(Rimouski) Prime Minister François Legault wanted to meet and congratulate double Olympic weightlifting medalist Maude Charron upon her arrival in Rimouski on Tuesday.
The 88 members of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) are meeting in caucus this week in this city in Bas-Saint-Laurent to prepare for the next parliamentary session.
The 5-foot-1 Rimouski athlete, who is 31, won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics last month, managing to lift no less than 236 kg.
She won gold at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the 64kg category, a category that was removed from the Olympic program for Paris.
Mme Charron therefore chose to drop down a weight class to 59 kg, rather than move up to 71 kg. Despite this change and a knee injury, she lifted the same total weight as in Tokyo.
Her consumption of a maple drink between two lifts in Paris had raised a smile, so much so that, in front of the cameras, Mr. Legault offered her and her parents a round of maple syrup shots.
“Are there going to be a third Olympic Games?” the prime minister asked him. “What are you doing in four years?” replied Mr.me Wheelwright.
“I’m going to be prime minister again,” exclaimed François Legault, triggering laughter.
Maude Charron then explained that she had taken a break of a few weeks after her performance at the Paris Games.