Gilberto Lemus is 1.80 m tall and for this reason, when he started in the world of weightlifting 14 years ago, some told him that the sport wasn’t right for him, especially since he only weighed 140 pounds.
His first contact with the bar and discs was in a small gym in Puerto de San José, near the municipality, where he took advantage of the invitation they made to a friend and decided to accompany him. “I never imagined that I would like it so much and that it would be the beginning of a long career,” he says.
Years later, Lemus has accumulated countless experiences in weightlifting, some bad and some good, which have shaped his character and have turned him, at 30 years old, into a person with conviction. Now their main challenge is to qualify for their first Olympic Games.
This required undergoing a series of changes to reach its current category: +109 kg, that of the superheavyweights.
When he arrived at the Weightlifting Federation in 2011 and joined the team for the first time, he weighed 74 kg—162 pounds. The following year it moved to the 85 kg (187 pounds) category, then to 94 kg (206 pounds) and since 2014 it has been at 128 kg (206 pounds).
“In this category there is no specific diet; one has to consume a lot of carbohydrates and proteins. It has been difficult for me because it is difficult for me to gain weight. I have always wanted to reach 140 kg, but my body is not enough for that”, he expresses.
Road to Paris
The athlete, who last Friday won bronze in the Pan American Championship in Venezuela, yesterday took a break in his training at the Weightlifting Federation, in zone 5 of the capital, to talk about his beginnings and especially his ultimate dream: qualifying for Paris 2024.
“I feel happy for the participation I had in Venezuela. These results have not occurred overnight. I have been fighting for many years to go to the Olympic Games and now I have one more opportunity to raise the name of my country,” says the Guatemalan.
At the end of this month Lemus will compete in the World Weightlifting Championships in Thailand, which would be the fifth “gold level” event required to earn points in the Olympic qualification rankings. “I have been working on getting the ticket for two years. It has not been easy, especially due to the problems in the federation – it is intervened – and the inconveniences of the sport – the suspension of the IOC –”, he highlights.
Aspiration
“I hope that the IOC suspension can be resolved, because the hope is to qualify and be able to compete with the Guatemalan flag. “It is the dream of all athletes.”he emphasizes.
“When you are out competing you hear ‘how are you, independent?’. Friends joke about it, but it hurts when they are asking you where you are from,” he laments.
The other “gold level” competitions in which Lemus has participated have been the 2023 World Championship, a Grand Prix, the 2023 Pan American Weightlifting Championship and the tournament in Venezuela, so the World Cup in Thailand closes the process.
Two weeks after the end of the World Cup, the list of qualifiers will be announced. The direct competition for the Olympic ticket will be with the representatives of Mexico and the United States.
If he does not obtain the classification by ranking, Lemus hopes to participate with a letter of invitation, as happened with Scarleth Ucelo for Tokyo 2020 and Édgar Pineda Zeta at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
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