For the first time, women weight lifters will strengthen the competitive arena of the Olympic Games. Although they have competed internationally since 1987, their Olympic debut will be in the 2000 Sydney Summer Games. "I'm confident about the 2000 Olympics," says Cheryl Haworth, ranked the nation's number one female athlete by USA Weightlifting, the sport's governing body. "I'm in the gym three hours a day, five days a week." Haworth was a member of the first U.S. women's team in the 1999 Pan American Games, where she lifted 258.5 pounds in one event and 297.6 in another to win a gold medal. Female weight lifters have traditionally been associated with bikini-clad bodybuilders but, with their entrance into the Olympics, they may finally come into their own.
--Cynthia Hatten |
