I seriously grew up thinking that it wasn't possible
to have a medal at the Olympics.
I thought it was impossible to win in sport
that have been so well known for doping
in other countries in the world.
So my goal was always to be as good as I could be.
I wanted to prove the world
that I can still be good without it.
There are cheats, there are athletes who dope,
they were stripped from their medals.
The medal reallocation for that fair sport,
for that clean sport.
This is focused on the athletes
who haven't had that opportunity to celebrate.
I wonder why your mouth is full of chocolate already.
Because we eat chocolate.
But why are we making a cake, kids?
- For Mamma - For Mummy. Why?
Because it's your birthday.
Do you think it's my birthday?
We will have a party.
But it's not because Mummy is getting older.
Here people will come over to celebrate with us.
Weightlifting made the person I am now.
From that little kid
that was crying in the corner of her class
because she was too shy to talk to people,
I became double Olympic medallist,
able to speak in front of thousands of people,
express my story.
So, definitely, weightlifting made me a lot more confident,
and I guess it brought the best out of me.
For now, I'm not training a lot
because I am pretty busy with my university course
and my three young kids, but when I do get a chance
I can come in the basement and have my little moment.
The basement of my new house that's obviously unfinished
but it's my little corner to be able to train and
remind my body what it used to do before having three kids.
Weightlifting was what made me the happiest.
It's like time stopped, but you know exactly you have to do
and you go there and you just do your job.
So the only thing I had to
was showing the world what I could do.
I qualified for the Olympics in 2008 in May
and I competed in July.
Every time I competed at international level,
I always ask my coach not to tell me the ranking.
Knowing what ranking it would give me
was just a pressure, I didn't need it.
When I finished my last attempt, when I came back,
my coach told me that would have been bronze
if you made it.
I just missed it, and that destroyed me.
When we were at Beijing and Christine came fourth,
we were so proud of her. She had an amazing competition.
Fourth is nothing to be ashamed of or discouraged by
within the Olympic community.
What I think was a real challenge
was when she came back to Canada and people kept saying,
"Fourth, oh, my God, that's the worst."
The feeling of failure was so intense.
I actually had a depression following the 2008 Olympics.
Between 2008 and 2012, what really kept me going
I would say is that three kilos...
that three kilos away from a podium
is what helped me believe.
And I ended up overreaching and adding one in that to my total
and it's good because that's what I actually needed
to be on the podium and get that bronze medal.
In 2008, if I had the bronze medal,
I would have been the first medal for my country
and the only one for three days.
That would have brought me
so much attention from journalists.
It would have brought so much attention to my sport.
It would have empowered so many little girls
that want to do sport
that are not really recognised for girls.
It would have changed my life.
Those four years were the hardest of my life
and when I learned that it should have been different,
it was hard for me to take.
It's like I lived through a lie of some kind.
I trained in a car port that was barely heated.
I ended up being my own coach because I had no other support.
But it took me some time to make peace with that
and to realise that actually those four years
were the most transformative in my life
and I became who I am now because of that.
A lot of people ask me if I am upset
at the women that cheated, that were in front of me,
and to be honest I am not
because I don't believe that it was their choice.
I believe it was their countries' choice.
So I am upset at the people around them
that made them or forced them to dope,
and I feel like those athletes need to be protected.
I had my time.
I was lucky enough to have a really long sport career.
Now I am ready for the next step
and for me the next step is coaching.
What are you working on?
I know the eyes is a better cue but if you think about
staying engaged in the neck
it might help keep that position stronger.
Let's go.
Ah, you know it. Look at that face.
Elbows to shoulder height and then you rotate and push.
Easy.
That was nice.
I don't miss who I was.
I'm just happy with what I have now.
So we are getting back to my house.
Pretty much all my family will be there
and will be happy to celebrate what's coming up tomorrow.
Hello!
Hello, my beauty! How are you?
Weightlifting became our family passion.
So everybody got involved.
I have three sisters older than me.
They all competed at some point.
It looks like Harry Potter's dad.
Look here at Grandpa.
And here...Sylvie, Valérie, Caroline et Christine.
The four girls he raised.
The whole family.
A toast to Christine for her gold medal in London
and her bronze medal in Beijing.
Cheers!
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you to everyone for being here
to share and celebrate with me.
It's been years of work for not only me, but for everyone.
Thank you all so much
for being here and helping me in everything I do.
Cheers to all of you.
Representing Canada,
winner of the bronze medal
of the Women's 63kg weightlifting event
at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games,
Christine Girard.
It's not just Canada, it's for all those around the world
that believe in integrity
and believe that sport without integrity
isn't sport that we want to be part of.
At the end of the day the reason we do sport
is to be part of community and to be connected to something
and to pursue our passions
and I feel very fortunate
to have had the chance to work with Christine.
She leads by example.
She is relentless in her efforts.
Gold medallist and Olympic champion
in the women's 63kg weightlifting event
at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
-Thank you. -So deserving.
It's not just about me and my family any more,
it's not just our win.
It's the win of our country and our values
and it's a win for clean sport,
so all for those reasons, it's definitely worth the wait.