In weightlifting and bodybuilding clubs, women represent half of the members. “We notice that girls are more courageous and reckless than boys,” notes a coach. Weightlifting has found its followers in Finistère, a land of champions who, if they don’t lift menhirs, lift cast iron.
“Come on, let’s block and bring back.“In the room of the Plouhinec weightlifting and bodybuilding club (CHM), Lucie, 9 years old, and Lyya, 12 years old, all spend their Wednesday afternoon lifting up to 13 kg with the strength of their arms. Both practice weightlifting competitively.
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“I like it and then there is action, develops Liyah, It moves! It’s not like yoga. It’s faster.”
Liyah will participate in the French championships in her category this weekend of June 29 and 30. According to Dylan Chavry, her coach at the CHM in Plouhinec, it is a sport that is becoming more and more feminine.
“We notice within the club that the girls are more courageous and reckless than the boys, he notes. They don’t balk when we tell them to do another set or go a little heavier. It’s more of a women’s sport than a men’s sport in the end.” Half of the club’s members are women (223 out of 493).
Céline Louison-Tanguy, the French weightlifting champion (under 81 kg), trains near Douarnenez, in the cellar of a restaurateur friend. She got into weightlifting 9 years ago, when she was studying sport at university.
“Come on mom! Come on mom!” Next to her, her son Wolf encourages her to lift more and more.
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© Manon Le Charpentier, FTV
Since then, she has mastered the snatch and the clean and jerk, the two movements on which weightlifters are measured. : “The snatch will be a very technical movement and, inevitably, we put less weight. The clean and jerk is a strength movement. We shoulder the bar, we lift it, we send it to the collarbones, there is a squat which is done and we throw it above the head.
“Come on mom! Come on mom!” Next to her, her son Wolf encourages her to lift more and more. “I was looking at my training log the other day, she says. I was at 30 kilos in the snatch. 45 in the clean and jerk when I started. When I see how far we’ve come, I’m proud.”
Her son counts his mother’s gold medals! The young woman has just won her second French champion title in less than 81 kg.
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© Manon Le Charpentier, FTV
“That’s what I really like about this sport: I feel strong.” The young woman has just won her second French champion title in under 81 kg.
