Glasgow 2014: Finding her sport a weight off Mather

LOUISE Mather decided to “have a bash” at weightlifting after watching it at the London Olympics – two years later she is preparing to represent Scotland.

Louise Mather: Home debut

The 30-year-old was seeking a sport that would test her and she soon found weightlifting offered the chance to discover how far she could push herself.

The answer has proved to be all the way to the top as she prepares to compete in the 69kg in her home city of Glasgow.

Mather said: “I played football at university but hated running. I did strength training and a little bit of powerlifting and then went to the Olympics with my sister for her birthday and went and watched the weightlifting.

“I got really excited and thought that I should really have bash at this sport.

“I practised in my basement, then a friend introduced me to my coach, Ray Cavanagh, and he said to come in and ‘see if we can make a weightlifter out of you’.”

Cavanagh succeeded and Mather found the release that had eluded her. “I know most people can go on a long run and feel free but I come back with a to-do list,” she said.

“So I like weightlifting because you find your limit very fast. Also, every session you find out something about yourself.

“There are times when you don’t know if you are going to lift a weight, so you have the opportunity to surprise yourself in a different way to anything else.”