10 years after a crushing injury, I found a world bronze medal — and myself.

I have been in the sport of Olympic weightlifting since 2018, after a couple of margaritas on a Sunday afternoon at Bakersfield with my best friend and finally convincing her to train for a competition with me.

Once we started, we never looked back. I fell in love with the sport immediately! Not only has it helped me find my community in Charlotte, but also to find my confidence.

There is a remarkable feeling to know that my body is capable of lifting this weight off the floor and over my head. The club I hoist heavy weight with is Heavy Metal Barbell Club, located in Charlotte Strength in the NoDa neighborhood of Charlotte. This barbell club is one of the largest in the state of North Carolina. The club consists of people of all ages, but our Masters group, dubbed “Masters of Metal”, consists of 40+ members. When we go to a competition, we roll deep — and with a lot of glitter!

10 years ago: A terrible injury

I’m about to tell you about a world championship I recently competed in, but first I want to tell you what it means to me to be able to compete at all.

The day I competed (Dec. 5, 2025) was 10 years, to the day, after I suffered a catastrophic injury to my right leg and knee after falling off of a folding chair while trying to get a celebration shot in the Carolina Panthers locker room in New Orleans during their historic 2015 season. I suppose it helps to mention I was the team photographer at this time, so I was traveling with the team. Besides the team’s players and head coach, I was someone everyone at the Super Dome remembered each year we returned to play the Saints. “How’s your leg? How’s your knee?” It was thoughtful of them to ask, but also a constant reminder of what happened every season. It was a trauma that required two surgeries, six weeks of bed rest and even more physical therapy to fully heal.

It made me feel like I lost part of who I am. Before that accident I was an avid runner. The injury stole the joy I used to have while running and replaced it with incredible pain. I accomplished a life goal of running a marathon less than two months prior. I was fortunate enough to get into the Chicago Marathon through the lottery and used my bye week during the 2015 season to travel to run that race. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. As me and my running buddy, Arika, approached the finish line we grabbed each other’s hand and finished together with tear-soaked faces. I was already envisioning doing more races, improving my time and chasing that euphoric feeling of finishing something that seems impossible.

But while that injury ended my life as a runner, it eventually forced me to discover a different kind of strength — one that didn’t require a finish line, but a barbell.

What is a weightlifting master?

To be considered a “master” of something is often synonymous with having perfected a craft, having had the most experience or having the most knowledge about a subject. In weightlifting, “masters” are weightlifters who are ages 35 years old and older.

We call ourselves “the olds” with the pride of people who are confidently aging into a sport that we will never quite conquer.

Also, when I say “weightlifting”, I don’t mean power lifting, which is often the sport to which that word directly correlates when mentioned.

The sport I am talking about consists of two lifts, the snatch and the clean and jerk.

During a competition, weightlifters get on a platform and have three chances at each lift, hoping to at least make one “good” lift, which is determined by three judges sitting in front of them. Last month I stepped onto the biggest platform so far of my weightlifting journey when I competed at Masters World Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Since Worlds was taking place stateside in 2025, and in Florida no less, we decided to take the team to compete at the highest level we can reach.

The incredibly specific thing about Olympic weightlifting is it’s a weight class-based sport and divided into age categories. Everyone competes in certain weight categories, from as low as 49 kilos (108 pounds) for women, 60 kilos (132 pounds) for men and up to 86+ kilos, otherwise known as “supers”.

Personally, I competed in the 45-49 age group, in the 86 kilo weight class (I will let you do the math yourself on that one). While there were over a dozen women in my session, there were only two other women in my age group and weight class. All I had to do was make some lifts, come out with a total and I would be guaranteed a medal.

Smiling through the lift

Luckily I made some lifts. Everyone has their own lifting style — some channel anger and let out a guttural yell before touching the bar, others are into showmanship and encourage the crowd’s applause — but mine, while focused, is all smiles. My main objective outside of making lifts, is to have fun. If I am doing all of this and not having fun, then what is the point?

While sitting backstage waiting for my turn on the platform, I like to visualize myself making the lift. I envision myself standing squarely in the middle of the platform, looking straight ahead, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath to center myself. The voice in my head reminding me “You’ve got this! Brace, extend, f***ing finish!” Then, sending it overhead, elbows locked out, a big smile on my face with the certainty that I just made a good lift.

Before actually taking the platform, I like three sturdy slaps on each of my thighs and my back from my coach. I then walk to the chalk stand and apply an ample coat of white chalk to my palms and thumbs while I take a deep breath. I walk confidently to the barbell, head held high, shoulders back, looking straight ahead while nodding to myself (yet another reminder that I will make this lift).

As I walked onto the platform for my first snatch at 52 kilos (114 pounds), I could hear my teammates cheering for me from the stands. When I reached the barbell, I stood for a second, took a deep breath and found my focal point above everyone’s heads. As soon as I bent down to adjust my grip, I heard nothing except the voice inside my head, “Brace, extend, FINISH!”.

Doing the lift

The barbell on this platform had a particularly rough knurling and felt like I was holding onto a box grater. One thing was certain; my hands were not going to slip off the bar during these lifts!

Once my grip was secured, my shoulders and lats set, I took a deep breath and braced before a controlled pull to my knees, then becoming explosive as I pulled the bar to my hips and finally pulled myself under while the barbell flew overhead. With elbows locked and control secured, I stood up the lift and waited for the “down” signal to set the bar down.

The announcer exclaimed “Good lift!” With my first lift out of the way, and having at least one good snatch on the board, the rest of the session felt like a cakewalk. I made my next snatch at 55 kilos (121 pounds), but missed my third attempt at 57 kilos (125 pounds). My goal was to hit 55 kilos, so I was not too upset about not making my third lift.

My best clean and jerk was 70 kilos (154 pounds), giving me a finishing total of 125 kilos (275 pounds). With most large-scale national and world meets there are medals given for the heaviest snatch, heaviest clean and jerk and best overall total. For Masters World Championships we were only given medals for our totals. My total earned me a bronze medal, which was one of many medals won by the club’s Masters and Senior lifters.

Not a PR, but the best experience yet

While this didn’t surpass my personal record from the 2022 Carolina WSO State Championships, where I snatched 58 kilos and clean and jerked 74 kilos, it was one of my greatest weightlifting experiences to date.

Ten years to the day after that injury knocked me down, I stood strong on the platform. I carried the ghost of the runner I used to be into every lift, turning that old pain into new strength

It was a great reminder of what a gift it is to be able to move my body and what true strength feels like; persevering through adversity to find your way back to yourself.

This story was originally published March 17, 2026 at 5:00 AM.