Among all the great experiences I had at the RMG, getting the chance to meet so many wonderful people was my favorite part. In particular, getting to meet the Yarbrough family, at least Mara and Uly. I didn’t actually get a chance to introduce myself to Dan, husband to Mara, father to Uly, and trainer to both.
I just obtained permission from the Yarbrough family to post these pictures and videos and I am so excited to get to share them with you! Uly is one of those exceptionally outstanding people in general, as is his mom, Mara, so it is no surprise how he comes by it. But his age really underscores it. The poise and positive spirit you see coming through this video is so genuine to who he is. My lifting partner Tess and I were in the warm-up room working up to our starting C&J opening weights. Uly is sitting next to us watching. After Tess finishes a round of c&j he leans over to her and says encouragingly, “You’re strong.” Tess smiles and teasingly tosses out, “For a girl?” Without missing a beat, “No, you’re just strong, being a girl has nothing to do with it.” We were both a little surprised, because he meant it in all sincerity. How do you not adore that? But when you see his mother lifting, it’s easy to understand where he gets his respect for strong women.
Mini rant here…Mothers, you want your young men to respect women for their strength and ability, want your daughters to know they are strong and competent? Then you gotta live it! When you see the weight that an eight year old and his mom are throwing around, then you’ll know that you’re making excuses for not giving heavy lifting a shot. Surf Youtube, women olympic lifters are not even remotely bulky (if that is what you’re worried about) and are throwing around massive weight. Start working toward putting away those cute 5 lbs dumbbells ASAP! Seriously, you like carry a 20 pound kid in one arm and a bag of groceries in the other, you’re strong enough. K, off my soap box.
Tess and our coach Mark Church, and I were unable to stick around to see the men lift, but Mara confirmed what we suspected, that the dad, Dan Yarbrough, lifted in the games too, and yes indeed, was also their coach. As we drove home from the meet discussing all of the goings on, breaking down our performances and experience, our coach would refer back to how well trained Uly was, often using him as a picture perfect example of how this-or-that certain technique should look.
This video is Uly’s third Clean and Jerk, his second lift was at his body weight. This I believe is now 3 kilos (that’s 6.6 lbs.) over his EIGHT year old body weight. I would like to point out that I am the one that followed Uly after this lift. They only added 1 kilo to the bar-that was my opening weight. My closing c&J was only 8k over his closing C&J. Uly is eight, and under 70 pounds, I am pushing forty, and just over 200 pounds. My point? Again, this young man is not only strong but impressively well trained!
So enough talk, check it out! Uly Yarbrough!
Mara Yarbrough Clean and Jerk-listen at the voice in the background “Come on, Mom! Get It!” love that!
Mara and Uly Yarbrough, both took 1st for their class, receiving their medals
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