Melanie Roach (née Kosoff; born December 15, 1974) is an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She lives in

Bonney Lake, Washington Bonney Lake is a city in Pierce County, Washington. The population was 22,487 at the time of the 2020 census. History Bonney Lake was incorporated as a town on February 28, 1949, after the establishment of a co-op venture to bring electricity ...

, where she owns Roach Gymnastics, Inc. During high school, Melanie participated in gymnastics, but dislocated her shoulder. After reconstructive surgery, she slowly became interested in weightlifting. She started training in 1994 once meeting coach John Thrush at Calpian Weightlifting Club. By 1998 she was number one in the US, and set the world record, since bested, for the women's

clean & jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without rest ...

by lifting more than twice her weight, 113 kg/250 lbs. She is 5'2" and 117 lbs. Three weeks before the US Olympic Trials in 2000, she herniated a disc in her back, and became an alternate. She then focused on starting a family with husband Dan Roach, who served as a Republican in the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

from the 31st legislative district.Washington House Republicans Roach: Biography
, Washington House Republicans. Accessed November 11, 2008. Dan is the son of

Pam Roach Pamela Jean Roach (née Norris, born April 26, 1948) is an American politician who was a member of the Pierce County Council from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she served as a member of the Washington State Senate, representing ...

, served as a Washington State Senator from the same district. She then started training again in 2005, made it past the Olympic Trials, and into the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. There, she lifted 83 kg in the snatch, a new personal record, 110 kg in the clean & jerk, and a total of 193 kg, a new personal and American record. She placed 6th out of 9. Roach is a member of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian restorationist Christian denomination and the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. Founded durin ...

Weightlifting achievements

*Gold Medalist in US Nationals (1998–2000, 2003, 2006–2008)2008 Beijing Summer Olympics , Melanie Roach Competition Results & Scores , NBC Olympics

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. Accessed August 9, 2008. *Participant in World Weightlifting Championships (1998) *13th Place in World Weightlifting Championships (1999) *12th Place in World Weightlifting Championships (2006) *12th Place in World Weightlifting Championships (2007) *Bronze Medalist in Pan Am Championships (2006)2006 Pan American Championships - Weightlifting Exchange
Weightlifting Exchange. Accessed August 9, 2008. *Bronze Medalist at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...

*6th Place in

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(2008)

References

External links

Melanieroach.comM. Roach snatching 78 kg (172 lb)M. Roach after snatching 78 kg (172 lb)Melanie Roach at Weightlifting Exchange

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roach, Melanie 1974 births Living people People from The Dalles, Oregon Olympic weightlifters for the United States Weightlifters at the 2008 Summer Olympics American female weightlifters People from Bonney Lake, Washington Sportspeople from Pierce County, Washington Weightlifters at the 2007 Pan American Games Weightlifters at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in weightlifting 20th-century American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen Latter Day Saints from Oregon