When freshman Isabella Silva came across an Olympic weightlifting coach at her mom’s CrossFit gym, she found a life-long passion.

Silva started lifting when she was around nine years old and has been competing since. Now at 14, she trains at Strong Fitness & Performance, located in Farmers Branch, Texas.

“I’m doing fencing right now, so I train on Saturdays just to make sure I can still hit the numbers or just kind of remind myself of the technique,” Silva said. “Normally I train around two or three times a week.”

Although Silva is in her off-season, her training still takes up a big chunk of time as she works to reach her goals and hit her number; she’s constantly aiming for a new personal record (PR).

“My snatch PR is around 37 kilograms,” Silva said. “My clean and jerk I think is around 49 and 50 kilograms.”

Weightlifting is an individual sport, making it hard to form a community and develop a support system.

“I’d say there are kids I know, but I only ever see them when competing,” Silva said. “There’s no neighborhood outside of the club.”

Traditionally, the sport has been more male dominated and intimidates many people, but not Silva.

“I think I do wish it was a more widespread sport,” Silva said. “I would like more women to be in it because it is a male dominated. And I would like more people my age to get into it because it’s a sport that you can compete in for a long time.”

Even though fewer women participate in weightlifting, Silva still loves the sport and wants to share that love with more women her age. Weightlifting has taught her many lessons that shape who she is.

“I’d say that the rough days matter the most in terms of showing off and correcting yourself and your technique because I think technique is a big takeaway,” Silva said. “So, if you have a not-so-great day just like the habits that you want to get rid of, you end up correcting yourself and coming back stronger.”