TWO, local woman have qualified to represent their country at the World Powerlifting Championships in Italy this November.
Mairead McMahon and Ann Scanlon, booked their place at the world event because of their performances at the national championships in Ardee, County Louth, last month.
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Mairead McMahon and Ann Scanlon, both have qualified to represent Ireland at the World Powerlifting Championships in Italy. Photo by Gavin O’Connor.
Ann Scanlon is from Castlegregory and runs Crossfit in Monavalley with her brother Tom, and his wife Joanne. Mairead McMahon from Knockanish, has been a member at the gym for just 12 months
“I was totally unhealthy and unfit before I joined, now to be given the opportunity to do something like this is totally amazing,” said Mairead.
Power lifting entails three different lifts; bench press, back squat and dead lift. Categories are organised by different weight and by age groups. Both of the women qualified in the over 40 competition – Mairead in the 80kg division and Ann in 58.5 kg.
The World Championships are due to get underway in Sicily, Italy on November 1. Next year the women won’t have to travel as far, with the competition set to be held in Killarney. “That will be a bigger deal if we can qualify for that!” said Ann Scanlon.
“There has been a huge uptake in women doing this over the last couple of years. It’s about 50/50 men and women doing it now in Ireland, but not so much in the rest of Europe,” said Ann.
“It’s something we’re all very new to, so it will be great to wear the Irish colours, especially for something you would have never thought of doing before,” she said.
Mairead has gone from strength to strength since she joined the gym last August, as she says herself she walked in the door with “no athletic ability at all”.
“I started here mainly to tone up and lose weight, and it’s amazing all the advantages it has brought, confidence, fitness, agility. I’m doing things now I never imagined I’d be able to do,” she said.
At the moment, the women are looking into sponsorship locally to try and cover some of the costs of getting to the competition.
