In less than a month, Jourdan Delacruz, ‘23, will be boarding a flight to Paris, France, to embark on an experience she’s been pursuing for the last year and a half. 她赢得了 one of just three highly sought after women’s weightlifting spots on Team USA to compete 参加2024年奥运会.  

This will be Delacruz’s second appearance at the Olympics. 她参加了2020年的比赛 Tokyo Games but didn’t take home a medal and returned home the day after she competed. 她说，今年将会有所不同. 

“Because this is my second time around, I’m in a better place,” Delacruz说. “I’m feeling a lot of positive emotions — so less anxious, less pressure. 我只是 soaking up the experience and really enjoying this time.” 

This year, the weightlifting competition will take place toward the end of the Olympic Games unlike in 2020, when weightlifting was one of the first competitions. 这意味着 Delacruz will be able to attend the opening and closing ceremonies.  

“我太兴奋了. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Delacruz说. “我还想 to be able to watch other sports and obviously compete and be with my family and friends 之后.” 

变得更强 

To reach the position she is in now, Delacruz made training at the gym her top priority. It became a routine she remained committed to, balancing her workouts while finishing her bachelor’s degree in Dietetics through the 北科罗拉多大学’s online 程序. Since her graduation last December, her focus has been all about gaining 保持体力. 

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“I’ve had this whole semester and the summer to just focus on weightlifting,” Delacruz 说. “That’s been a great opportunity for me to reset, take care of my body so I 我为奥运会做好了准备吗.” 

Delacruz is going into the Games as a two-time world medalist and three-time Pan-American 冠军得主. She ranks fourth in the world at 49 kg and holds eight American 三个重量级的记录. 她说她最大的竞争对手是女运动员 来自中国、印度和泰国. 而带着一枚奖牌回家将是一件了不起的事情 accomplishment, Delacruz feels there is a bigger opportunity here. 她想成为 女运动员的榜样. 

在健身房和其他地方激励女孩和女人 

“I want to be an inspiration to all girls and women, especially those who want to try weightlifting or want to step into the gym,” 说 Delacruz. “我知道会的 kind of terrifying, but I hope that I’m being a positive influence to show that it 是可能的.” 

Delacruz didn’t plan to become a weightlifting champion when she was younger, she 专注于啦啦队吗. 但有一次有人建议她开始训练 in the gym to improve her cheerleading skills, she realized how essential it is. 

“It doesn’t have to be your job like it is mine, but if you want to play softball or another sport, weightlifting and getting stronger is still a great thing to do,” Delacruz说. “Or even if you want to improve your overall lifestyle, getting into 健身房有帮助. And hey, women getting stronger is never going to be a bad thing.” 

Delacruz推出了一个在线空间,Herathlete, in 2023 during her final year in college to focus on supporting female athletes. The platform provides information for athletes on topics like periods, menopause, pregnancy, breastfeeding and birth control since she found these topics were not being 在运动空间中讨论. 

“Weightlifting has historically been a male-dominated sport and is still mostly made up of male coaches, though our female lifters are breaking world-class standards yearly. This makes the discussion around female-specific topics difficult to convey effectively,” Delacruz说. 

Just like her goal in the Paris Olympic Games, Delacruz hopes to lift up female athletes and create a space that will provide them access to necessary healthcare, making them 在各个方面都更强大，更有弹性. 

“I hope that Herathlete will one day become more of a collaborative setting with different sport professionals, physical therapists and psychologists and strength and conditioning coaches all working together in one place to provide athletes all the support they 德拉克鲁斯说.  

Delacruz is slated to compete in Paris on Wednesday, Aug. 7.