A story, deserving an Oscar if it was a movie, in fact has one Oscar Figueroa as it’s protagonist in one of the most terrific comebacks in the history of Olympic weightlifting. A story of how a young Colombian’s unwavering determination lifted the hopes of the entire Colombian nation and his journey through 4 Olympic games.
Born in a town named Zarazoga in the northwestern province of Antioquia, Oscar, his three siblings and his mother had to move town when he was only nine. The decade old clashes between the government forces and the guerrillas was draining out the province, making economic opportunities scarce in Zarazoga.
Young Oscar was born into a family of hardship. They had to struggle and work hard to put each meal on the table. On some days they could only manage to have one meal despite their struggles. The city they had moved to – Cartago, in the southwestern region was known for Gold mining and almost everyone worked in the mines. Oscar wanted to get out of being stuck in mining and the way out was looking for Gold in sport. He tried many sports at the beginning, trying his hand at soccer, basketball, swimming and even Karate. But the day when he walked into the school gym and said he wanted to train was when the journey of chasing Gold commenced.
‘’He knew nothing about weightlifting, he learned the technique in one day” said Damaris Delgado, one of Oscar’s childhood coach who recognized his potential in weightlifting. She knew Oscar always wanted to win, that he always had the hunger to be number one and wouldn’t be satisfied with anything less. But what Damaris didn’t know is that this young weightlifter learning the basics from her would go onto become a Colombian Olympic Weightlifting prodigy.
Coming from the lower income class of the Colombian demography, it would’ve been easy for Oscar to fall into the vast network of crime that provided an easy but dangerous route to earning a living. After being introduced to Jaiber Manjarres, who identified that Oscar had all the tools of being a great weightlifter, the young Colombian started excelling in the sport and earned qualification to compete at the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece while only being 21-year-old at the time. The people of Colombia were thrilled with Oscar who finished 5th in the 56Kg category, but Oscar was not so thrilled. He realized at the 2004 competition that he could become an Olympic Champion and a medal was within his grasp.
Disastrous 2008 Olympics
For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Oscar had done everything right. He was in great physical condition, he had put in the hard work during the 4 years leading up to the games under a coach who had put him through an aggressive, intense lifting regime and mentally he was focused on the Olympic Gold. Just two weeks before the 2008 Olympic Games, trouble commenced as he started experiencing excruciating pain but neither the doctors nor the physios could explain the reason for the pain. Oscar was a firm favorite to win a medal at the 2008 games but failed in all three of his attempts to lift the 128kg off the ground. Oscar was frustrated and was in tears. His then coach, a Bulgarian and Oscar had had a massive disagreement in the run up to the Olympics with the coach not believing the athlete was injured, leaving Oscar to fend for himself during the games. The coach turned the media and the sports community in Colombia against Oscar, making them believe that Oscar was rebelling by not wanting to compete. This was further fueled as the doctors back in Colombia confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the Weightlifter. It was during competition after the Olympics that a Cuban diagnosed that Oscar could be suffering from hernia and tests confirmed this, putting him in danger of becoming quadriplegic. It would have been the end of the road for anyone else but for Oscar he had to finish what he started.
Silver lining
The 4 years after the 2008 Olympics were the most challenging time during Oscar’s career, he had to go under the knife on his herniated disc. It was a complicated procedure where there were a lot of eventualities and qualms. But luck was on Oscar’s side as the doctors were successful and he had a speedy recovery. Oscar also had to stage another battle to get rid of the Bulgarian coach who was the man in charge of the Colombian weightlifting national team. With a new trainer and fully recovered from injury, Oscar set his sights on the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Prior to the 2012 London Olympic games, Oscar was a man on a mission. Competing in the 62Kg category where he had won the Gold Medal at the Pan American games, he was in great from and was lifting well. But at the Olympic games in London it looked like the demons of the 2008 failure were returning as Oscar failed to complete the first two attempts of his lifts. At the age of 27, after chasing an Olympic medal for 15 years in weightlifting, Oscar had one more attempt left and he set a weight of 177Kg which would land him a Silver Medal, but the previous failures and pressure were mounting on the courageous weightlifter.
Oscar won Colombia’s 13th Olympic medal after fighting through adversity, injuries and public that was turned against him by the previous coach. It was truly a great accomplishment. But for this determined, hard-headed competitor that was not enough, he was after Gold, he didn’t just want an Olympic medal, he wanted an Olympic Gold medal. That’s what he was after and he would not rest until he achieved it.
Soon after returning from London Oscar went back to training aiming at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Not everyone believed in Oscar’s dream with doubts cast on his age as he would be 31 years at the 2016 games. Many thought that his best days were behind him and he needed to hang up his shoes gracefully as a Olympic medalist. It was not the first time people doubted Oscar’s perseverance, this did not affect the gutsy lifter but in fact spurred him on to go for his goal.
Ghosts of 2008 reemerge
Having worked hard to prove the doubters wrong, Oscar was on track for his fourth Olympic Games which were to be held in Brazil in 2016. But months away from the games, ghosts of the past started haunting again as he experienced bouts of chronic pain. Oscar had to make a decision and he knew if he did not undergo surgery again, he would have to face a repetition of the 2008 Olympics. In January 2016 with just 7 months to go for the games, Oscar went under the knife. The next 7 months were an ultimate test of enduring the pain of recovery and training to become an Olympic Champion. He was told by the doctors that he would be in pain and would have to endure numerous sleepless nights because of the pain that would keep him up.
Golden success & second thoughts
Unlike in the previous competitions, this time everyone knew Oscar had two herniated discs that were operated on. His first snatch attempt was a mere 137Kg and was far from the medal mark. With his main competitor world ranked 1 Chen from China retiring due to injury in his second attempt, Oscar also flunked when he attempted 145Kg in the snatch. In the Clean and jerk Oscar had to clear a weight of 175Kg to land the Gold medal.
The fearless Colombian cleaned and jerked 175Kg in his second attempt which won him the Gold medal and the emotions that he had bottled up spilled over as he broke down in tears after finally accomplishing the lifelong dream of becoming an Olympic champion. Oscar knelt in front of the weights bar trying to soke in what he had finally achieved. He then took off his shoes, kissing them and placing them in front of the bars, symbolizing his retirement from the sport after becoming an Olympic Champion.
Despite hinting at retirement Oscar is flirting with the idea of making his 5th consecutive trip to the Olympics. With the Global pandemic postponing the Tokyo Olympics to 2021 do keep an eye out for the 37-year-old Colombian to defy the odds and reach for this third Olympic medal.
