Interview with Sportswoman of the Year 2013 Clementina Agricole |04 February 2014

‘Don’t let your disability become a problem, make it your strength’

 Last Friday it was clear from the smile on her face that she was happy to have been recognised for her efforts during the year 2013 to earn the Sportswoman of the Year title for the very first time.

Clementina Agricole was seen by many sports fans as deserved winner of the prestigious title and when Sports Nation caught up with the weightlifting star, she was already back to her usual training routines in preparation for the new sports season.

“Winning this award represents a lot to me as it shows that I have worked very hard during the course of the year,” said the 24-year-old. “I had a lot of support coming from my coaches and family, which truly helped me a lot in achieving the results I earned during 2013.”

Clementina was voted the Young Female Athlete of the Year back in 2004 and is the third weightlifter after Sophia Vandagne (1999) and Janet Georges (2002, 2004, 2006 and 2010) to win the prestigious Sportswoman of the Year award.
 
In 2013 she achieved a silver medal in the 58kg category at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in Penang, Malaysia where she finished with an Olympic total of 190kg (85kg in snatch and 105kg in clean & jerk).

Speaking about her performance in 2013 she said: “2013 was a pretty good year although there were not many high level competitions. Since I had just returned to the sport, I mostly concentrated on the Commonwealth Championship where I managed a very good result.”

Clementina’s story is one well worth telling as the young lady went through a very tough period where she had to quit the sport she so dearly loved due to illness. Coming back from an operation to remove a brain tumor that kept her away from the sport for two years, it would not have been easy for anyone to maintain the same level of performance as she has managed.

“It took a lot of effort and sacrifice to come back after such a long lay-off,” she said. “It takes a lot of investment for an athlete to produce good results and I had invested so much in myself before I got sick, and then I lost all of what I had invested.”

Clementina added that she had expected to receive much more support from the ministry responsible for sports and the National Sports Council (NSC) during the time she spent on the sidelines.
“I think they should support and invest more in athletes if they really want to see good results in the future,” she added.

“It was not easy at all for me to come back to the sport as I had to start from scratch all by myself. People also kept asking: ‘You are sick, why do you want to return to sport?’ If it was not for my own expenses and love of the sport I would not have been here today,” the determined best female athlete of the year said.

To have come so far in just one year is certainly not easy. Sports followers will know various examples where sportsmen have never fully rediscovered their form and ability after coming back from a long injury layoff. Clementina has, however, defied the odds and come back even stronger than before.

“In a way I didn’t expect to produce good results upon my return but at the same time I wanted to. When some people said I would never get back to my old form, I started to doubt myself but then I took it upon myself to prove them wrong,” added Clementina.

“Once I managed to convince myself I could do it, I just worked hard with lots of determination to achieve it.”

Weightlifting is a very demanding sport and is not too popular among the youths, but Clementina sees it as any other sports discipline.

“The first thing that is needed in weightlifting, like any other sports, is discipline. Everything works alongside discipline which is the most important thing,” she said.

To all the young sportsmen and women out there, Clementina has this message for you: “Stay determined in whatever you do. Practice makes perfect, so as long as you keep on training and learning you will achieve your goals.”

There is no doubt that there are other athletes who at some point are unable to perform the favourite sports due to injury and this young woman who has surpassed all her challenges has this advice: “Do not ever give up. Don’t let your disability become a problem, instead make it your strength.”

Sport Nation takes this opportunity to congratulate Clementina and wishes her more success in the future.

S. N.