A US Olympic Athlete Needs Our Support
Sarah Robles, Olympic Athlete and Professional Bad-Ass.
Ok, the US Government doesn’t actually sponsor it’s Olympic Athletes for training. Well, once they make the team they have the option of moving to the Olympic training facility in Colorado, but unless they do that, they receive little to no funding for their training. Many US Olympic athletes make up the difference with corporate sponsorships. Getting corporate sponsorship often hinges on the marketability of the athletes looks.
Sarah Robles is on the US Olympic weightlifting team. She’s currently the highest ranked weightlifter in the US. And at 275 lbs and 5’10”, she isn’t exactly bathing suit model material as far as our very limited definition of socially acceptable body types is concerned. So, she isn’t having much luck getting the lucrative sponsorships that other more photogenic athletes have.
So, she’s having a hard time making ends meet, barely making enough for rent and a proper diet for training, which involves 3,000 to 4,000 calories a day in order to maintain her muscle mass and stamina.
She does, however, have a blog with a donate button on it, where you can help her and another weightlifter pay for their training and living expenses. Training for athletics at that levels is pretty much a near full-time job. She’s also doing a great job of mentoring other big girls who want to lift as well. Also, while I haven’t had time to read much of the blog it does seem to be very body positive.
So please, go check out her blog, donate to help her reach the Olympics, and afford to live. I find the fact that she isn’t getting any meaningful sponsorships kind of gross, really. Is her athletic ability less important because douchebags don’t find her fuckable? Or more to the point, because asshole ad executives don’t find her fuckable? I don’t think so. She’s awesome and deserves our support.
Polimicks 
The whole situation is just infuriating. Though, yay Powerbar for sponsoring her.
Also, to support the other heavyweight woman powerlighter we are sending to the Olympics, the Lift Big Eat Big powerlifting site has made “I believe in Holly Mangold” shirts ( http://liftbigeatbig.spreadshirt.com/i-believe-in-holley-mangold-A10090459/customize/color/2 ) and is donating half the proceeds to help her training (though she’s a bit better financially than Sarah, since her brother plays for the New York Jets; she just got a profile in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/magazine/shes-350-pounds-and-olympics-bound.html)
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