SA weightlifter Spies sets sights on self-improvement after clinching 3 bronze medals

JOHANNESBURG – After competing in the 2024 Africa Senior Weightlifting Championship in Egypt, team South African managed to bring home seven bronze medals.

Of the seven medals, one of the country's top-tier weightlifters who clinched three, Anneke Spies, shared her feat with Eyewitness News.

“We have worked a lot on improving my technique over the past five months and we will continue to work on it since it has already made such a difference on the platform,” said Spies.

READ: Spies hopes to see weightlifting in SA go from strength to strength

Competing in the 59kg category, Spies won bronze in the snatch with 83kg, in the Clean and Jerk she lifted 104kg and she bagged an overall bronze medal for lifting 187kg.

“It's always such a privilege to be rewarded for the work you put in. It's not something that always happens as this sport is such a technical one and some days are just not great ones, so to have a good start of the year, is amazing,” said Spies.

Weightlifting is a sport where athletes lift barbells loaded with weights. The sport tests the strength, power and technique of athletes.

“I want to continue improving myself. Every competition is a chance for me to improve my previous performance. I would love to keep bringing medals back to South Africa.”

Spies began her weightlifting journey after competing in a CrossFit event and decided she wanted to get stronger and started doing weightlifting.
 
“I found the sport very suited to my build and enjoyed it quite a lot.”

The athlete told Eyewitness News she had medalled at several international competitions and said that the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where she came fourth, was what ignited her love for weightlifting.

HOW COMPETITION ARE CARRIED OUT

Athletes are weighed before competitions commence. Thereafter, they compete in two independent events, or exercises, known as the snatch and the clean and jerk, which take place one after the other.

Each competitor has a certain number of attempts, with a 10-minute break. The athlete’s overall score combines their best successful lift in each snatch as well as clean and jerk events.

TEAM SOUTH AFRICA AT THE WEIGHTLIFTING COMPETITIONS

• Anneke Spies
• Ruben Burger
• Jon-A Phillips
• Khati Mabuya
• Alexandra Mundell
• Chris Reeders