Tatiana Kashirina Weightlifter by Accident

Here is short news clip about 21 year old Tatiana Kashirina.

Fun fact, she got involved in weightlifting by accident

She knocked on the wrong door at the gym, and instead of going to a dance class she went into the weightlifting room.

Yep that’s how it’s done in Russia. Knock on the wrong door & become a weightlifting champ.

Weightlifting used to be very popular in the Soviet Union. But those halcyon days are over. Not only because the sport is no longer so popular, but also because of the many myths, prejudices and negative publicity surrounding weightlifting.

“Now, television broadcasts show weightlifting only rarely. People don’t know about the sport and believe false stories. Once a mother brought her son to me and said she wanted him to start weightlifting so he wouldn’t grow very tall. It doesn’t work like that”, says Vladimir Krasnov, weightlifting coach.

Luckily, one of Russia’s brightest stars in women’s weightlifting, Tatiana Kashirina, didn’t listen to all the stories, and put the burden of restoring the country to its place among the sport’s heavyweights on her own shoulders.

It’s hard to imagine that the woman who can lift more than twice her own bodyweight got involved in the sport by accident.

As she once knocked on the wrong door in the gym – and instead of going to a dance class – she went into the weightlifting room.

“I got into the sport by accident, but I liked the sport and I’m still in it. Girls will be girls – even if our sport is weightlifting. I think that weightlifters have strong characters. That’s what can scare men – that women have a much stronger personality”, says Tatiana Kashirina.

“It wasn’t hard to discover her talent. When she first arrived in the gym you could clearly see her potential. At the age of twelve, she could lift the weights of amateur athletes. I have never heard of young weightlifters who could do that, anywhere in the world”, says Vladimir Krasnov.

Russia has never won the Olympic gold in women’s weightlifting since the sport was introduced in 2000.

While four-time European champion, and 2010 World champion, Kashirina is just 21 years old.

“My main rival is a barbell – and my aim is to beat it. I give lots of respect to all my opponents. There are always many good competitors. And I don’t rule them out, even if they are able to lift less than I can. But I don’t compete with them”, says Tatiana Kashirina.

And it seems the athlete from the Moscow Region has plenty of time to claim the “world’s strongest woman” title.