If you aren’t involved in the Olympic Weightlifting community, you’ve probably never heard of Mattie Rogers. Most people haven’t even heard of Olympic Weightlifting, let alone can name any athlete who competes in the sport. Olympic Weightlifting is, as the name suggests, an Olympic sport. The goal of the athlete is to attempt to lift as much weight as possible overhead. They do this in two different lifts: the snatch (pictures below), and the clean and jerk.
Source: http://www.gifmania.co.uk/Sports-Animated-Gifs/Animated-weightlifting/Lu…
One of America’s greatest female weightlifters is Mattie Rogers. She is twenty-two years old, began weightlifting after a short, but successful, career in crossfit at age 17, and is the “up-and-coming weightlifting millennial who has an awesome social media presence” (NBC Olympics). She has been praised for her social media accounts and one of her more recent videos, where a barbell broke a window, almost went viral. Her tweets are hilarious, #relatable, and a genuine representation of her fun and spunky personality that she displays on and off the podium.
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Mattie’s Twitter (@mattie_rogers) and Instagram (mattiecakesssss) pages are extremely entertaining and she is even verified on twitter. She tweets about her love of food (cheese fries and chick-fil-a), her cat, IKEA, and her daily weightlifting struggles. She also loves memes (don’t we all) and isn’t afraid to retweet her favorites. At first glance, her instagram is filled with impressive videos of her daily training. However, look more closely and you can find gorgeous selfies of Mattie and her cat and more posts about her love of all food. Some of her best hashtags include #teamgroutfit and #christmascookiechamp (among other things).
Not only is Mattie a social media queen, she is also an incredibly talented athlete. She can snatch over 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and clean and jerk over 126 kilograms (277.2 pounds). She has competed in major international competitions including the Pan American Games and the World Championships. She was also extremely close to qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, but unfortunately did not post a strong enough qualifying total (the combination of the most weight she snatched and clean and jerked) at this year’s Olympic Trials. She has not backed down though – she still continues to train twice daily while balancing a college education and many endorsements from companies like Xendurance and Rehband.
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Mattie is also an advocate for strong women and does not take any hate from anyone. In a recent interview she said “be nice in your comments on that stupid video, women are strong, contrary to what some of you believe.” Her videos on instagram and YouTube are prime examples of her ability to bring grace and beauty to a sport that is stereotypically male dominant. Mattie Rogers is a role model to many young girls looking to find a balance between strength and femininity in weightlifting. If you get the chance, check out her social media pages. You’ll be awestruck by her athletic capabilities and may just get a laugh out of her funny dancing videos.
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