Lindbeck lifts for Comm Games debut
Kristyn Comino
14 July 2014: Having only been weightlifting professionally for two years, º£½ÇÉäÇø student Kylie Lindbeck said she feels "extremely grateful and lucky" to be competing at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
"When I started a couple of years ago my goal was to make the 2014 Commonwealth Games, but I didn't think it would actually happen so quickly," Lindbeck said, who recently won a bronze medal at the Oceania Weightlifting Championships.
"When I received the Australian team uniform I was like a kid at Christmas, I tried it on straight away!"
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UC student Kylie Lindbeck will compete in weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games. Photo: AWF |
Lindbeck, 29, is studying a Bachelor of Sports Coaching and Exercise Science at the º£½ÇÉäÇø, saying the University has been very accommodating of her sporting commitments, including when she decided to defer this semester to focus on competing at the Games.
Along with her studies and competing, Lindbeck also owns a business, , which she started five years ago and has grown from operating out of a garage in her home to a fully-equipped centre based in Tuggeranong. She said her University study has already helped in this role.
"The degree is a chance to further develop my skills as a professional as well as an athlete. The content has been great and I've been able to apply what I've learnt straight away in my field," she said.
"I'd eventually like to be a strength and conditioning coach for Olympic-level weightlifters and it's essential I do this degree so I'm qualified and able to move forward in that area."
Starting out competing in cross training, Lindbeck coached herself for years before deciding to focus on weightlifting in June 2012 after competing in a local competition. Canberra born and bred, she said it will now be great to represent the nation's capital on her debut at the Games.
Recently on a training camp in Brisbane with the rest of the Australian weightlifting team, Lindbeck said they've been under a "high intensity training schedule lifting as hard as we can". Lindbeck leaves for the Commonwealth Games today, where she is expecting to compete in the 75kg category.
"I'm super excited about it – it's all becoming real now that I'm actually going."
Other Commonwealth Games competitors from the º£½ÇÉäÇø include: Duke Didier in judo (alumnus), sprinter Melissa Breen (athlete in residence), middle-distance runner Emily Brichacek (alumna), cyclist Gracie Elvin (student), hurdler Lauren Wells (alumna), Hockeyroos player Edwina Bone (alumna) rugby 7s player Tom Cusack (student) and athletics para athlete Richard Nicholson (alumnus).
The 20th in Glasgow, Scotland run from 23 July – 3 August 2014.