Yukon weightlifter Jeane Lassen claimed two silver medals at the 2004 Pan Am Championships, held this past weekend in Cali, Colombia.

Lassen, who trains in Montreal where she attends McGill University, grabbed a silver medal in the clean and jerk, lifting 115 kilograms, and was fifth in the snatch with 87.5 kilograms. Her total of 202.5 kg placed her second overall in the 69-kilogram class. She tied with a fellow Canadian weightlifter for the total, but Lassen weighed less by two grams so was ranked higher.

'She wasn't so pleased with her snatches,' said mother Moira in an interview this morning. 'She wanted to do 92. She was really pleased with her clean and jerks. For the team, she was really pleased with the outcome.

'I think if she had lifted what she intended to, she would have got a silver medal in the snatch as well.'

Fellow Yukoner Emily Quarton, who also trains in Montreal, tied a personal best with her performance at the Pan Ams. Quarton was initially the first alternate for the women's team but when one of the team members decided not to go, she got the call.

Competing in the 63-kilogram class, she snatched 75 kg and clean and jerked 100 kg, placing seventh overall at her first event with the senior national team. She went into the Pan Ams ranked ninth.

'The heat was very bad, I felt ready to pass out,' said Quarton in an interview from Montreal this morning. 'I made four of my six lifts and not one of them was pretty, but I was happy with my totals. I've only done it (totaled 175) once in my life (at junior nationals last January).

'With all things considered, I'm pretty happy.'

The Pan Am Championships were also the Continental Qualifier for the Olympic Games in Athens this summer. Canada failed to qualify for the Olympics at the world championships in Vancouver last November, so this was the team's last chance and they succeeded. One female and one male lifter will now represent Canada in Athens.

'Colombia had already qualified,' explained Quarton. 'There were four other countries that had a chance, and we ended up being the first one (in points) after Colombia.

'So we did better than expected.'

Quarton said it was nice to have one goal for the entire team, so the Canadian athletes weren't really competing against each other.

'We did a lot of team stuff,' she said. 'I hung out with each and every person on the team at least once, so I can't wait for nationals, to see everyone.

'You know, seven days and you can't go anywhere alone, you get to know each other very well. We all had our own goals but our main goal was to qualify for the Olympics. So we were being a team.'

Quarton said unfortunately, she didn't get to see a lot of Colombia because it wasn't really safe to go out. In an e-mail from the competition, she wrote about paying 300 pesos, or about 30 cents, to use the toilet.

'It was pretty, but definitely poor,' she said. 'The people were all really nice.'

The team also went down to Colombia expecting the food to be horrible, but Quarton said it ended up being quite good so the team members had to be careful to make their weight classes.

'Some people even drank the water,' she stated. 'I didn't until the last couple days we were down there, but it all ended up being great.

'I weighed exactly what I had to weigh 63.0 kilograms.'

Now back in Montreal, Quarton has just four days to rest before she heads to Minsk, Belarus to represent Canada at the world junior weightlifting championships. Then it's off to the national championships June 13-14, which Lassen will also attend.

'This (Pan Ams) was a really good warm-up for my confidence for both junior worlds and nationals,' she said. 'Now I just have to maintain this for the next week.'

Quarton is hoping to total 180 77 in the snatch and 103 in the clean and jerk.

'I think that's realistic,' she said. 'And I think if I compete like I did here, I think I could do 182 or 185.

'As far as placing, I'm not really sure because I haven't looked at the start list yet. I don't really know what I'm getting myself into.'

Quarton's big goal for this year is qualify to be a carded athlete. Only two females and two males can qualify and there are several events leading up to December, including the worlds, where the decisions will be made for the following year.

As for the national championships next month, she believes it may be her best yet. There is one athlete in her class who is pretty much guaranteed gold, she said, but that leaves the rest of the medals open.

Of the four Quarton believes will be fighting for silver and bronze, one of them has the same total as her 180 kg. The other two have higher totals, but not by much.

'I think I have the potential to beat both those girls,' she stated.

Both Quarton and Lassen will be returning to Whitehorse this summer Quarton after the national championships and Lassen after the world university championships in July.

The weighlifter is excited to return home, and said she is extremely appreciative of all the community support she's received over the season.

Quarton has been looking to the community recently, to help raise the $3,000 needed to travel to Belarus.

Mother Joie Quarton said they haven't yet raised the full amount, but they have made it about halfway.

'We have about enough to get her to Minsk, but not enough to get her home,' she joked.

'But I think it will all work out.'