Dandenault heading to the hall

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This article was published 16/07/2019 (2243 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It sometimes takes a community to make an athlete successful.

At least, that’s according to Susanne Dandenault, who will be one of the inductees in this year’s Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, which announced its class of 2019 on July 8.

The River Park South resident, who is a lawyer by profession, is among seven individuals and one team that will be inducted this year, which is the hall’s 40th anniversary year. She will be inducted in the athlete category for both athletics and weightlifting.

“It’s feels fantastic,” Dandenault said, when asked about her induction. “You never think about entering the hall of fame when you’re a competing, and this is a fitting final chapter.”

Dandenault, 49, retired from competition in 2005 after a successful and extensive career in the weightlifting arena. According to athletescan.com, her sporting resume includes competing in five world championships, two Pan Am Games, and a Commonwealth Games. She was also a nine-time national champion between 1997 and 2005.    

Having competed in throwing sports from a young age, Dandenault was persuaded by a friend to take up weightlifting, and never looked back. She said one of the highlights of her career was competing for Canada at the 1999 Pan Am Games in front of her hometown crowd.

“It was a great experience, and having our friends and family able to attend the opening and closing ceremonies here in Winnipeg was wonderful. Competing for Canada was always fantastic, and we were all local heroes during those games. There was also such camaraderie between the athletes,” Dandenault said, noting her husband, Richard Mason, is a high-ranking international weightlifting official.  

The Glenlawn Collegiate alumna said it takes a special drive and inner-strength, as well as a desire to continually push one’s self, to be a committed weightlifter.

“I think weightlifters are a unique breed,” said Dandenault, who attended the University of Washington on a track and field scholarship and graduated with undergraduate degrees in psychology and environmental studies before returning to Canada and completing a law degree at the University of Manitoba. “If you talk to different athletes, I think you’ll find the least favourite to do for a lot them is lift weights.”

“A lot of it is about developing good habits, and I just didn’t miss training. Self-improvement is also very important, and it’s important to try and do a little bit better every time. Unfortunately, weightlifting is a sport that has been dominated by drug use, and as a clean athlete I knew I might not see the podium as much, but bettering myself was always an accomplishment. As well, I always knew I’d lift more in competition than in the gym.”

And despite coming from a background of solo sports, Dandenault knows the success of an individual athlete is the product of the hard work of a team of people.

“No athlete is successful on their own,” she said.

“They need so much support, and it definitely takes a community to produce a successful athlete, including training partners and coaches. Weightlifting may be an individual sport, but you can’t produce that success just on your own.”  

Other individual inductees for this year’s hall include Charles Baksh (athlete) — cricket; Don Hornby (builder) — rowing; Jon Montgomery (athlete) — skeleton; Maureen Orchard (builder) — basketball/wheelchair basketball; Michelle Stilwell (athlete) — wheelchair sport; and Hector Vergara (builder) — soccer. In the team category, the Brandon University Bobcats men’s basketball team from 1987, 1988 and 1989 is the sole team inductee.