{"id":90675,"date":"2018-09-24T10:35:11","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T14:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=90675"},"modified":"2019-07-01T15:34:41","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T19:34:41","slug":"ucf-student-team-usa-weightlifting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-student-team-usa-weightlifting\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Student Joins Team USA for World University Weightlifting Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not many people would move to a town strictly for a gym, but then again, not many people are like UCF hospitality management<\/a> senior Allison Fleming.<\/p>\n

Fleming felt at home from the moment she stepped into AMP Training about two years ago. After a few months of nearly 100-mile round trip commutes daily to Daytona Beach from Altamonte Springs, she made the decision to move so she could really commit to her biggest passion \u00ad\u2014 Olympic-style weightlifting.<\/p>\n

That commitment materialized into a dream that few ever have the chance to experience. Fleming was chosen as a member of Team USA for the 2018 World University Weightlifting Championships held Sept 20-23 in Poland. She placed sixth in snatch as the top American finisher in the 63kg weight class.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super honored to represent the USA and UCF. I\u2019m excited to represent the national champions while I\u2019m [in Poland].”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super honored to represent the USA and UCF. I\u2019m excited to represent the national champions while I\u2019m over there, and I\u2019m just really honored because I feel like UCF has helped me figure out what I\u2019m going to do next with my life,\u201d she said before competing. \u201cEven when I graduate in the spring, I\u2019ll be a Knight forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a student at Longwood\u2019s Lyman High School, Fleming was a cheerleader and says she was always preoccupied with staying thin and light enough for her teammates to throw her in the air for stunts.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until her senior year when she tried out for the weightlifting team at her teacher\u2019s suggestion that she realized how empowering it felt to put on muscle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not have very good self-esteem or body image when I was younger,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I got into weightlifting, I started to notice compositional changes that I actually really liked: \u2018Wow, my legs are getting bigger. I can lift a lot of weight. I like how I look now.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

She found a CrossFit gym in Orlando to continue weightlifting when she arrived on UCF\u2019s campus in 2014. She continued to progress as her coach taught her proper techniques for weightlifting\u2019s two main lifts: snatch, and clean and jerk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized that I loved to lift weights more than I loved to do anything else,\u201d Fleming says.<\/p>\n