By: CTVOlympics.ca
In the lead up to the 2012 London Games, the CTV Olympic Consortium will be profiling several Olympic hopefuls. The latest is Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec’s Christine Girard who will be competing this weekend in Women’s 63 kg class at the Canadian National Weightlifting Championships from Scarborough, Ontario. The Olympic Consortium had an opportunity to sit down with her earlier this year to discuss her road to London:
For Christine Girard, weightlifting is in her blood.
With a mother who was a provincial official, three elder sisters who have all competed at various levels, a fiancé who competed at the junior level as well as a connection to Internationally acclaimed Quebec strong man Hugo Girard in her family tree, it is pretty easy to see how Girard’s success in her chosen discipline was almost inevitable.
Her participation in the sport however was not something her family envisioned when they moved from the mining town of Elliot Lake, Ontario to Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec when Christine was young.
“My parents didn’t really want us to do weightlifting,” said Girard. “They wanted us to do a team sport because they wanted us to make friends.”
Despite the parental protests, Girard admits it was her older sister Caroline who paved the way for her own participation in the sport.
“It was really my sister who wanted to do weightlifting and my father tried for months to change her mind,” admitted Girard. “He was like: ‘Do you want to do judo? Do you want to do volleyball?’ He tried a lot but it didn’t work. By the end he just gave up. “
In retrospect it turned out to be a wise choice as the youngest of the Girard clan has developed into North America’s top female weightlifter in her class and a legitimate podium threat in London. Girard remains extremely grateful to her parents for all the support.
“My dad and my mom have had hard times in their lives and they have never given up,” said Girard. “They’ve always worked hard all their lives and I think that’s where I got that from. When I’m training I’m always pushing myself, just like my dad and my mom did all their lives.”
That hard work paid off at the 2008 Beijing Games where Girard narrowly missed the podium at the 63kg weight class, a mere three kilograms away from bronze. That near miss has served as constant motivation for Girard since the Games.
“My goal is to be there and be better than I was in 2008,” said Girard. “In every training (session), I try to add one more kilogram than the last session.”
After reviewing her performance in Beijing and coming to the conclusion that technical errors cost her a medal, Girard has since worked tirelessly on her technique to improve her chances in London. It has gone so well that Girard has set some incredibly lofty goals.
“I am thinking about the Olympic record in the clean and jerk,” admitted Girard. “The record (in my weight class) is 136 kilograms and my personal best is 132 so I’m really close. Lifting those extra weights are a good way to motivate me during training.”
In terms of training, Girard faces the disadvantage that her coach, Pierre Bergeron, lives in Montreal, while she conducts the majority of her training in White Rock, BC. Fortunately for her, technology bridges the gap as the pair communicates through Skype.
Although there are some challenges to their method, Girard feels as though the ends justify the means.
“It’s going pretty good actually,” said Girard. “It’s kind of weird for people because they are not used to it, but it works perfectly for us.”
When Bergeron is unavailable, her fiancé Walter Bailey, an RCMP officer who competed at the 2005 World Junior Weightlifting Championships, fills in admirably.
“He’s helped me a lot with that (training) because my coach is so far away. He takes over when my coach is not there. “
The pair is set to wed June 11th in British Columbia. Girard jokes that she chose the date because Bailey’s own birthday is January 11th, making it difficult for him to forget the wedding date.
While she is able to find the humourous side pertaining to her upcoming nuptials, it is clear that Girard is strictly business when it comes to her sport, and her goal remains to improve upon her fourth place finish in Beijing.
“When I finished fourth, so close to the podium, I think that’s when I realized how high a level I was at,” said Girard. “That’s when I promised myself that I would be there four years later and I wouldn’t let the chance pass me by. I want to be on the podium. “