprints or stair work.

"Further away from the Olympics I do more things like that. Again, it's about being an athlete and not just lifting weights. I think it helps avoid injury if you have athleticism on your side."

Until the fall of 2007, Lassen competed in the 69kg weight class, which wasn't a weight she could easily achieve. At five-foot seven, she was one of the taller girls competing in her class the extra height made it more difficult to hit the target weight.

"I had a severe diet in that weight class, which meant I had to cut down on training because with more muscle I'd gain more weight," she said. "I had to diet down, I was restricting calories, and watching how much water I was consuming. On the day of competition, I had to be dehydrated."

Mom's the word

Though it's not a significant increase in terms of weight, the 75kg class has allowed her to compete in a much healthier way, without compromising her success.

"I feel less susceptible to injury, because I have a bit more muscle mass. I can protect my weak areas a bit better," she says.

Helping her to do well is another factor that's perhaps even more important than weight, diet or knowledge of sport her mother, Moira.

"She doesn't lift the weight for me, but that's the only thing she doesn't do," Lassen says. "I attribute my success to her."

Lassen's mom, a renowned weightlifting official, was recently selected to officiate at the Beijing Olympics. She'll be the only Canadian and only female weightlifting official at the Games. Moira will be there to see her daughter when she takes the Olympic stage.

It's a momentLassen can't wait for.

"I'm just really happy to be polishing off all the work I've been doing for the past 15 years. That's the thing with the Olympics you're on a path you didn't even realize you started."