Melanie Roach

About Melanie Roach

Melanie Roach (born December 14, 1974 in The Dalles, Oregon) is an Olympic weightlifter for the United States. She lives in Bonney Lake, Washington where she owns Roach Gymnastics, Inc.

During high school, Melanie participated in gymnastics, but dislocated her shoulder. After reconstructive surgery, she slowly became interested in weightlifting. She started training in 1994 once meeting coach John Thrush. By 1998 she was number one in the US, and set the world record, since bested, for the women's clean & jerk by lifting more than twice her weight, 113kg/250lbs. She is 5'2" and 117 lbs.

Three weeks before the US Olympic Trials in 2000, she herniated a disc in her back, and became an alternate. She then focused on starting a family with husband Dan Roach, who is a Washington Representative. They now have three children, one of whom was diagnosed with autism at the age of two; she is now a member of Athletes Against Autism. She then started training again in 2005, made it past the Olympic Trials, and into the 2008 Summer Olympics.