Weightlifter Raidel

“Helping other people is very fulfilling for me”

Weightlifter Lena Raidel has built up a second mainstay as a massage therapist.(Bild: Conny Högg/zVg)

Weightlifter Lena Raidel has built up a second mainstay as a massage therapist in her home town of Straßwalchen. At the same time, the 19-year-old has big sporting dreams and almost has her sights set on the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. 

Lena Raidel is one of the most promising talents in Austrian weightlifting. The 19-year-old (Union Lochen) has a good chance of taking part in her first U20 World Championships in Spain this fall. The European Championships await later in the year. However, the Straßwalchen native, who competes in the category up to 71 kilograms, is already thinking about the future.

 "My big goal is to be at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles," says Raidel, who has been successfully relying on an athletics coach from Germany for some time now.

Active in her home town
Away from the sport, Raidel has already set the course for the future. Because weightlifting in Austria alone is not enough financially and applications to the army were unsuccessful, the 19-year-old built up a second mainstay.

After working as a fitness trainer, she trained as a medical masseuse at the WIFI and works in the geriatric ward of the Christian Doppler Clinic. She has been a qualified massage therapist since March and works at the Health Base in Straßwalchen. A job that is also very important to her personally. "People of different age groups come to me with physical problems. Helping them gives me great satisfaction," emphasizes Raidel.