Sports Awards of the Year 2004-I’m prepared to train hard, I’m born a winner - Thélermont |01 February 2005

Sports Nation: How does it feel to win the Sportslady of the Year title a second time?

Janet Thélermont: To be frank, when I lost my title to Shrone Austin in 2003, I told myself that I should work harder to reclaim it. I did my best because I had faith in my ability. I performed well and when I compared my results with those achieved by the other contenders, I knew I had a big chance of winning the title. I’m happy to win the Sportslady of the Year title once again.

Sports Nation: You’re the second athlete after Mirenda Francourt to win the title twice. Do you feel you can go down in history as the first athlete to win the Sportslady of the Year crown for at least two years in a row?

Janet Thélermont: Right now, I cannot say much. I’ve already started training and I feel that if coach William Dixie is still around we can do even better than last year. Many Seychellois athletes have received scholarships in the past and I wish I can benefit from something like this. I’m prepared to train hard as I’m born a winner.

Sports Nation: From where did you get the motivation to battle back to win?

Janet Thélermont: In the gym, male and female lifters are open to each other. We help each other in training, push one another to go beyond the limits. If we feel that one of us has a chance of achieving something good, we encourage him or her to go for it. We do this because we want weightlifting to be the number one sport here. If I’m a winner today, I have to thank the male lifters for their advice and understanding. They helped me a lot to become the lifter I am today. I showed them that women are strong too and can lift barbells well.

Sports Nation: Weightlifting has done really well with you as Sportslady of the Year, Julie Matatiken as your runner-up and Clementina Agricole as the best female young athlete. How do you feel about that?

Janet Thélermont: Sophia (Vandagne, Sportslady of the Year 1999) paved the way for all of us and we must thank her. When I first won the Sportslady of the Year title in 2002, it kind of brought more pride to women’s weightlifting here. The fact that local weightlifters performed so well in 2004 and won these titles prove that we are serious in what we do. I personally go out of my way to encourage young ladies to take up weightlifting.

Sports Nation: What are your goals for 2005?

Janet Thélermont: I pray God Almighty that I stay free from injury to continue training hard. Since we have titles to defend, I hope that all local competitions will go ahead as scheduled and that we get the opportunity to participate in international competitions. I’m looking forward for the African Championship in Algeria. Not only do I want to win the three gold medals, I’m also looking forward to make the African records mine. My best performance in the clean and jerk is 5kg shy of the African record and in snatch, I’m short by 7.5kg. I can still improve, but I need more training time. Training twice daily will be good.

G. G.