Deborah Acason helps promote the Queen’s Baton Relay earlier this year with Cr Cheryl Bromage.
Deborah Acason is no stranger to making history. This weekend she will attempt to make it again as she competes to secure a spot at her fifth Commonwealth Games.
IPSWICH weightlifter Deborah Acason’s date with destiny arrives this Sunday when she attempts to qualify for her fifth Commonwealth Games.
The mother of two is confident; having recently returned to full training after overcoming serious shoulder and neck injuries that almost ruled her out of contention.
She also recently had to beat a quad tear that slowed her preparations, all the while juggling family life.
“It came on about late July, I could feel a bit of a niggle, and then in early August I knew it was torn,” she said.
“I had been going well up to that point. I had to limit my training to try and get it to heal, but it has come good and I’m better now than where I was.
“I took my girls to Australia Zoo for the first time and walked nine hours so I was feeling pretty tired last weekend, but now I’m freshening up and I am really looking forward to the trials and lifting big and putting on a good show.
“I’m definitely ready for this competition and confident for more season personal bests.”
Acason has five Commonwealth Games medals – gold in Melbourne in 2006, three silvers in Manchester in 2002 and a bronze in Delhi in 2010 – and is a two-time Olympian.
Heading into this weekend’s trials, she is confident she will get a chance to add to her record by securing a spot on Australia’s weightlifting team for next year’s games on the Gold Coast.
The opportunity to compete in front of a home crowd on the Gold Coast is one Acason does not want to miss.
“It will be great because it’s my fifth and last Commonwealth Games, as an athlete anyway,” she said.
“And with my kids being a bit older they will remember it and my parents can come watch. They haven’t seen me compete in a big comp since the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006 so it will be awesome.”
Family is a big part of the reason Acason’s goal of a fifth Commonwealth Games appearance is on track.
“The biggest support has been a combo between my hubby minding the girls and putting up with me being tired and rushed lots,” she said.
“Also, my coach travelling two hours a day to get to the gym to watch me train, and my parents and sister Esther who have minded, fed and bathed my girls three times a week at the worst time of the day for training – 4.30pm-6pm – but love spending time with my kids.
“It has meant the world to me that my coach is committed to me and my training.
“My hubby supports me to the extent that he organises his working day around getting home and being organised for my training and my parents literally drop everything and stop their lives to help me with the girls.
“It really means so much to me. It’s not just me on that platform trying to achieve something for myself but I see it as me wanting to lift my best to honour and thank those people for supporting me.”
The Commonwealth Games weightlifting trials will be held at Sydney’s Olympic Park.