Washington
11 June 2008
American weightlifter Melanie Roach, 33, is finally fulfilling an Olympic dream that began more than eight years ago. The petite mother of three is one of four female weightlifters who will represent the United States this August at the Beijing Summer Games. VOA's Teresa Sullivan has more.
Roach says she gained new perspective for weightlifting from challenges faced by her young son, Drew, who has the developmental disability, autism.
And Melanie says husband, Dan, continues to be a big help, too.
"I have an extremely supportive husband, and without his blessing, it would have never happened," she said.
Melanie's sights were already set on the Beijing Olympics when she successfully underwent a new type of microsurgery in 2006. She was training five days later, pain-free for the first time since feeling those two "pops" in her back seven years earlier.
Fully recovered, Roach stormed back to the top of the U.S. women's rankings, and went on to win a bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games in Brazil.
But if you think Melanie does any heavy lifting around the house, think again.
"If it is not attached to a bar, I do not lift it," she explained. "I am very, very careful. I am very protective of my low back, so I have to be very careful. One thing that could keep me from Beijing would be an injury."
Roach says she plans to retire from competitive weightlifting after Beijing to concentrate on being a mom, wife, and business owner.
For better or worse, this American athlete's Olympic odyssey will finally end this August in Beijing.
An ancient Chinese proverb states, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," and so perhaps it could be said that Melanie Roach's journey to the Beijing Olympics began with a single squat.