By ANEEKA SIMONIS
DIXON Creek Olympians Socheata and Vannara Be said competing at the Glasgow Games was the highlight of their professional weightlifting careers.
Socheata, 24, was pleased with her performance, coming sixth in the 53kg weightlifting division while Vannara, 26, came ninth in the 62kg category.
“It was very very exciting and shocking … it was the biggest competition I have ever been to and a totally new experience,” said Socheata, who achieved personal bests in both the snatch and clean and jerk lift at the Games.
The Cambodian-born brother and sister made history at this year’s Games as the first pair of Cambodian-born siblings to represent Australia at the Olympics, with Vannara being individual competitor at the Dehli Games in 2010.
The athletes first got into weightlifting through school at Mount Lilydale Mercy College.
Starting in middle school, the pair got more heavily involved in the sport from Year 11, and now train several times a week with elite coach Anthony Dove at the Hawthorn Weightlifting Club.
Socheata and Vannara both work full-time jobs, scheduling their training outside business hours.
Both athletes agreed that the best memories they will take from the experience was competing on the floor and being around other international champions.
“It was good that after competing, all of the athletes in same division would gather together,” Vannara said.
Socheata and Vannara spent three weeks in Glasgow for the games, living at the Athlete’s Village which housed 6500 athletes and officials over the competition period.
The Be siblings came to Dixons Creek over 16 years ago in 1998 to join their father who had settled earlier under the sponsorship of a work visa by a Yarra Valley vineyard.
