Juliana Riotto is one of the top up-and-coming weightlifters in the United States. Over the last few years, she’s been crushing American records in the junior division and winning multiple medals at the Junior Worlds and Junior Pan Ams. A 106 kg snatch and 234 kg total in the 87 kilo class as a junior…those are serious numbers. Interestingly, she’s a former CrossFitter who was recruited into weightlifting after clean and jerking 210 lbs. as a 16-year-old in the CrossFit Open. Training out of Garage Strength in Pennsylvania, she’s a hard charger with plenty of potential to hit bigger weights in the future.
 
But the aspect of her story that really grabs my attention is the determination she’s had to show in her life off the platform. As you’ll read in this interview, she’s had some major curveballs thrown at her in recent years. Weightlifting is a difficult sport that’s full of challenges and obstacles, but most of them happen within the four walls of the gym. You have to be a tough cookie to survive in this game. Juliana has clearly been dominating the normal weightlifting speedbumps we all encounter: training pain, technique development, daily mental grind, etc. But she’s had some additional stuff to deal with, and she’s showing a tremendous amount of courage and resilience as she tackles it. Catalyst Athletics is pleased to share her story with you.
 
Tell us about your background. Where are you from, where do you currently live, what’s your occupation, family life, what kind of sports background do you have outside of lifting, etc. 
 
I was born and raised in Fairfield, NJ with my mom, dad and younger brother. I now live in Leesport, PA. My family is still back in New Jersey, while I moved out to Pennsylvania to train with Dane Miller and Garage Strength more intently. In high school, I played soccer and basketball and then CrossFit right before I started weightlifting. When I was young, my family and I went through a lot. When I was in middle school, my mom was in a very horrific car accident that almost killed her and nearly crippled her. A month or so later, our home was flooded out after a hurricane and we were homeless for a year living in my uncle’s house, sleeping on mattresses on the floor until our home was rebuilt. As a family, we struggled and fought through it all as a unit. I was lucky enough to still be able to pursue my athletic goals and dreams while all of that was going on. Going through all of that really made me believe my family grew stronger together in the struggle, and that we created an unbreakable bond. They fully supported me when I moved out to Pennsylvania to make my life easier and to be able to train full time as an athlete and chase down my goals and dreams to be an Olympian. But recently when I came out about my sexuality, that all changed. They pulled out all of their funding and support because they could not support a sin, something that was completely against all of their beliefs as Christians. They then tried to “re-support” me, but only if I was willing to hide who I was and my relationship with the woman I loved until they were ready and do things under their terms. And I couldn’t accept support from my family who didn’t fully accept me and who I am, as well as try and control it all. So I went from being a full-time athlete who had everything taken care of for me to still training full time but getting a part-time job, paying all of my own bills and buying my own car…all within six months. I now work at a Guest Services desk at Sports Complex called Body Zone to help make ends meet on top of the stipend USA Weightlifting offers to me.
 
Describe your weightlifting history. When/how did you start? Who have your coaches been? What are your proudest accomplishments?
 
I was a goalkeeper in soccer from when I was five years old until I was 17. When I was playing soccer in high school, I was tired of doing all of my athletic training/conditioning in a commercial gym. Running on a treadmill and doing light movements with dumbbells was extremely boring to me. That’s when I came across a CrossFit gym that was in my hometown and fell in love with it immediately. I went every single day I could fit it in and went after soccer practice the days I had to be there. I quickly became fond of the barbell movements and was really good with them as well. I did CrossFit for about a year and a half. When I was 16 years old, I competed in the 2015 CrossFit Open, the first year they decided to add the Teen/Master’s Divisions. 15.1 Had a max clean and jerk after a WOD was completed. I clean and jerked 210lbs (96kg) to place me first in the world at my age division (16 and under). Phil Andrews saw my results and then contacted my CrossFit gym to recruit me and get me involved with USAW. I went out to a few camps at the Olympic Training Center and immediately fell in love with the sport.  I started out with Spencer Arnold as my first coach and things didn’t work out, but then I found Dane Miller and his team Garage Strength and have been with him ever since. Fast forward to a little over three years later, my proudest accomplishments are winning a gold (snatch), bronze (clean and jerk) and silver medal (overall) at Junior World Championships, being a Junior Pan American Champion, holding two Junior American Records (106k Snatch, 234 Total), and winning a bronze medal at the IWF World Cup.
 
Please give a basic description of your training method. Just tell us as much as you can about your program, weekly/yearly planning, etc.
 
I train six days per week, once a day before work, always doing snatch and clean and jerks whether it’s traditional lifts or variations followed with either squats or pulls, with one rest day to either get body work done and recover or just recover on my own. We’re always working towards the next competition planned to crush goals and PRs.
 
Describe some of the obstacles you face, or maybe some things that frustrate you in your weightlifting life. What kinds of changes would you like to see, either personally or with the sport in general?
 
Everything I’ve had to face recently like I’ve explained earlier has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to face. Having to lose the support of my family. To go from having everything taken care of for me and to just have to worry about lifting to worrying about everything and still make lifting work, as well as going through the emotional pain of the people who were supposed to have my back the most through everything to turn away from me because of loving someone they don’t approve of has been extremely difficult. I have learned I am able to handle all of that stress and still train and compete as best as I can and come out successfully, considering I just earned a silver medal at the British International Open as all of this was happening to me. So the obstacle for me now is continuing to learn how to handle the outside stressors of life and still being able to handle the stressors of weightlifting as well to continue to be successful. I would like to see some changes in myself of making PR attempts “just another number” and attacking them with as much confidence as I would in a warmup attempt, no matter what is going on around me.
 
What are your plans and goals for your weightlifting career? How do you see your future in the sport?
 
My plans and goals for my weightlifting career are to make more senior international teams, go to senior World Championships and hopefully medal there and to make it to the Olympics before my athletic career is over. Afterwards, I would REALLY love to coach. To be able to share my knowledge of weightlifting and help other athletes is something that means a lot to me and I enjoy doing.
 
Who are some of your major influences, people you look up to, etc.? Who are the people you want to thank for your success?
  
Some people I really look up to as weightlifters are Rebeka Koha, Lorendana Toma and Lydia Valentin. Their technique is textbook, and they make their lifts look effortless, but most importantly the energy they bring to the platform is like no other. I strive to be like that, make my lifts look pretty and wear my heart on my sleeve out there every time I lift on the competition platform. Putting in and showing all of the passion I have for this sport is something I always have done and want to continue to do. The people I really want to thank for my success are my coaches Dane Miller and DJ Shuttleworth. Not only have they done a great job with me as an athlete helping me get strong as hell, critiquing my technique and helping me get closer and closer to my goals and dreams every day, but they have also helped me in life and who I am as a person. They both have been there for me in every aspect of life and they both have a huge impact of who I am as an athlete and human being. They both have taught me so much and I am forever grateful for that. They both exceed expectations of what it means to be a coach for an athlete. I do want to thank my parents… before everything has happened, I would thank them for supporting me and giving me everything I needed or wanted to help me be successful. But now I thank them for telling me I cannot be able to continue to chase my dreams to become an Olympian without them and their support, that I cannot have a job and a relationship and still be as successful as I want to be, that I am doomed for failure because of what I’m doing with my life now and how wrong it is… because all that makes me want to do is prove them wrong. Lastly, but most importantly, I want to thank my girlfriend Chelsea Pietrzykowski. For loving all of me, accepting me for exactly who I am, supporting me in everything I do and making me happier than I ever have been. Pushing me to be a better version of myself every single day, as well as being here for me in every aspect of life and the shoulder to cry on when I need her to be. Showing me I can be exactly who I truly am and get everything I want out of this life. As well as helping make me believe I can do absolutely anything I put my mind to because I am strong enough and I am more than capable to do so. I love you, Chelsea. Thank you.
 
Keep up the hard work and positive attitude, Juliana. You’re strong inside, and we look forward to seeing more big lifts in the future!