– That’s the reason why I didn’t exercise until now, Solfrid Koanda told NRK.

But in less than two years in the sport, he has become a staggering world champion. On Thursday, the impact of 141 kilos set a new Norwegian record and gold during the World Cup in Uzbekistan.

– It’s really amazing. I was so speechless and in tears, Koanda told NRK after the gold was in the box.

– What he shows mentally when it comes to mostly is very good. It’s sensational and will be noticed, weightlifting association president Stian Grimseth told NRK after the achievement.

The Grimstad Girls also won a European Championship bronze in the same training in April, and have made huge progress in the last year. In his first world championship, he took bronze overall in shock and jolt.

– It’s completely unreasonable to think that I should achieve something like that. I really can’t put it into words, he said.

To live is not only medals and heavy lifting.

Loss of contact with parents

Koanda was born in Finland and has a Finnish mother and Ivorian father. He left Finland for Norway when he was nine years old.

With his parents, they moved to Grimstad, but when Koanda was 15 years old, the orphanage became a new everyday life.

Then conditions are more conducive to doing something besides school. He started crossfit

– Education and home situations aren’t always optimal, but as long as you believe in what you’re doing and want to be an expert at something, your background shouldn’t be a limitation, said the 23-year-old.

Getting started with crossfit also presents challenges. He has previously been open about the fact that he struggles with his self-image because of his muscular build.

When the Grimstad girl was 18 years old, she moved out of the orphanage. The best thing is to stand on your own two feet.

When he now looks back on his youth, that wasn’t all Koanda could answer. Even so, he tried to look at it positively.

– Sometimes it can seem like extra fuel, at least to me. I’m happy with what I went through and happy with who I am now, because it’s made me stand here and have the values ​​that I have, and I’m very happy with that.

Thank you fellow earthlings

– He prefers to do crossfit. I told him that if he practiced more weightlifting he would be on top of the world.

So said the national team coach Zygmunt Smalcerz (80). He met Koanda one day in January 2020. Then the southerner finally started to fully focus on the sport.

The weightlifter from Grimstad is grateful for the trust he has received from Smalcerz and the president of the Norwegian Weightlifting Association, Stian Grimseth.

But the most important supporter is Damian Zielinski. who live together

– Especially in the last six months, we hardly had time together. I don’t take part in birthday parties or family parties.

– Still he stands there cheering me on and saying he loves me. This means a lot.

The coach of the Smalcerz national team has no limits on how good the new weightlifter can be.

– If Solfrid has the right people around him, he will win a gold medal at the next Olympics, I’m sure, he said.

And with the results he delivered in his first World Cup, it’s hard to doubt what the Poland coach has to say.

Koanda himself recognizes that your previous background shouldn’t be a barrier to what you can achieve:

– No parents around me, nothing to stop what I do today.