Weightlifting: National Championship-Female record breakers take centre stage |27 November 2006

With just two months’ training after being absent from the sport for almost two years during which time she gave birth to a baby boy, Télémaque, 17, pulverised her snatch junior category record.

After snatching 45kg and 50kg in her first two attempts, Télémaque lifted the bar loaded at 53kg over her head to better her old record of 52.5kg in the 48-kg weight category.
She then missed out on improving her 65kg clean-and-jerk record by a whisker, failing at 66kg.

Winner of six silver medals in the women’s 58-kg category – three in the junior and three in the senior divisions – at this year’s African Weightlifting Championship in Casablanca, Morocco, Agricole won the best female lifter title with a total of 170kg

The 18-year-old twice improved the Seychelles 58-kg category snatch record, bringing the junior and senior best lift to 75kg. The previous senior record of 72.5kg belonged to former Sportslady of the Year Sophia Vandagne and she set it during the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in 2000. The junior record of 70kg belonged to Agricole herself.

Agricole then failed to better the 95kg clean-and-jerk record for a second time this year after having added 2.5kg to Vandagne’s old record of 92.5kg during the African Championship. She twice failed to heave 96kg, finishing with a total of 165kg to add 2.5kg to Vandagne’s old total of 162.5kg.

“My target was to break the snatch record during the African Championship, but I missed it. I’m happy I got it in the National Championship,” former Young Female Athlete of the Year Agricole told Sports Nation.

Competing in the 63-kg category, two-time former Sportslady of the Year Thélermont, who won the 69-kg title at the 2005 and 2006 African Weightlifting Championship with three gold medals each time, improved her snatch and clean-and-jerk records set way back in 1999.

Explaining the reason for not competing in the 69-kg category, saying “my body weight hasn’t gone back to normal after suffering from chikungunya fever and I haven’t been training regularly of late”, Thélermont snatched 75kg and clean-and-jerked 95kg to improve her previous records of 70kg and 80.5kg respectively.

Winner of a clean-and-jerk silver medal and a bronze medal for an Olympic total of 257kg at the African Weightlifting Championship in September, Charles Siméon was voted the best male lifter of the National Championship with a total lift of 255kg.

Runner-up to Sportsman of the Year 2005 Allan Julie, Siméon snatched 110kg and lifted the bar loaded at 145kg in the clean-and-jerk before injuring an elbow when attempting 152kg.

The most improved lifter was Dominic Ferley with a total of 215kg – 95kg in snatch and 120kg in clean-and-jerk.

The following are the complete results:

Kathsia Télémaque 48-kg junior (113kg in total, 53kg snatch and 60kg clean-and-jerk),
Julie Matatiken 53-kg senior (125kg in total, 55kg snatch and 70kg clean-and-jerk),
Clementina Agricole, 58-kg junior (165kg in total, 75kg snatch and 90kg clean-and-jerk),
Brenda Lozaique, 63-kg senior (0kg in total, failed all her three snatch attempts at 60kg),
Janet Thélermont, 63-kg senior (170kg in total, 75kg snatch and 95kg clean-and-jerk).
Elyjah 62-kg junior (145kg in total, 60kg snatch and 85kg clean-and-jerk),
Ian Rose 62-kg junior (200kg in total, 85kg snatch and 115kg clean-and-jerk),
Romeo Siméon, 69-kg senior (253kg in total, 111kg snatch and 142kg clean-and-jerk),
Marcus Zoé 77-kg junior (170kg in total, 70kg snatch and 100kg clean-and-jerk),
Charles Siméon, 77-kg senior, (255kg in total, 110kg snatch and 145kg clean-and-jerk),
Elvis Jeanne, 94-kg junior, (260kg in total, 120kg snatch and 140kg clean-and-jerk),
Robert Kilindo, 105-kg senior, (245kg in total, 110kg snatch and 135kg clean-and-jerk)
Dominic Ferley, 105-kg junior (215kg in total, 95kg snatch and 120kg clean-and-jerk).

G. G.