Weightlifting: National Championships-Malvina smashes clean & jerk record |03 December 2012
With a body weight of 58.80kg, Malvina was unchallenged in the 63kg division and she took the challenge in her stride as she heaved the barbell with a load of 97kg for a new record in her second attempt after having lifted 90kg in her first. Georges set the old best of 96kg in 2009.
Triple gold medallist at last year’s Indian Ocean Island Games, Malvina then had a go at 100kg but failed her third attempt to finish with an Olympic total of 164kg after getting only one good lift of 67kg in the snatch event at the Bel Ombre community centre in the season-ending competition. She failed two attempts at 72kg on the platform.
“I’m happy I’ve broken Janet’s record. I tried my best last year to break the record but I was unsuccessful. It’s a big achievement as I’ve not been training regularly lately due to work commitment,” said Malvina before going for her night shift at the Victoria International Casino.
Although she was not in action on Saturday as she is nursing an injury, four-time former Sportswoman of the Year Janet Georges (formerly Thélermont) finished as the best female weightlifter for the 13th time – 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Georges won three medals – two gold medals in the snatch event with 94kg and Olympic total with 208kg, and a silver in the clean & jerk with 114kg in the 69kg division – at the African Weightlifting Championship which also served as continental qualifiers for the Olympic Games in London.
Ranked overall with an Olympic total of 168kg (73kg in snatch and 95kg in clean & jerk) at the African Championship, Malvina has finished as the runner-up to Georges.
The male weightlifter of the year is Terrence Dixie who lost the title to Elvis Jeanne last year.
Sportsman of the Year 2010 Dixie also competed in the African Championship and was ranked eighth overall in the 85kg category after snatching 122kg and lifting 147kg in the clean & jerk for an Olympic total of 269kg.
Ian Rose has finished as runner-up to Dixie and like the former he represented Seychelles in the African Championship, finishing 10th in the men’s 69kg group with an Olympic total of 240kg (105kg in snatch and 135kg in clean & jerk).
Outgoing Young Male Athlete of the Year Sirous Farabeau is once again the best young male lifter, while defending Young Female Athlete of the Year Rena Agricole has defended her young female weightlifter of the year title.
Rena’s big sister – Clementina Agricole – competed for the first time since November 2010. She had been away from the sport all this time as she recovered from a brain tumour.
The 24-year-old was operated on to remove a brain tumour at the G. B. Pant Hospital in Delhi in October 2010 after she had completed her event at the Commonwealth Games in India.
Agricole missed out on a bronze medal by 1kg in the 58kg weight category, finishing with an Olympic total of 187kg (87kg in snatch and 100kg in clean & jerk) at the Games. She finished fourth out of 13 competitors.
“I’m happy I’m alive. God is great and He saved me. He gave me life instead of a medal. But I’ll be back to win more medals for Seychelles,” Agricole told the press when she returned to Seychelles on October 22, 2010.
Agricole, who brought home the women’s senior 53kg category Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships gold medal – the country’s first ever – from Penang, Malaysia, in October 2009 after finishing with an Olympic total of 177kg (77kg in snatch and 100kg in clean & jerk), added upon her return that it’s her faith in God that got her through it all, but “I’ll never forget 10-10-10 (October 10, 2010). This is the day I discovered I had a tumour and had to make a big decision in my life. I went into the operating theatre at 9am and came out at 8.30pm.”
The following are the complete results:
Clementina Agricole 58kg (140kg in total, 60kg snatch and 80kg clean & jerk);
Romantha Larue 588kg (95kg in total, 40kg snatch and 55kg clean & jerk);
Ruby Malvina 63kg (164kg in total, 67kg snatch and 97kg clean & jerk new record);
Rena Agricole 69kg (155kg in total, 70kg snatch and 85kg clean-and-jerk);
Ramil Vinda 56kg (75kg in total, 35kg snatch and 40kg clean & jerk);
Rick Confiance 62kg (200kg in total, 90kg snatch and 110kg clean & jerk);
Ronny Adonis 62kg (130kg in total, 60kg snatch and 70kg clean & jerk);
Garry Nancy 62kg (125kg in total, 55kg snatch and 70kg clean & jerk);
Ian Rose 69kg (220kg in total, 100kg snatch and 120kg clean & jerk);
Daryl Riaze 69kg (170kg in total, 70kg snatch and 100kg clean & jerk);
Terrence Dixie 85kg (280kg in total, 125kg snatch and 155kg clean & jerk);
Sirous Farabeau 85kg (220kg in total, 100kg snatch and 120kg clean & jerk);
Dereck Come 85kg (195kg in total, 90kg snatch and 105kg clean & jerk);
Charles Siméon 94kg (275kg in total, 115kg snatch and 160kg clean & jerk).
G. G.