Jo Calvino On…Being a Weightlifter, Legacy, Sacrifice and Retirement

Jo Calvino on…being a weightlifter, legacy, sacrifice and retirement November 21, 2014 Our new trustee, British weightlifting legend Jo Calvino, talks to us about her life, career, the state of weightlifting in England and what’s next for her. In this fifth and final article in the series, Jo talks to us about what it means to be a weightlifter, what she has left to do in the sport, the sacrifices she has made on her journey, her Spanish side and possible retirement from the sport. ‘I Am a Weightlifter’ I can’t actually believe that I have been weightlifting as long as I have. It doesn’t feel that long – sometimes it does but it is 21 years this month (November 2014). It’s only really this year that I’ve started to sit back and look at my career. When I won my 19th senior title I thought that’s quite an achievement and if it was someone in track and field or swimming there would be a lot more hype around it. We’re starting to get some good results in Europe now and part of that is the level playing field; WADA are catching athletes from countries that are trying to catch the system, I really believe that the European Championships is the toughest continental championship in our sport. The Crystal Palace Weightlifting Club has been based at the National Sports Centre for 13 plus years, so every time I compete nationally or within Great Britain it is for Crystal Palace – they’re my registered club. Keith is the Head Coach and I sit on the committee for Safeguarding and work with Keith coaching the youngsters and helping with volunteering and running competitions. Weightlifting is in my DNA. Any sport star in any sport that has been doing it that long will say the same and feel the same. Weightlifting breaks so many barriers that other sports cannot reach, like shape and size – it doesn’t matter what shape and size you are, you could still be a very good weightlifter. It doesn’t matter which ethnic or cultural background you come from, you can still weight lift – there are no limitations. You can grow as an individual in the sport. It is very much an individual sport but you still have your team; your physio, your coach, your teammates – they’re my team and network which keep me going. The youngsters in our team keep me young but it doesn’t matter what age you are, you are always trying to be better than what you are and growing in your self-confidence and belief. Some sports don’t offer that in the way which weightlifting does – it’s always that challenge; the defying-gravity moment. I used to cringe when I went out socially with my friends and they said I was weightlifter – I knew what would be coming; arm wrestles, people lying on the floor saying ‘pick me up’ – all that clichéd stuff. I used to just answer; ‘where there’s blame, there’s a claim’. Even the other day I bought a chest of drawers in Ikea and I had to get Keith to come around and take them out of the car, not because they were heavy, but just because I was small and couldn’t carry them. Sacrifices With such a long career I have had to make sacrifices. I remember when I got into college it was one of the hardest times for me personally as my friends went on their holidays to Magaluf and Ibiza and I couldn’t go because there were always Junior European Championships at that time. One year, 30 of my friends went on holiday together and I drove them to the airport. I remember crying, thinking that it was so unfair. But I’ve been lucky enough to have opportunities through weightlifting that they will never have – I always thought that you can get a career and continue to learn any time in your life. At my first ever weightlifting camp former British weightlifter Sandra Smith, who now referees and coaches, stood up and said ‘make sure you get your education, get a career and find something because weightlifting won’t ever pay’ – I have never forgotten that. Weightlifting doesn’t pay in monetary terms but I’ve got to travel the world and make friends from all over the planet. Spanish Roots My brother and I were quite lucky really because as kids we used to go on the ship to Spain every holiday – my father is Spanish. It’s where I would actually call home, it sounds really weird but I can completely relax, chill- out, and get good food. Now, my Grandparents are getting older and I haven’t been for two years – I am hoping to go out now as Glasgow 2014 has finished. My family live just outside of Alicante in Mutxamel – there’s no real holidaymakers out there. I could have lifted for Spain and I had that conversation when I was 15 with Keith about representing them. We looked at Spain and their results in weightlifting and they had a very good system with some very good lifters back then. I usually encourage athletes with dual nationality to look at the best options for their training but I felt that I was British in that sense and I wanted to be a British lifter, Spain had a strong women’s weightlifting team then and still do. I do speak fluent Spanish, kind of; it’s a bit rusty at the moment. Retirement It’s kind of the unknown at the moment. I’ve not ruled out doing a fifth Commonwealth Games because it’s in Brisbane, on the Gold Coast and my best friend is in Brisbane. We had discussions last year at her wedding and she said we could both come back out of retirement and then I could go and stay at hers. Either way I will be out there whether it’s coaching, officiating or competing. If I’m still in the mix and putting the results in then I will put myself into my position. The reason why I am keen to do my fifth one is that five was a number that when I did my first Commonwealth Games I worked out that I could do five Commonwealth Games and still be younger than my oldest team mate – Maggie Lyons – in Manchester. That’s where it stems from. Maggie has been our team manager since Melbourne, so I’ve done a Games with her ever since. With age as well, I am well aware I am now 34 and with a lifting concept you’re mindful of how far your sport will take you. But I’ve said to everyone if my body is healthy and mentally I am healthy and happy then I will keep it going. If I think I can still put myself in positions to get results then I will do it. Keith did say I can’t finish on 19 senior titles, so 20 seems good so that’s part of it. The thought of potentially retiring internationally this year makes me already thinking what do I do? I just don’t want to work! It’s about keeping busy, I’m always busy. The 2015 World Championships are in Texas, so that seems quite exciting and then you start looking at the Rio 2016 Olympic qualifications. In the last year or so, I’ve asked people who have already retired ‘did you know when to retire?’ They said, you will know when you want to retire, it’s when you don’t want to go to training, when you don’t want to compete; when you don’t want to do all the stuff that you used to love doing. I am not at that point yet but don’t get me wrong, you have those moments where you think I really can’t be bothered to train today and sometimes they’re the best moments to train because that when it makes you tougher. I am taking each day as it comes, but maybe with one eye on 2018, well, it’s the Commonwealth Games 21st birthday so it’s a nice one to go out on. .

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