Powerlifter Colbert is raising the bar at international level
ONE of Galway’s rising young sportsmen, para-athlete Jack Colbert, admits that it now looks like it will be the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo until he gets to fulfil his dream of powerlifting at the major championships.
Having secured two silver medals at the IPC European Para Powerlifting Championships in Hungary last year, 18-year-old Colbert followed this up with gold at a World Cup event in Dubai last February – Ireland’s first ever Junior World Cup medal – before securing silver at the 2016 IPC Powerlifting World Cup in Malaysia a week later.
However, he acknowledges he still has a bit to go before he is able to challenge for honours at senior level, saying this year’s Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro may have just come around too soon. “Rio is probably gone off the cards,” begins Colbert.
“I haven’t lifted enough but because I am still junior I wouldn’t really expect to be lifting what the seniors are lifting. There would be questions asked about me if I was. I also have the Leaving Cert. as well this year so, in a way, it is beneficial that I am not going. If I had all that training on top of my exams, I don’t really know what would happen.
“They still haven’t told anybody if they have qualified or not for Rio although some of the more elite athletes would know already. So, at this stage, it is probably gone off the cards. I suppose, the main focus now is Tokyo 2020.”
While preparing for a major championship would be a distraction, the reality is that Colbert, who has also distinguished himself in the shot putt, discus and javelin, along with basketball and table tennis, is a young man with potentially a long sporting career. “I am still young so I have plenty of time.
“So, I am not really disappointed because I know what the standard is like and I know you need to be the highest of the highest to get there. A lot of those guys competing at the top also have 20 or 30 years on me as well. The majority of them are in their early 30s.”
Still in the gym, he continues to work under Gareth O’Sullivan in Body Dynamics in Knocknacarra and Cork coaches Ken Hurley and Roy Guerin. “I got a week off (after Dubai and Malaysia) and it was straight back in.
“There are no competitions until at least January – at least that we know of – so I can keep training without competitions coming up to distract us. There will definitely be nothing until the Paralympics are over. The Leaving Cert. is more important anyway and I have said that to my coaches.”
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.