World and Olympic dreams, but a road strewn with pitfalls. Vicky Graillot, 23, from the club HMDB21 (Weightlifting Bodybuilding Dijon Bourgogne 21), is engaged this weekend on the world championship weightlifting in Saudi Arabia. His appearance is scheduled from 6 p.m. (French time), Sunday September 10, 2023. The Burgundian weightlifter competes in the under 64 kilo category.
The world’s top 8 in their sights
Its objective is clear: “To get a top 8, a finalist place, in the -64kg category. And to find the level I had before getting injured. Bars around 94 kilos, in the snatch category, and around 119 kilos, clean and jerk. An ambitious goal? Not that much. ”I’m in the top 10 in the world. When you are in the top 10, a top 8 is not excessive either, she puts it into perspective. I think I can achieve my goal, or even do better.”
The young woman is vengeful, and that is understandable. Vicky Graillot is coming out of three months off after a back injury. She trains five days a week, between Dijon and Paris, where her trainer is. “I think I’m ready, I’m back from my injury”, smiles the athlete. For a year and a half, everything has not been rosy, since she has not recorded any results in senior international competitions – she won a silver medal at the European Under-23 Championship. At the last world championships, in December, she missed her three clean and jerk attempts, and therefore finished “unclassified”. A few months later, she was injured and had to withdraw from the European Championship.
A need to strike hard to reassure ourselves about the sporting aspect, but not only that, there are also the financial issues. “Getting a good place can allow me to have additional aid, financial aid. This is important, since in October I find myself unemployed, at the end of my professionalization contract, she explains. Making a top 8 would allow me to put my name in the list of the best French women, and it could make companies want to help a high-level athlete, who is preparing for the Olympics and who is performing at the international level.”.
For Paris 2024, the road is long
For any athlete, French in particular, the period is special, less than a year before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Tasty for those who will be there. Stressful, frustrating, sometimes distressing for athletes still chasing the challenge. “The most difficult course is not the competition itself, it’s qualifying.”notes Vickey Graillot. “You have to believe it, knowing that the Olympics are taking place in France, the two best French women will go to the Olympic Games. Today, I am fourth, but I don’t tell myself that it’s impossible, she specifies. If someone gets injured, or changes category, I may participate. I work for”.
A difficult qualification to achieve, and a change in regulations at the wrong time. Since the start of her career, Vicky Graillot has been competing in the -64kg category. A category which will disappear in the next Olympics. If she qualifies, the young woman will have to compete in the -71kg category. “I have no help in that regard, the level is very high in this category”. In any case, the Burgundian weightlifter wants to look further than next year: “Being the youngest in the group of the senior French team, I am looking forward to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics to hope for a qualification and a performance”.
Educational film movements of the snatch and the clean and jerk