WOODLANDS weightlifter Martin Venter (27) recently struck gold at the Arnold Sports Festival which took place from 17 to 19 May at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.
The Arnold Sports Festival hosts multi-sport festivals on six continents each year and Martin competed in the 102-kilogram division for youth. He said that grabbing the gold medal felt great. “The greater feeling was getting an all six score for my lifts from the judges, it’s a pretty strict sport and 6 for 6 is something we all aspire to get,” he said.
Martin trains at the Fetish Strength and Conditioning Weightlifting Gym and said that Olympic weightlifting is his passion and that he draws his inspiration from many places such as his family and friends who also take part in the sport as well as his training partner Nikki Allorto and first coach Mark Butler, who laid a major foundation for him in the sport.
Olympic Weightlifting is one of the oldest barbell sports disciplines, consisting of two main movements during competition, which are the Snatch as well as the Clean and Jerk. “However the training programme is much more complex, involving multiple movements such as squats, deadlifts, push presses, and much more,” he added.
“Olympic weightlifting is definitely my passion. It has changed who I am both physically and mentally, it teaches much more than just how to have a strong body. I love the process and it’s not something that you can rush. It’s something that forces you to see the bigger picture and that is a lesson that you have to apply to many aspects in life. The only thing I don’t like about weightlifting is that I can’t do it all day. My next goal is to refine my technique and hit a 250kg total (110kg Snatch and 140kg Clean and Jerk),” said an ambitious Martin.
The local weightlifting champ now looks forward to competing in the upcoming KZN Champs in August as well as the SA Champs later on in the year.
WATCH: Man kicks Arnold Schwarzenegger in the back during Arnold Classic Africa in Sandton
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