[Q&A]


MICHAEL 100KG/220 POUNDS, TEAM SAVANNAH WEIGHTLIFTING


WILLIAM 114KG/250.8 POUNDS, TEAM SAVANNAH WEIGHTLIFTING


MIKEY 114KG/250.8 POUNDS, TEAM SAVANNAH WEIGHTLIFTING


eration; it’s my father’s generation and the kids. It’s three generations.”


SHERYL 62KG/136.4 POUNDS, TEAM SAVANNAH WEIGHTLIFTING


SAMUEL 31KG/68.2 POUNDS, TEAM SAVANNAH WEIGHTLIFTING


CAROLYN 39KG/85.8 POUNDS, TEAM SAVANNAH WEIGHTLIFTING


“My dad was brutal with me, very tough,


but he made me a very focused athlete. Now, I want my father to train my oldest boy, Mikey, the same way because I know what it did for me. He’s very nurturing now with the kids. He’s very loving and caring, which he always was; he’s just more outgo- ing about it.”


How important is it to have a common activity to enjoy as a family? SC: “I think it’s something that we all have in common, and they’re all very good at it. I’ve seen that it’s given my kids confidence, which is what it gave me when I first started


lifting. I was very shy. I would say that is the biggest difference I’ve seen between our family and other families. And we all get along. Because we are together so much and we travel so much together, it really helps our family a lot. The whole family gets to go, so we sort of turn it into a family trip and do other things while we’re gone. I think that’s something they look forward to.” MC: “Well, when you think about it, it gives everybody a common goal, a common theme, a common dream; everybody is on the same page. That’s critical. It teaches the kids to learn how to time manage, learn how to focus and set goals. Kids today have no concept of what it is to establish a goal, write a goal, develop a goal, make the plan, work the plan, reevaluate and move on. That’s how you become successful. So teaching that at a young age with my kids—they are very focused. They say one of the best and worst games


ever invented was Monopoly because it ei- ther brings families together or destroys families. I think that’s true, but giving a fam- ily some kind of common thread is critical, whatever that is. The common thread for the Cohen’s is weightlifting. It’s not just my gen-


What are the Cohen Family goals in weightlifting? SC: “My boys would tell you that their goal is to make the Olympic Team, and my husband would probably tell you the same thing—to see a Cohen in the Olympics. He obviously made the 1980 Team, but we boycotted that year, so he didn’t actually get to participate as an athlete in the Olympic Games, so he would like to see a Cohen make the Olympic Team. I just want to see them do their best, be the best that they can be and hopefully be better than either my husband or me were. All parents want their kids to be better than they are. “We would obviously like for them to lift


because it is sort of a family thing, but obvi- ously we travel all the time to weightlifting competitions, so I told my daughter that if she wants to go, she has to lift. That kind of motivates them to lift. They are all very tal- ented at it, so they do that.” MC: “My goal was always to make the Olympic Team. I made the ’80 Team, and of course we didn’t go anywhere. Being an athlete and being a coach, it makes no dif- ference. Of course the goal now is for a Co- hen to go and bring home some hardware. We’ve got four chances—we have four kids so we have four shots at it. A father wants his son or daughter to go


further than he did. My father will tell you the same thing. It was his dream that his son went further, and it’s my dream that my sons go further than me as an athlete, further than me as a man, further than me as a hu- man being.”


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