By Ryan Flaherty for Sask Lotteries
For more than a century, Olympic weightlifting was a sport reserved only for men. Any women who wished to take part were relegated to smaller, amateur competitions or their own fitness pursuits. But as with many sports, the modern era has seen a significant shift towards gender equality, and since women’s weightlifting was added to the Olympic program at the 2000 Summer Games, women’s participation has grown by leaps and bounds.
Despite that growth, some female weightlifters still face challenges accessing the proper equipment for training. Male and female athletes use barbells of different weights — 20-kilograms for men, 15-kg for women — and most gyms and training facilities only supply the former.
Fortunately for members of the Ignite Weightlifting Club in Saskatoon, that’s no longer the case. Thanks to support from the Sask Sport Member Assistance Program (MAP) Grant, which is funded through Sask Lotteries, the club was able to acquire barbells that have the same weight, diameter and tensile strength as those used in competition.
That’s huge for a club whose membership is more than 95% female, says the head of strength and conditioning at Ignite Athletics.
“Now they are able to train on appropriate equipment that will improve the specificity of what they will be using in a real competition setting,” Donovan Dale said.
The nature of weightlifting’s two events, the snatch and the clean and jerk, is such that barbells are routinely dropped to the ground after being lifted above an athlete’s head. That means both the barbells and the specialized plates on either end, which weigh anywhere from 0.5-kg to 25-kg each, need to be durable. The MAP Grant allowed the club to not only purchase the correct, gender-specific equipment it needed, but also the kind that will stand the test of time.
With the right gear in place, Dale is confident that the Ignite Weightlifting Club will be around for years to come.
“With funding, clubs can not only purchase the correct equipment, but they can buy equipment that will last until another round of funding comes in, allowing clubs to positively snowball in the right direction which leads to more members and more growth and most importantly more opportunities for athletes,” he said.
It also gives the club and its members a clear sign that women’s weightlifting in Saskatchewan has broader support.
“It can’t be emphasized enough how good it feels to be part of a [an amateur sport community] that cares about the growth and inclusivity of our sport.”