Former rugby player Stephanie Davies selected for Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games weightlifting team

IN JUST one year South Australia’s Stephanie Davies went from her first weightlifting competition to Commonwealth Games selection.

Weightlifter Stephanie Davies has been selected in the 75kg category for the Commonwealth Games. Picture: AAP/Brenton Edwards.

IN JUST one year Stephanie Davies went from her first weightlifting competition to Commonwealth Games selection.

The St Marys athlete has been chosen to represent Australia at the Gold Coast Games in the 75kg category, completing a journey from state rugby player to international weightlifter.

“It’s exciting and a huge stage and I’m a rookie so there’s a lot of pressure,” Davies, 28, says.

“But I’ve been told ‘pressure is a privilege’ so I’m definitely taking that mentality on.”

Davies entered her first competitive weightlifting competition in late 2016.

But her whirlwind first year in the sport came to a head in December at the Australian team trials when she topped her division with a combined 200kg lift from the snatch and clean and jerk.

Davies grew up in Darwin before her ambition to play rugby union for Australia took her to Mackay, Queensland and eventually Adelaide in 2011.

Weightlifter Stephanie Davies at her training base, Holland Performance in Panorama. Picture: AAP/Brenton Edwards.

She made state rugby squads then started crossfit to improve her strength before getting a taste for weightlifting and deciding to throw herself into it full-time.

It will be her first Commonwealth Games – and Davies is aiming high.

“I always play to win, whether or not that’s a reality is sort of irrelevant,” she says.

“Six months ago me making the Comm Games team wasn’t a reality either, but now I’m here.

“I always set big goals.”

Davies’ commitment is unwavering and her training regimen gruelling.

“After I quit my job at a gym I was able to get back to double-day training, so five days a week I’m training twice a day,” she says.

“It’s anywhere between two to three hours a session.

“All the rest of the time is basically recovery, massage, physio and lots and lots of sleep.

“I’ve always just been in love with trying to get the most out of my body, just to see how much you can get out when you’re willing to put in.”

Originally published as Former rugby player Stephanie Davies selected for Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games weightlifting team