Cochrane aiming to raise bar for Tokyo
Time to lift for Games
IT HAS been a tumultuous time for an athlete to seek Olympics qualification, but Townsville weightlifter Sarah Cochrane has not been deterred from her lofty ambitions.
Having come back from the Queensland state titles with a top of the podium finish, she is now aiming to capitalise on the momentum this weekend.
Athletes from as far south as Brisbane will head to the region to compete for the North Queensland Open Weightlifting competition, with Cochrane heavily tipped to claim a win.
The 31-year-old – who her coach Bryce Knight described as “in a league of her own” – was always pushing for a Tokyo berth, however the postponement of the international showcase has at least enabled her extra time to try to leapfrog other competitors.
However the unknown has been challenging to factor into her regimen, and now that competitions are back in full flight she is determined to take advantage.
“It’s definitely been challenging and a bit different, I was lucky the guys at our gym are really supportive and they made sure I had what I needed to keep training,” Cochrane said. “The hardest thing was the uncertainty around when things would open back up and when comps would start, which is still sort of a little bit up in the air with when the bigger comps will be held.
“The extra time probably isn’t a bad thing for me, I have to catch up and overtake another athlete so extra time is good. We went back and
worked on a lot of technique in both lifts – fine tuning a lot of things over that time – so who knows.
“For Tokyo we’ll see what happens, I’m just sort of taking it comp by comp and then whatever happens at the end of the day I’ve enjoyed everything leading up to it.”
Cochrane will be joined in the Townsville competition today by fellow Queensland championship winner Emily De Rooy and runner-up Halle Mifsud, along with Whitsunday under-17 national competitor Jaspa Hope.
When Cochrane took out her recent win, still she felt underwhelmed by her own performance. Lifting 85kg on the snatch, and 110kg on the clean and jerk, she said she had more to offer.
“I would’ve liked to hit some bigger numbers on the day but that’s how the sport is,” Cochrane said.
“That comp to me, with my work and everything going on, I wasn’t sure I was going to go until a couple of weeks out.
“I wanted to go down because it was the first time we had a group of athletes from our club go down ...
“I’m excited (for this competition), it should be really good, it will be nice to hold a bigger comp up here.”