Olympian tries turning iron into gold

CENTERVILLE, Ohio (WDTN) - Holley Mangold knows what you want to ask her, so go ahead.

The answer is 340 pounds, but she's trying to get to 330 for the Olympics.

"This is me," Mangold says. "There's really no changing it. If you can't be comfortable with yourself it seems like a sad life cause you're stuck with you."

So now that's out of the way, you can get to know the Holley that those intimidated or obsessed with her size never get to see.

You can find out that her Olympic dream started at a young age.

"I remember being a little kid and pretending I was Olympic champion of gymnastics and all this stuff.," Mangold says. "Then I wanted it to be diving. Then I thought track and field. Then I thought this or that."

You can understand why she took to lifting like a weight to a barbell.

"Weightlifting is used for all other sports to become strong and become quick and work on stuff," Mangold says.

You can discover that weightlifting isn't all about size or power.

"It's like a 400 pound golf swing," Mangold says of her event. "It's very technical. It's very hard to learn. It takes repetition and repetition and it's awesome."

Spend a few minutes with Holley when she's training at the North YMCA in Columbus and you'll find out the real reason she played football at Alter High School.

"I ended up having a brotherhood out of that and still hang out with some of the guys I hung out with," Mangold says.

And why she didn't want to talk about it at the time.

"I didn't want to be a novelty," adds Mangold.

Make the effort to get to know Holley and you'll hear about how her first true athletic achievement wasn't football but winning the speed roller skating state championship at age 5.

And don't bother with the joke, she's heard that one before.

"Now when I tell people I was speed roller skating champion they ask me if I was going down hill," Mangold says.

But to really find out about the 22-year old you have go beyond her athletic achievements.

Ask her about college at Ursuline and how she's had to set aside her three majors sociology, philosophy and theology to chase her Olympic dream.

"I can always go back to school," Mangold says. "I can always get those grades, but this was my chance."

You can learn that Holley wants to compete in two more Olympics before retiring and possibly going into a career in motivational speaking because of how many people she meets who lack confidence.

"I want to shake people and say, 'you can be confident, just go out and do something,'" Mangold says.

By now you'll know Holley won't be lacking for confidence when she competes on August 5th in the Super Heavyweight division of Female Olympic Weightlifting.

"Nobody dreams about the Olympics ever since they were young to go and get 8th place," Mangold says.

Confidence aside, what you'll take away from talking to Holley is that the biggest thing about her is her spirit.

There's no scale to measure spirit, but you can tell by simply weighing what you should have all along, her words.

"I like what I'm doing and I think that's what makes me happy," Mangold says. "I'm passionate about what I'm doing. When I wake up, if this were the last day of my life, I'd be happy I was doing this."