Killester woman is kettlebells champion

HISTORY was made last month when a Killester woman won gold at the IUKL World Kettlebell Championships 2016. 

Maria Moran (36) became World Champion at the competition in Kazakhstan which took place over five days and hosted 428 athletes from around the world.

Ireland hosts its National Championships every February. The top three competitors qualify for the European Championships, which are held in May. A separate competition is held in July to qualify successful competitors for the World Championships, both of which Moran qualified for. 

The Irish team of 12 returned home with eight golds, two silvers and a bronze medal. One of those golds belonged to Moran. 

“It was just unbelievable. It felt completely unreal, it was a very surreal experience to think that all that training actually paid off and it all worked out in the end. 

“I was aiming for higher reps that I didn’t get so I was quite surprised to win with the reps that I got. It was brilliant, it was absolutely magical,” she said. 

Moran described the preparation that went into the competition. 

“I was training five days a week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday for actual competition stuff. Tuesday and Thursday would be all the assistance stuff, so all the strength exercises to help build up leg muscle so it can be stronger, or rehab and prehab stuff.”

Moran’s family, friends and neighbours rallied around her to fundraise for her journey. Her friend Wendy and her father did a charity cycle on her behalf. 

Moran also won the Europeans last May, which took place in Poland. She is now the current European Champion in the 68kg weight category. 

“That was freaky. It was just crazy, I sort of went into denial and thought to treat it as a ten-minute training and didn’t think about it. 

“I hadn’t thought my training had quite gone well in the run up to it and I just thought I’d treat it as a training set and aim to be winning this stuff next year. Then magic happened on the day and I was delighted,” she said. 

A dog groomer in her professional life, Moran’s involvement in Kettlebells began five years ago when she made the decision to strengthen her back muscles for work.

Moran is trained by Dave Hedges at Wild Geese Martial Arts and Fitness in Dublin City Centre, which is home to many other other champion winners in both martial arts and fitness. 

“I just fell in love with it. I got addicted and I started going to competitions. The first competition I did was probably two years into my training. I really enjoyed it and kind of got the bug from there,” Moran added. 

Moran recently completed a one-mile swing challenge in Irishtown to raise money for HOPS, a mental health charity. Looking forward to the next year, she is hoping to defend both titles, in the Europeans in Finland and the Worlds in South Korea.

REPORT: Hayley Halpin