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Rory became the youngest person to lift double their body weight in Olympic-style weightlifting during the Variety Village Open in 海角社区官网two weeks ago. Standing four-foot-four and weighing 32.8 kilograms, the Ottawa preteen lifted 66 kilograms in the clean and jerk, bringing the barbell to her shoulders before thrusting it overhead.

American Olympian Clarence Cummings had been the doing it a decade ago when he was 11 years old. Spencer Moorman, Rory鈥檚 coach and a two-time U.S. champion, has done it once in a lengthy career.

鈥淭o see her do it within four years of lifting says a lot about the hours and effort that she鈥檚 put in,鈥� Moorman says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the major things that separates Rory from almost every other child lifter: She puts in the effort, she puts in the hours.鈥�

There are many outdated beliefs about the dangers weightlifting poses to children. So, despite the many accolades and overwhelmingly positive comments on her Instagram page, there is still criticism about Rory lifting at such a young age.

Is it safe for children?

鈥淲hen you say that your five-year-old daughter is about to start Olympic weightlifting, everybody says: 鈥楪oodness, you鈥檙e crazy. Why are you doing this? This isn鈥檛 safe. She shouldn鈥檛 be doing this,鈥欌�� says Rory鈥檚 mom, Lindsay Noad. 鈥淥ne of the things we鈥檝e really focused on, at least in our sort of immediate circle, is education. We still have the detractors, particularly on social media. We always will.鈥�

This has little effect on Rory, who doesn鈥檛 have a phone or much to do with her online presence. Her dad, Cavan van Ulft, manages that.

Noad and van Ulft didn鈥檛 set out to create a weightlifting prodigy. They just wanted to keep their daughter safe in the sport she loves most: gymnastics.

Both parents are scientists, so when Rory was five and invited to join a competitive gymnastics team they started researching. Van Ulft was 鈥渢errified by the statistics鈥� he found on injuries and health concerns in gymnastics and landed on weightlifting as a route to reduce those dangers.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we started, and then it just turned out that Rory was good at it,鈥� he says.

That puts Rory, who turns 10 on Sunday, in a small but seemingly growing group of Canadian youngsters who are starting weightlifting earlier and achieving impressive results because of it.

That trend has been entirely driven by a few club coaches and some provincial associations. Weightlifting Canada, the sport鈥檚 national body, has long had a 鈥減hilosophical barrier鈥� to developing youth competitors (13 to 17), let alone juveniles under 13. It wasn鈥檛 because of safety concerns, explains Weightlifting Canada president Craig Walker, but a belief that Canadian youth would get discouraged if they competed internationally against countries with established, well-funded programs.

Lifting is about technique

Becoming a successful weightlifter isn鈥檛 about bulging muscles but mastering the technique of the two lifts 鈥� the snatch, and the clean and jerk 鈥� and that takes time. Top coaches have long argued that kids in Canada need to start learning the fundamentals much younger, and provincial bodies such as the Ontario Weightlifting Association have started to include competition categories for younger ages.

Walker says there is now 鈥渁 broad recognition across more of the leadership at the provincial and national level that for us to sustain or grow the sport, we need to get people into the sport at a younger age where they鈥檙e getting more technical development at an earlier age, so that they are international class as seniors.鈥�

Of the five Canadian weightlifters three started as children from ages six to 10. Gold medallist Maude Charron wanted to start when she was seven, but her parents steered her to other sports. She found weightlifting through CrossFit at 20.

Expanding youth participation is also vital for a sport looking to escape its doping reputation and maintain a place on the Olympic program.

Weightlifting Canada, a doesn鈥檛 track juveniles but now counts close to 400 youth competitors aged 13 to 17, a massive increase over the 鈥渉andful鈥� who used to compete, Walker says. That growth and change in philosophy has led the national body to put in place safe-sport policies for youth lifters, and Canada will hold its first youth national championships this summer.

Young lifters competing in U.S.

But that focus has not trickled down to athletes under 13. 鈥淚f we see that there鈥檚 a demand from a fairly high number of juvenile athletes who have shown some proficiency in competition, there鈥檚 nothing to stop us from looking at hosting an online juvenile nationals,鈥� Walker says.

For now, Canada鈥檚 youngest lifters are crossing the border to compete in the American championships run by USA Weightlifting. It includes categories down to 11 and under, which Rory has won three times. Other Canadians who have won there include Ivy-Marie Buzinhani Brustello, and Emily and Brayan Ibanez-Guerrero.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e very, very proficient, so we鈥檙e not really that concerned about the weight being too much,鈥� Walker says of the young lifters. 鈥淭he impact on the body from doing those lifts when it鈥檚 done well is a lot less than what you鈥檙e experiencing in gymnastics or hockey or football.鈥�

Dr. Sasha Carsen, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at the Children鈥檚 Hospital of Eastern Ontario, says the long-standing negative bias to weight training for children and claims that it stunts growth or damages growth plates are not backed by science or injury studies. If those risks were real, they鈥檇 be cause for concern in other sports that involve high velocity and complex movements such as gymnastics, he says, adding the risks in any sport can be mitigated by good technique, good coaching and appropriate progression.

鈥楢 little bean of a person鈥�

Moorman remembers Rory when she was 鈥渏ust a little bean of a person鈥� walking into his gym in Ottawa. But he was impressed when she quickly picked up a jumping exercise that demanded muscle co-ordination and timing. 鈥淭here鈥檚 more than just a kid here,鈥� he says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 able to take in information, process it and execute.鈥�

Execution was what she had in mind at the Variety Village competition. Rory had lifted double her body weight in training and wanted to do it in competition before her 10th birthday. Her first three lifts were in the snatch, where she brings the weight overhead in one movement.

But she missed her opening weight, 63 kilograms, in the clean and jerk. She made it on her second attempt, leaving just one more lift. The weight that flashed up on the board was 64 kilograms, not enough for Rory to reach her goal.

Her father鈥檚 eyes opened wide. He had been pacing nervously before all of her lifts. Her mother, sitting in the front row, held her breath.

Rory asked her coach to put the weight to 66. 鈥淚 want it,鈥� she said.

鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to take this (weight up),鈥� Moorman replied, 鈥渋t鈥檚 not just because you want it but because you are confident that you can do it.鈥�

She nodded, and a moment later her arms, covered in temporary tattoos, were extended over head in triumph. 鈥淭hat was really exciting,鈥� she said.

Weightlifting a confidence booster

Rory, who has six Ontario records in the 15-and-under and 17-and-under categories, has no peers. She was the youngest in her group of 12 female lifters in the 海角社区官网event. The next youngest was 24.

鈥淚t would definitely be nice to have more kids in the sport so I could, like, talk to them,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I mean, it鈥檚 fine because I don鈥檛 have many people to compete against.鈥�

Rory says weightlifting gives her confidence. 鈥淲hen I get something in weightlifting, I say to myself, 鈥業f you did this, then you can do that, too.鈥� Sometimes it works.鈥�

But for all her success, it is still gymnastics that takes up most of her time 鈥� 16 hours a week to weightlifting鈥檚 three 鈥� and seems to be her favourite sport. (She also surprised her parents by joining the volleyball team at school, where she鈥檚 in Grade 5 after skipping a year.)

鈥淚 love gymnastics,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 love to move, I love all the people that go to my gym. It鈥檚 really fun.鈥�

Her parents see that difference. 鈥淪he loves gymnastics; she鈥檚 good at weightlifting,鈥� van Ulft says.

Adds Noad: 鈥淚f she quits gymnastics, would she quit weightlifting? That鈥檚 the million-dollar question.鈥�