This Manitoba teen can lift nearly twice her own weight and she's headed to world championship to prove it

Melita, Man.'sstrongest teenager is a 17-year-oldwho can lift close to twice her weight and now, she'sheading to an internationalcompetition where she hopes to lift her way to gold.

Rienna Skelton, 17, earned a spot on Team Canada to compete in the International Weightlifting Federation's Junior World Championships in Suva, Fiji, next month. More than 500 athletes from over 50 countries will attend.

"I'm super excited to be representing my country," she said."This is something I never really thought would happen."

In just four years, the young athlete has had a rapidrise to the top of the sport. At 5-3 and 138 pounds, Skelton is one of only six junior women to attend the international event from Canada.

See Rienna Skelton lifting at a 2019 event:

Melita's Rienna Skelton headed to international competition

5 years ago

Duration 0:33

Melita, Man., weightlifter Rienna Skelton, 17, executes a successful clean and jerk lift of 100 kilograms at the Canadian Junior Weightlifting Championships in Brossard, Que., in 2019 .

Nathan Corrigal is Skelton's trainer at a local gym in Melita, a southwestern Manitoba town of just over 1,000.He said he saw Skelton's potential at an early age.

"She was just a quiet, normal 11-year-old kid.Then when she started lifting, I noticed she had more strength than girls who were much older. So she just kept putting more weight on the bar."

Skelton earned her Team Canada spot by meeting the national lifting standard of 175 kilograms (just over 385 pounds). That's tallied by adding up the athlete's best results in the snatch lift and the clean and jerk lift in competition.

Skelton had a personal best of 82 kilograms in the snatch lift where the bar is lifted in a continuous motion and 100 kilograms in the clean and jerk, where the lifter pauses at shoulder level before lifting the weightover their head.

When Skelton first learned the lifts in 2015, her power and potential quickly emerged, says Corrigal.

"Immediately she was excelling. She was already stronger than the women in the gym doing the same movements."

But Corrigal says even more thanathletic ability, her dedicationand strong work ethic which haveher training up to 15 hours a week set Skelton apart from her competition.

"She just was always willing to show up and work, and kept coming back every week, which at that age is unusual. And she's never stopped since."

Rienna is a small-town kid. She does a million other things. But she doesn't get sidetracked by the noise. She shows up and takes ownership.- Coach Nathan Corrigal

For Skelton, it's the built-in social life at the gym thatbringsher back every dayeven if it stretches out her training time.

"I like the atmosphere at the gym. Everyone is super supportive. It's just super fun. But my training usually takes extra long because I like to visit with everybody."

The effects of all that gym time aren't just physical, she says.

"When I first started I didn't have a ton of confidence. But being in the gym has made me more outgoing and confident."

It's also made her a strong competitor.She's competed and placed in no fewer than 10 competitions, including two nationally.

Corrigal says she's more than deserving ofher spot competing for the world championship.

"Rienna is a small-town kid. She does a million other things. But she doesn't get sidetracked by the noise. She shows up and takes ownership. She takes it and runs with it," he said.

In Fiji, Skelton will have an Melita entourage. Her mother, her grandmother, and a friend are all making the trip to cheer her on, along with Corrigal. He'slooking forward to it.

"I'll never be prouder as a coach, ever."