BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Mahailya Reeves and Courtney Comer, who helped Bradford High School win the 2021-22 girls weightlifting state championship, didn’t enjoy the best circumstances when competing for Team USA at the International Powerlifting Federation Sub-Junior and Junior World Championships, but they still excelled, coming home from Istanbul with a total of five gold medals and three silver medals.
The Telegraph-Times-Monitor chronicled the young lifters’ accomplishments in the Sept. 8 issue, but had its first opportunity to interview them on Sept. 7. Both were grateful for being able to compete on the world’s stage and for the monetary support of so many who made the trip possible, but they aren’t so keen on ever going back to Istanbul.
“It was a good experience — one that a lot of people haven’t had,” Comer said. “I’m glad I got to experience it, but I would never go back to Istanbul, Turkey.”
Reeves said, “I’ll remember it for the rest of my life, but I will not go back there.”
For starters, the two, who were accompanied by Reeves’ mother, simply couldn’t warm up to the food that was available to them. They both lost weight, with Comer saying that before she competed, she weighed in at 5 pounds less than when she arrived.
“The fries — those were the only things that were good there,” Reeves said.
Comer added, “I think we ate so many potatoes, we turned into potatoes.”
Though she admitted the bread was OK, Comer said everything else left a lot to be desired. A Caesar salad there, for example, was nothing but lettuce, a cut-up cherry tomato and mayonnaise, she said.
Reeves said she was so hungry she ate her food, her mother’s food and Comer’s food during one of their flight layovers on the return trip. However, when she gave the matter more thought, she said she did enjoy something in Istanbul other than the fries.
“The peaches are actually good there,” she said. “They’re big.”
Their accommodations weren’t very accommodating. Comer said the lobby of the hotel they stayed at was nice, but it wasn’t an indicator of what their room would be like.
“Our AC didn’t work. The electricity didn’t work,” Comer said. “Also, the bathroom stayed flooded the whole time we were there.”
Wi-fi was hard to access during most of their trip and was non-existent in their hotel room.
“When it was time to go to bed, it was time to go to bed,” Reeves said, alluding to the fact they couldn’t do any quick browsing before eventually getting some sleep.
They had an eventful ride to the airport when it was time to leave. The bus they were supposed to ride on was full of passengers and luggage. Arrangements were made for them to ride a taxi, but the driver paid little attention to the road.
“On the way there, he just wanted to keep talking,” Reeves said.
For the driver to carry on a conversation with his riders, a phone had to be passed back and forth for translation purposes. Comer said the vehicle was riding in the middle of the road throughout all of this.
As if that wasn’t enough, the car experienced transmission troubles.
“We were sitting in the back, and we smelled something burning.”
They did make it to the airport, but they said if they had to walk there, they would’ve done it. They were determined to get home.
“I’m so glad to be back in my bed,” Comer said.
Next year’s world championships will be held in Romania.
“Hopefully, that’ll be way better,” Reeves said.
Lifting at worlds a different experience
Comer and Reeves did well and have a lot, certainly, to be proud of. Reeves won all three events in the Junior 84+ kilogram class, giving her the overall gold medal for her class. Comer won one event and placed second in the other two to take the overall silver medal in the Sub-Junior 76 kg class. Each lifter established a world record in her class in the bench press. (The Sept. 8, 2022, issue of the Telegraph-Times-Monitor incorrectly reported that Comer hadn’t set the world record for her class.)
Still, they weren’t comfortable with how they were treated at the event and wonder how things might’ve turned out if they had been able to enjoy their normal routines. For example, they weren’t allowed by Team USA coaches to warm up in the way they’re used to in regard to weight and reps.
Also, the lifters weren’t allowed to do the weights they wanted to on their openers.
Reeves said during warm-ups, she couldn’t even listen to music, which she uses to get hyped.
“We were very restricted there,” Comer said.
Raiford Wreckshop’s Bryan Griffis, who trains Comer and Reeves and who coached them at both Bradford and Union County high schools, said the Team USA coach “didn’t understand what they were capable of doing.”
Griffis’ wife, Tammy, said, “They wouldn’t let them (do what they were used to doing), so what were they going to do? They realized they’re teenagers, they’re talking to an adult and this was their first experience (at the world championships).”
Bryan Griffis, who wouldn’t have been allowed to do any coaching at the event, watched from home via the internet. He could tell that Comer and Reeves weren’t their usual selves.
“There was no fire in either’s eyes,” he said. “When they lift for me, there’s fire. There’s that anticipation of what’s fixing to happen.”
Comer admitted the experience “set me off.”
“I was aggravated with the coaching,” she said.
That included the decision to have her go for 430 pounds on her final deadlift attempt. A successful lift would’ve given her the overall gold medal in her class, but it was a total Comer had never done before. She wanted to attempt a lower total that would’ve given her the gold medal in the event.
Reeves said the coaches even asked her what she thought Comer should attempt, but they didn’t listen to her.
“Just because you’re planning to try to win it all — it’s something the kid’s never pulled before and never even tried before,” Griffis said. “Whey send her out there to do that?”
Comer and Reeves said they’ll attempt be more assertive with coaches if they’re fortunate enough to compete at the world championships again.
“I’m going to have to stop them and tell them I’m going to warm up and do my ways because that’s what’s worked,” Comer said, adding, “(The coaches are) going to have to work on their communication. I was communicating with them, but mainly they have to take my things into consideration, like how to warm up.”
Perhaps the next world championships will prove to be a better experience, but the first one they competed in was pretty darn good overall, with Comer and Reeves proving what so many people around here already know: They’re two of the strongest women in the world. Each experienced an Olympics-type moment, standing on a medal platform with competitors from other countries.
For Reeves, it was extra special. Since she was the overall winner in her class, the United States’ national anthem was played as she stood on the podium with the silver and bronze medalists.
“It was really just breathtaking,” Reeves said.
