Isabelle Despres
Originally from Cocagne, New Brunswick, Isabelle Després has been competing in weightlifting since 2004. Her sporting career began in gymnastics and continued in soccer and track & field. It was during her track & field career that she started weightlifting as a training exercise. In 2004, she lifted enough weight to qualify for the provincial weightlifting competition. She gave that a try and qualified for the nationals. Her coaches encouraged her to continue down this path as she already had the physical build, determination and skill to make this her sport of choice.
Since then, Isabelle has achieved great success in the sport. She has placed first in Ontario and last year, placed second at the National championships. She continues to improve and has achieved numerous personal bests over the last year. With the encouragement of her coaches, including three-time Olympian Pierre St-Jean, she is poised to make great strides in this sport in the coming year and has her sights on representing Canada on the international stage.
Outside of the competitive arena, Isabelle works as a physiotherapist and personal trainer in downtown Ottawa. She also volunteers her time to help train new athletes in weightlifting. In 2011, she became a Champion for the Step Up, Speak Out campaign to fight homophobia in sport. She also became the first Canadian athlete to raise funds for training through two online crowdfunding campaigns, which made her a pioneer and helped pave the way for athletes to embrace technology as part of their fundraising efforts.
Visit http://izzylifting.ca to learn more!
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