It was 2 weeks before one of the biggest and most important trips in my life to the Junior World Championships in Kazan, Russia. I was having numerous problems with my body, which prevented me from performing the Olympic lifts. I was trying extremely hard not to worry about it, not think about how my injury would affect my competition, which was very hard for me because I am a perfectionist. As the week went on, my injury had worsened where I had this pain that was located in my right glute. My piriformis muscle was strained and I had to rest it for a considerable amount of time, which was extreme for me, considering I had one of the most important competition of my LIFE just a week away! I was furious at the fact that I couldn’t even perform as much as a squat let alone lifting! My mind was racing from thoughts of whether I would be able to attend and lift at the World Juniors to my future in Olympic Weightlifting.
My competition in Kazan, Russia did not go as planned. I did poorly, my worst performance yet. I was so disappointed in myself, I did not want to step outside of the warm up area or show my face back home in Canada to all of my supporters. I felt so ashamed. But I had to face them, because even the great bomb out. I am a very proud person so I couldn’t cower down. I walked home with a smile on my face, not showing what I really felt inside, thinking “this is just a learning experience and I WILL do better next time. I know deep in my heart, I will do better next time, because Maya Celeste Laylor is not a quitter…. she is a CHAMPION!” That experience for me was very life changing. I feel like a better, more experienced athlete. Training alongside all of the best junior athletes in the world right there in the Kazan training hall made me more hungry, more determined and more relentless in my training.
