Christina Brown stands 4-foot-6 and weighs 71 pounds. But she can lift more than her weight in both the clean and jerk and snatch.

The 14-year-old will be among about 10,000 athletes competing here next month at the State Games of America.

“She’s a little tiny thing,” her mother, Gabrielle Brown, said. “It’s amazing to see her lift all these weights.”

Christina, who lives in Colorado Springs, has a max lift of about 104 pounds in the clean and jerk and about 75 pounds in the snatch. She’s made the most of her small frame as the Colorado School-Age Girl Weightlifting Champion in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

She was also the National School-Age Champion in 2008 for girls 13 and under.

“I just love to compete,” she said. “It makes it even more fun to win because I’m in a bigger weight class.”

Brown contends in the lowest weight class (97 pounds) available to school-age girls and won a gold medal in that division during the 2007 State Games.

Although she now is immersed in weightlifting – training three days a week – Brown’s journey to the weight room wasn’t typical.

“She was a gymnast before all this,” her mother said. “She had some back injuries and it was recommended that she work out to get back in good health and she just stuck with it.”

Initially, “sticking with it” wasn’t something Christina’s parents were fond of.

“Her dad did not like it,” Gabrielle said. “He was afraid she was going to get big and bulky and become not too feminine.”

But Christina’s passion for the sport has left her parents in awe.

“She’s a self-driven kid,” Gabrielle said. “She’s totally self-motivated in everything she does. You hear stories about parents pushing their kids too much in a sport, but with us, it’s the other way around. She’s telling us when and where she wants to do these things and we’re here to support her.”

Christina’s coach, Emmy Vargas, has noticed the dedication.

“It’s weird for me to say this, but she doesn’t question, she just does,” she said. “The fact that she’s like that is amazing because you forget she’s just a kid and she’s already so self-disciplined.”

It’s difficult to fathom how Christina can balance weightlifting with gymnastics – she trains 22 hours a week – and still maintain a decent report card.

But she has a secret.

“I actually do a virtual school at my house,” she said. “It’s called the Colorado Virtual Academy. Even though it’s online, I still have to finish my homework before I can do anything else. It helps me with a lot of time management stuff, but school is still my No. 1 priority.”

Christina Brown Photo by