Weightlifter’s success story spurred by going own way

KIRI Culvert is proof different people benefit from different paths.

School camp did not take her fancy in year 10.

So her family made a deal with Otago Girls’ High School.

She would do a week of wellbeing work while the rest of her class went away.

Included in that was some Olympic weightlifting sessions.

It turned out she enjoyed them

— so much she kept going back.

Two years later she has just claimed a pair of South Island titles in Christchurch, in both the junior and senior women’s 87plus grades.

‘‘I’m not built for tramps and I’ve never been good at walking a long way,’’ Culvert (16) said.

‘‘I’ve always been more strengthbased. So we made a deal with the school about how I’d do a week of wellbeing instead of year 10 camp,’’ she said.

‘‘So I did my first trial then — I absolutely loved it. The whole environment, it was great — it’s always been amazing.’’

Now a year 12 pupil at Otago Girls’, Culvert trains three times a week.

The South Island Championships were her first competition outside of Dunedin and she said she had been nervous.

But it had been ‘‘amazing’’ to win two gold medals.

She achieved personal bests in both her lifts too, snatching 55kg and managing 69kg in the cleanandjerk.

It was that ability to compete against herself and chase personal records that kept her coming back.

‘‘I love how everyone’s not like it’s a competition against each other, it’s a competition against yourself.

‘‘If you’re in a team and then if you do something wrong there’s probably going to be blame put on you. But with weightlifting it’s like next time you’ll get it. I enjoy that.’’

Culvert’s medals were among nine golds Otago won at the championships.

She praised coach Callan Helms, who she said had been a big influence on her and was amazing for the club.