Weightlifter Scheila Meister dreams of the Olympic Games: how Miss Latina became the strongest woman in Switzerland

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There are sports that belong to Switzerland like holes belong to the Emmental: skiing, wrestling or ice hockey. And then there are the outsiders: Olympic weightlifting, for example. A niche discipline with a failed reputation. Too often, the sport attracted attention with corruption scandals or doping scandals. The strongest woman in Switzerland, Scheila Meister (36), especially regrets this. She is one of the few Swiss women to write an international success story in Olympic weightlifting.

Blick meets her at her second home, a CrossFit gym in Oberwinterthur ZH. It quickly becomes clear: Meister is the opposite of all the scene’s clichés. She has her long hair tied in a messy ponytail and her smile is wide and infectious. And the track jacket she wears conceals the power slumbering in her body.

It looks very easy

Meister has her own practice room at the back of the room. It’s on the wall and to the left of it are stacks of weights of all colors and sizes. Master takes two red plates and attaches them to the barbell. She takes a step back, rubs magnesium into her hands again and grips the metal rod with concentration.

And then Master pulls him up with so much force and speed that you almost forget how heavy the whole thing is: 65 kilos. In competition, another 20 kilos are added. Once above her head, she drops the pole forward into the ground and grins. That’s how it goes.

A rough lifestyle

The woman from Winterthur only discovered her passion for weightlifting later in life. For years, competitive sports had no place in her life. At most she went to the gym, but she much preferred dancing. “I loved parties, went out every weekend in Zurich and during the holidays my brother and I flew to Ibiza to party,” she says and then laughs out loud: “I even won a Miss Latina pageant once, before Eternities . Unbelievable, right?”

Scheila Meister’s path is truly unimaginable. She didn’t start CrossFit until she was 27. “I really enjoyed lifting weights. And then I was persuaded to enter a competition.” That was only five years ago. Within a very short time she qualified for the European Championships and later for the World Cup. And that with a workload of 100 percent.

With her boyfriend Marc Vöge, who coaches her, she travels first through Europe and then around the world to participate in competitions. She was supported by the association from the start, but not by Swiss Olympic. “Although I finished fourth at the 2023 European Championships, I do not receive any individual support. “Swiss Olympic only supports the association,” she says.

Regular guest at doping controls

Traveling wasn’t always easy in the beginning. The master’s friend was not officially a coach at the time. But necessity is the mother of invention: “We even registered Marc as a journalist once, so that he had access to all areas,” the weightlifter recalls with a smile. As a Swiss woman, she is an absolute exotic at international competitions. This has consequences in the sport dominated by Eastern Europeans.

“So far I have had to undergo doping controls at every competition. While top athletes from Eastern Europe are often waved through,” says the trained retail specialist. And partner Marc adds: “It is precisely these countries that are involved in doping cases every few years.”

Scheila Meister’s road to the international top is littered with obstacles. But the woman from Winterthur doesn’t let that stop her. Even qualification for the Summer Olympics is within reach, provided Meister performs at a tournament in Thailand this week. Should she qualify, Scheila Meister would become the first woman to represent Switzerland as a weightlifter at the Olympics.

Source : Blick