(WSVN) – A young South Florida athlete is ready to conquer the world stage, just two years after picking up the sport.<\/p>\n
Eighteen-year-old Allison Rebustillo from Hialeah is already one of the top 20-and-under female Olympic weightlifters in the world in her weight class, and she started the sport just two years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, training your body to hold up, 300-plus pounds or be able to withstand force that\u2019s double or triple times your body weight, it takes a lot of practice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Rebustillo started lifting to get stronger for gymnastics, but when the pounds increased, she turned to Olympic weightlifting.<\/p>\n
She weighs 152 pounds and has already lifted a combined total of 465 pounds in her two lifts \u2014 the snatch and clean and jerk \u2014 in competitions.<\/p>\n
Rebustillo trains six days a week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a surreal feeling. It takes a great toll, especially on your central nervous system, that when you\u2019re putting weights, that your body\u2019s like, wait, I don\u2019t know if I can do this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Rebustillo recently took the silver in the University Nationals, and just won her second straight Florida State Championship.<\/p>\n
This week, she\u2019ll represent the U.S. in the Junior Pan-American Championships in Mexico.<\/p>\n
Allison is in the mix for the Olympic trials and has a shot at making the U.S. team for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest difference with Allie is she has a level of discipline and attention to detail that is so rare in even adults,\u201d said Paul Behar, her weightlifting coach. \u201cIn this sport that is so precise, I think that that\u2019s a big factor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to represent your country in something very different, something that I never thought I would be doing, like Olympic lifting, is such an experience that I can\u2019t wait to have. Honestly, I\u2019m so excited just to be there,\u201d said Rebustillo.<\/p>\n
She is next scheduled to compete on the international level at the Junior World Championships in Albania next year.<\/p>\n
Rebustillo does all this training while still juggling her classwork at Miami Dade College to become a physical therapist.<\/p>\n
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