Saskatoon’s Etta Love breaking records on international weightlifting scene

Saskatoon’s Etta Love is getting a lot of attention on the international weightlifting scene.

The 17-year-old set a new youth world record after she clean-and-jerked 146 kg (321 lbs) while competing at the U21 Junior World Championships in Leon, Spain this past October.

Love’s record-breaking performance marked the first time a Canadian had broken an international weightlifting record in 70 years.

“It’s been something that I’ve been working towards for a long time,” Love said.

Listen to Etta Love on Behind the Headlines:

Love adds she had been chasing the world record for over seven years.

“I think it’s been in my mind since I was eight, but those exact numbers have probably started when I was 12,” she added.

“I just had a belief that without really anybody telling me —  I was just thinking this is my goal —  so this is what I’m going to work towards,” Love explained. “I didn’t really have the indecision.”

After her first international competition, she held the title as the top-ranked under-18 lifter in the world for her age and weight category.(Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)

It was during the COVID-19 pandemic when Love decided to really go all-in and attempt her goal of breaking numerous youth world records, as well as thinking about one day getting to the Olympics.

But Love said over the course of the pandemic, she found herself questioning if she was doing enough in the gym to achieve her goals. She wasn’t sure if her training was paying off to take her to that next level.

During one of those days where she was reconsidering her plans, Love was chatting with her mom. She credits the conversation she had with her mom to help change her attitude towards the sport.

“She was like, ‘All of this (training) is getting you towards the Olympics and getting you towards records and every goal that you’re going to have.’ I think that kind of changed or helped shape my mindset of every rep and every training session counts towards something bigger,” she said.

Read more:

• What an NCAA rule change might mean for junior hockey in Sask.
• Regina Rams season ends with Mitchell Bowl loss to Laval
• Young athlete hopes YXE Urban Games win leads to more opportunities

Love said she started going to the CrossFit classes with her mom at the age of four.

Spending time in the gym with her mom eventually led to her signing up for kids CrossFit classes and that changed into youth weightlifting classes.

Love started competing at the age of 10 and then decided to compete internationally at 13.

She said that she loves the sport of weightlifting and mentions she uses it as an escape to help her deal with any mental health problems she was facing.

“Weightlifting was the thing I always said made me feel free. It was the thing that let me get more in tune with my body and gave me a break for my brain basically,” Love explained.

“And now I still love it for a lot of the same reasons, but also, I think it’s a pretty unique position that I’m in to get to (live out my) childhood dreams. I think that’s something that I’m very lucky to have and not everybody gets to do. It feels like a way that I can keep a promise to myself.”

Love is already making moves in the sport; she says she has been in so many competitions that she has lost count. (Etta Love/Submitted)

Love has an opportunity to break more world records at the World Weightlifting Championships in Manama, Bahrain this December.

It will be Love’s first time at worlds and her last chance to attempt to break more youth world records before she turns 18 and hits the senior circuit.

Love says competing on the big stage is something she’s always wanted.

“It’s a huge honor to get to go to senior worlds. It’s been a goal of mine for a very long time,” Love stated.

After the world championships, Love will fully shift her attention to qualifying for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

“I’ll have a nice little like reset period to recover and then we’ll start Olympic qualification probably around 2026, maybe the end of 2025,” she said.

“It’s kind of exciting, because the Olympics has been a goal of mine for a really long time, but it’s always very far out in the future. So it’s really cool now to be able to see it’s so it’s right there. I know four years isn’t that close, but it feels so close already,” she said.

The World Weightlifting Championships in Manama, Bahrain are held from Dec. 5-15.