Omar Keshta happy to prove doubters wrong after Commonwealth Games selection
Weightlifter Omar Keshta’s route to representing Team NI at the Commonwealth Games wasn’t a conventional one in terms of growing up and playing sport.
“I was born in Belfast then I went back to where my family is from in Egypt,” explained Keshta. “I ended up coming back to the UK but lived in England, I have some family in Belfast, so it was split between them and England.
“I played football – which everybody in Egypt does – and before I was a weightlifter I was a powerlifter and I used to represent Great Britain, I got a few records at U18 level.
“I started my Olympic weightlifting journey when I went to university, I was a strong kid coming in but I couldn’t even snatch and I took that personally.”
Keshta explained the difference between powerlifting and weightlifting.
“Powerlifting is more of a strength sport, and it is a bit technical, there are three movements: squat, bench press and deadlift,” he said. “Weightlifting is very technical, it is snatch and clean and jerk – completely different movements but they both require each other.”
It wasn’t initially a smooth transition for Keshta between the two sports.
“When I went to university I bombed out in my first competition,” he added. “I tried to snatch 95kg and everyone said to me ‘just go back to power lifting, scrap this, you are never going to be able to do it’ and I took it a bit personal.
“I used to not go to my morning lectures so I could go to the gym by myself to practice my snatch and clean and jerk.
"In my second competition, which I remember very well, I beat every single person that told me to go back to powerlifting.”
Keshta will compete in the +110kg weight category in Glasgow.
“It is such an honour to be selected and be with a team that has supported me from the start of this Commonwealth qualification journey and I’m grateful,” he said. “I had to do two qualification tournaments – the World Championships in Norway and the European Champions in Georgia.
"We had to lift a certain weight to get into the Commonwealth Games and I managed to do that.
“My goal in Glasgow is to make my lifts in the competition and not bomb out, that is the main thing. I want hit a number in the clean and jerk which is close to 200kg.
“It’s now about getting the work done and trying to survive the training cycle and hopefully put on a good show.”
Like so many Team NI athletes going to the Commonwealth Games, Keshta also has a full-time job away from his sport.
“A typical day is I get up around 8am in the morning and get ready to go to work 9am to 5pm,” he said. “After 5pm I take a little nap and I treat that as resetting my body and starting a new day, then I start training from 6.30pm to 9.30pm.
“I eat a lot of protein, when I go to the office people would only like have one lunch, I probably have two lunches. I get home, have more food before I go training, come home and have more food before I sleep.
“In Glasgow I’m going as a super heavyweight which is +110kg. Right now I’m sitting around 112/113kg because after the Commonwealth Games I’m going back down again.”