Faith helps Olympic weightlifter take an unexpected path to Paris

American weightlifter Mary Theisen-Lappen competes on April 10 in the International Weightlifting Federation’s World Cup in Phuket, Thailand. By doing well in it and in other events, Theisen-Lappen, a member of St. Paul Catholic Center in Bloomington, qualified to represent the United States at the Summer Olympics in Paris. (Photo courtesy USA Weightlifting)

By Sean Gallagher

Mary Theisen-Lappen could never have planned out her path to the Summer Olympics in Paris.

Four years ago, the women’s weightlifting competitor—now a member of the parish community of St. Paul Catholic Center in Bloomington—was working as a high school track and field coach after having competed in various field events as an undergraduate at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, where she graduated about 10 years ago.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted schools across the country, and Theisen-Lappen lost her coaching job.

That eventually led her on an amazing and unpredictable journey to an Olympic dream she had never even thought was possible, taking up women’s weightlifting in the 81-plus kilogram superheavyweight division and moving to Bloomington to train. During the past 18 months, she competed in weightlifting meets around the world that resulted in her qualifying to represent the United States at the Olympics with two other women and two men on its weightlifting team.

“My mom has said this, and I agree with her, that I’m just in the passenger seat in this whole situation,” said Theisen-Lappen, 33. “God has a plan.”

That plan included her gaining support from the parish community at St. Paul, where many people are praying for her as she awaits competing in the Olympics on Aug. 11, its last day.

“It’s pretty crazy, thinking back two, three, four years ago about what my life was like and how it’s changed so much,” she said in an interview with The Criterion before the start of the Olympics. “And thinking about the community I have here. I’ve never had the community that I have outside of my family the way I have it here.”

Dominican Father Patrick Hyde, St. Paul’s pastor, said that the parish is used to having athletes and coaches among its members from Indiana University in Bloomington.

But Theisen-Lappen was different. She wasn’t a university student or coach and only moved to Bloomington to train. So, many parishioners were unaware of her Olympic ambitions before an invitation was made at a Mass for them to pledge their prayers for her in a spiritual bouquet.

“Someone said to me after the Mass, ‘I sit next to her every week and I had no idea,’ said Father Patrick. “Hers is a great witness for our entire community of the power of fidelity and perseverance. She shows all of us if you do things the right way, work hard and are a good person, you will be great even if the person next to you has no idea.”

From the time she grew up in Eau Claire, Wis., Theisen-Lappen has embraced her Catholic faith.

“I grew up in the Church,” she said. “My parents wouldn’t take excuses for not going to Mass. We were always at Mass.”

That remained the case for her as athletic competition filled Theisen-Lappen’s weekend schedules.

“We figured out ways to get to Mass,” she said. “It might have been a random time on a Saturday evening or a late Mass on a Sunday night. Whatever worked. As I’ve grown up and moved around, I’ve learned to make sure what Mass is at what time.”

At times in her life in Bloomington, she’s also attended Mass at St. Charles Borromeo Church, speaking with parish pastor Father Thomas Kovatch about her weightlifting competitions.

Theisen-Lappen’s faith has helped her deal with the pressure that can come in weightlifting. She’s trained for years for an Olympic event in which her participation will start and finish in a matter of seconds as she works to lift more than 250 pounds in the snatch event and more than 300 pounds in the clean and jerk.

In some athletic competitions, especially in team sports, she said “there’s a little bit more room for error.”

“But there’s really not a whole lot of room for error in weightlifting,” Theisen-Lappen said. “You don’t get to fix it once it’s already gone wrong.”

So, she’s worked with a sports psychologist “on meditation and visualization.”

“I also use the Hallow app,” Theisen-Lappen noted. “It has good novenas on there and things that not only help me catch my breath, but also to know that I’m in good hands and I’ll be just fine.”

She also sees her competition in Paris as more than just striving for a gold medal. That’s especially the case since, in a category of women athletes who are a minimum of 178 pounds, she doesn’t have the body shape that contemporary culture values in women.

“I feel like I’ve been put on this planet for this, for weightlifting,” Theisen-Lappen said. “But I don’t think God put me on this planet to go and lift as much weight as I can. He did it for me to use the sport to be a leader and role model to kids and other athletes who don’t have someone to look up to, that’s maybe in a bigger body.

“You can still be really healthy and a role model even if you’re not in the size body that’s being shown all over the internet and social media.”

As she looks forward to the weightlifting competition in Paris, Theisen-Lappen knows she can count on the support of the 25 friends and family members, including her husband, parents and siblings, who will be there to cheer her on.

But she’s also counting on the prayerful support she knows she has from the parish community at St. Paul in Bloomington.

“There’s something about the power of prayer,” Theisen-Lappen said. “Having people pray for you and knowing that they’re thinking of you [is helpful]. Just knowing that I have a big community back at home at church, at the gym and in the city has definitely made things easier. I’m very excited and blessed to have that.” †