Mary Theisen-Lappen didn’t choose weightlifting, weightlifting chose her. That’s no cliché, it’s the actual story of how the former track and field coach wound up as the strongest female lifter in the United States.

“My name basically got thrown into a conversation of people that should be doing weightlifting that weren’t, through a transitional athlete program that USA Weightlifting has,” Theisen-Lappen told NBC Olympics. “And I was like, okay, whatever, I’ll give it a shot.”

That was back in 2017. Seven years later, Theisen-Lappen is poised to make her Olympic debut in the women’s 81+ kg (178+ lbs.) event in Paris at age 33, representing one of Team USA’s top medal hopes in the sport that’s been part of the Olympics since 1896.

For most Olympic athletes, the Games represent the culmination of a lifelong pursuit of excellence in a given sport. For Theisen-Lappen, though, it’s part of a second chapter she never expected to write.

The Eau Claire, Wisconsin native has always possessed elite strength. From sixth grade through college, she competed as a thrower in track and field, competing in various disciplines including shot put, discus and hammer throw.

She was good enough to earn a college scholarship but fell shy of the level necessary for a sustainable professional career. So following her senior year, she transitioned out of competing and into coaching.

“I lost a ton of weight. I wasn't lifting anymore, just kind of exercising. And I was actually very happy with what was my life at that time,” Theisen-Lappen said.

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. With collegiate athletics on hiatus for months, Theisen-Lappen got furloughed from her post as primary throws coach for Division III University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. As a result, she once again became a full-time athlete, only this time, in weightlifting.

It didn’t take her long to start turning heads on the platform. In 2022, Theisen-Lappen set a clean and jerk American record with a lift of 163kg (359 lbs.). The following year, she won gold at the 2023 Pan American Games and silver at the 2023 World Championships, beating out women with several years more experience in the sport. 

“I really love competing. That's like the main reason I think I do this at my age. Just because I've always loved competing whether it was track and field or I loved basketball, I loved soccer, all the things growing up,” Theisen-Lappen said.

However, it took her well into adulthood to fully appreciate what comes with being one of the strongest female athletes in the world. 

“I used to think I was the biggest person on the planet,” Theisen-Lappen said. “I wish so badly I could go back and redo so much my life when I was younger. I spent so much of elementary school, middle school, high school and honestly college wishing to be small.”

As the daughter of two former track and field athletes, that was never likely to be Theisen-Lappen’s reality. Weightlifting, along with support from her husband, Casey, helped her realize that beauty and empowerment can come in many forms and sizes.

“It was just recently when I realized, as a weightlifter, maybe this is why you were put on the Earth. Maybe you were put on the Earth to lift as much weight as you can and inspire others to do the same,” Theisen-Lappen said.

After securing qualification to her first Olympics, a grueling feat that required out-performing Rio and Tokyo bronze medalist Sarah Robles (the only American woman ever to win multiple Olympic weightlifting medals) Theisen-Lappen is now focused on trying to bring new eyeballs to the sport, which has had to fight for its continued places in the Games in recent years. She’ll have some help, too, as the U.S. heads to Pairs with one of its most promising contingent of lifters in decades. Fellow Olympic debutantes Olivia Reeves and Hampton Morris both are among the medal favorites in their respective weight categories.

“I hope we can kind of put the sport a little bit more on the map with the rest of the other [Olympic] sports,” Theisen-Lappen said. “I love that the sport is for everybody. It's for men, women, big bodies, smaller bodies… There's a space in it for everybody.”