Former Olympic weightlifter Jeane Lassen with her mother Moira Lassen at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Photo Courtesy of Jeane Lassen.
Whitehorse, YT – Although former Olympic weightlifter Jeane Lassen won’t be competing, her presence will be felt at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as she attends as a guest alongside her mother Moira, who is making history as the first female technical delegate for Olympic weightlifting.
Jeane Lassen, who competed in weightlifting in Beijing in 2008, is no stranger to the global stage. After Beijing, Jeane, a lifelong Yukoner kept returning to the Olympic Games in many different roles.
“I’m really fortunate. This is actually the fifth time I’ve gotten to be a part of the Olympic Games,” she shares. “I feel like I’ve gotten a really broad range of experiences at the Games, from competing to coaching to being a spectator.”
Having first dreamt of donning Canada’s colours on the international stage of high-performance sport during the 1988 Olympics in Calgary Jeane finds that same excitement every time she supports Team Canada.
“I feel so lucky,” said Jeane. “It is one of those things that are like ‘Man this is something I dreamed of before I had any concept of what it was and here I am as a part of it.’
Jeane recently completed a Master’s in Counseling Psychology and is ready to support athletes navigating the pressure of high-performance games.
While she cheers on Team Canada, she’s also supporting her mother Moira, who is taking on a groundbreaking role in Paris.
As an international federation delegate, Moira is a key liaison between the Olympic Weightlifting Federation, the organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee to ensure all the weightlifting rules are followed.
“She’s the first woman to ever take on this role at the games, and I feel very fortunate that she chose me as the person who gets to benefit from my guest pass,” Jeane says with pride.
While she goes to cheer on Team Canada in Paris, Jeane says it’s easy to support Canada’s athletes from anywhere in the world.
“Remember that, on TV, these athletes really work hard to make it look easy. There’s just so much skill that goes into what they’re doing and no matter what it looks like on TV, we need to hold up those athletes, encourage them and be proud regardless of what ranking.”
