Weightlifter brings home second bronze medal

n Paskiewicz places third in the 2019 World Masters Championship.

Janelle Jessen/Siloam Sunday Lynn Paskiewicz is presented with the bronze medal for Olympic-style weightlifting at the 2019 World Master's Weightlifting Championship in Montreal, Canada, last week. This is the second time she has won the award.
Janelle Jessen/Siloam Sunday Lynn Paskiewicz is presented with the bronze medal for Olympic-style weightlifting at the 2019 World Master's Weightlifting Championship in Montreal, Canada, last week. This is the second time she has won the award.

Lynn Paskiewicz is not what most people picture when they think of a retired elementary school librarian. The 63-year-old earned her second bronze medal for Olympic style weightlifting at the 2019 Master's World Championship in Montreal, Canada, on Aug. 18.

Paskiewicz earned her first bronze medal during the 2018 Master's World Championship at L'Hospitalet in Barcelona, Spain. Since then, she has retired from her position of librarian at Southside Elementary School.

Olympic-style weightlifting

Olympic-style weightlifting is a sport with a history that stretches back to ancient Egyptian and Greek societies. Today, weightlifters compete in two events, the “snatch” and the “clean and jerk.”

Snatch

Weightlifters pull the weight from the ground and throw it over their head in one powerful motion, then catch it in a squatting position, and rise to a standing position with the weight still over their head.

Clean and jerk

Weightlifters pull the weight to their chest, then push it above their heads.

SOURCE: WWW.OLYMPIC.ORG

"I'm crazy proud because while trying to handle the retirement thing, she managed to get here five days a week, work hard, set two national records, one in the snatch and one in the total, and then go on to add two kilos to her total from (the 2018 world championship) to earn a bronze medal," said Michael Spruell, who owns CrossFit Siloam Springs, where Paskiewicz trains.

Olympic weightlifting is divided into two events, the clean and jerk and more technically difficult snatch, and competitors are scored by the total amount of weight they can lift during both events while maintaining proper form.

The national records were set at the 2019 Masters National Championships in her weight class for 60- to 65-year-olds, where Paskiewicz also qualified for the world championship. The competition took place in Saint Louis last March. To set the national record for her age, Paskiewicz lifted 40 kilograms (88.19 pounds) in her best snatch and 85 kilograms (187.39 pounds) overall, according to event records.

To win the 2019 bronze medal, Paskiewicz also lifted 40 kg (88.19 pounds) in her best snatch and 45 kg (99.21 pounds) in her best clean and jerk for a total of 85 kilograms (187.39 pounds), according to event records.

Paskiewicz said that she placed the same in the national championship as last year despite lifting more weight because she moved down a weight class and several people from the younger age division moved up into her division.

Eleanor Mallow, who competed alongside Paskiewicz in a different age category during the 2018 world championship, was not able to participate this year because of an injury, Paskiewicz said. However, Mallow did go along to coach her friend and training partner in both the national and world championships.

When Paskiewicz started coming to the CrossFit gym in Siloam Springs, she never imagined lifting weights let alone competing on a national or international level. She was barely able to jump onto the three-inch plates but stuck with it over the years to get to where she is today.

Paskiewicz and her husband are raising seven special needs kids and she views the workouts as her therapy, she said.

"It's been a good experience and I never thought this would occur," she said.

Now that she has completed the 2019 competitions, Paskiewicz has her eye on the 2020 world championship in Germany and she is hopeful that Mallow, who is on the mend, will be able to compete again.

General News on 08/25/2019