Fueled by a passion to take on the challenges of sport as an individual rather than a team member is what led Owen Whitrow to gymnastics and eventually, Olympic style weightlifting.
After dedicating his adolescence to gymnastics, COVID-19 pushed Whitrow out of his regular practice schedule, which affected certain areas of his skillset, later leading to him stepping away from the sport.
“Getting back into the gym was a challenge for sure and it was getting harder, and I wasn’t having as much success. So, I kind of started looking around for sports that I could do, because I knew I wanted to stay physical and continue competing,” shared Whitrow.
In January 2022, he found weightlifting, which sparked the same passion he previously felt as a gymnast.
Whitrow was first introduced to the sport during a CrossFit class taught by Jason Cain —Whitrow’s current coach — at CrossFit 306. From there, Whitrow fell in love with the technicality of weightlifting and began training fulltime.
From the outside, transitioning from gymnastics to weightlifting seems like an irregular shift, but for Whitrow, it made perfect sense.
He felt a familiar connection to weightlifting, something parallel to the individuality he found in gymnastics.
“Similar to gymnastics, it is an individual sport, not a team sport. It’s just knowing that if something goes wrong with a lift, or a routine in gymnastics, then you don’t have a teammate or somebody else to blame. It’s you against you, always. That’s my type of sport. Always improving and being better than I was yesterday.”
For Whitrow, weightlifting is a sport without limits. There is no cap to the success that can be found, as more weight can always be added and the bar can always be set higher to achieve one’s goals.
However, part of finding that individual success is knowing you have a good support system, which allows Whitrow to never feel alone when on the platform.
“My teammates and I are always training together and supporting each other through competitions. Even though it’s an individual sport, we are all there for each other. We can’t necessarily lift the weight, but we can kind of make it a little bit lighter by training together.”
In addition to the relationships built through sport, there are extra layers to the enrichment Whitrow has found.
“[Sport] has enriched almost every aspect of my life really…from such a young age being a gymnast and showing up and putting in the work. Having that discipline and that mental strength to do what needs to get done has definitely helped me get through my academics and given me a good mindset for life.”
Continuing to develop those skills and grow in sport is vital to every athlete. Helping Whitrow with that journey is the NextGen Grant, which has provided financial assistance that has allowed him to compete on the national stage.
“[The NextGen Grant] made it so much more accessible for me and my family to make it to not only training, but also the competitions all across Canada.”
Included was Whitrow attending the 2024 Canadian Western Junior Championships, as one of the few Saskatchewan athletes.
But the opportunities he has found nationally are only the beginning to what Whitrow looks to achieve in the future.
“I’m going to be setting my sights on international competition. And making sure that I can hit those totals and qualify, it’s definitely my goal this year.”