Breaking her own long-standing American record of 250 pounds in the clean and jerk would be great. Earning an Olympic medal would be over the top.

But no one knows better than the 33-year-old Bonney Lake mother of three that her triumphs so far are not hers alone. She knows she wouldn’t be an Olympian without her support network.

A farewell rally last Friday at her Roach Gymnastics center in Sumner drew more than 150 people. She struggled not to break down as she lauded “Team Roach” and marveled that she was standing in front of this crowd.

“If anyone had told me eight years ago,” she said, “I wouldn’t have believed you.”

Roach leaves Friday for Beijing, a trip that will be easy compared to her long journey to these games: a back injury that cost her a spot at the 2000 Olympics; the birth of her son Drew, whose autism brought her to her knees; a failed, injury-plagued try for the 2004 Olympics; and back surgery that offered hope but no guarantees.

But she also has a husband who understood her pursuit; a mother who sacrificed time for her daughter; a coach who never gave up on her; and children including Drew, who taught her how to be a champion.

HER HUSBAND

One day in Auburn in late 1998, Melanie Kozoff went out of her way to meet Dan Roach. They had talked once on the phone but had never met.

She saw him on a street corner waving his campaign sign at passing drivers. It was his first bid to become a 31st District state representative. She was a rising weightlifting star heading for the World Championships in Finland.

She parked her car, walked over and introduced herself.

It turned out not to be a year of great success for either of them. She did poorly in the Worlds; he lost the election.

“It helped us prepare for other trials,” she said.

Less than six months later, they were married.

Today they live in a Sky Island house perched on the lip of the Bonney Lake plateau with a sweeping view of the Sumner Valley and west to Tacoma.

Dan is campaigning for his fourth term in the Legislature. Melanie is an Olympian heading for the greatest moment in her sports life.

On a recent Tuesday, she was helping Dan and her mother, Bonnie Kozoff, prepare lunch. The children, Ethan, 7; Drew, 5; and Cami, 3, waited for sandwiches at the dining room table. Their young cousin from Tacoma was spending the day.

Melanie calls their household “controlled chaos.”

She constantly makes lists and schedules. It isn’t easy juggling being the wife of a politician, overseeing gymnastics programs for 250 youths, training almost daily for the Olympics and mothering three children.

Dan said the secret is melding all their activities together.

“One feeds off the other,” he said. “We live a hectic life anyway.”

So last week’s rally promoted the gymnastics center at its new location, raised funds to send Team Roach to the Olympics, served as a Republican campaign event for Dan, and raised money for Autism Speaks, a national autism advocacy organization that Melanie volunteers for.

Ethan, who will accompany his dad to Beijing to see his mom compete, is a big fan.

But he admits there’s a slight downside to all the hard work of the past three years. “Every day it’s kind of hard on me,” he said. “I have to look after my autistic brother and my sister.”

Like his mom, he said he can handle it.

HER MOTHER AND HER COACH

Bonnie Kozoff was the first Team Roach member. She used to drive her daughter an hour each way to four-hour gymnastic classes when they lived in Dallas, Ore.

She remembers 12-year-old Melanie telling everyone in the family that she would compete on the Olympic gymnastics team. No one really doubted her, she said.

In 2003, when Roach announced she was going to try again for the Olympic weightlifting team, Kozoff retired early from her job working with developmentally disabled children for the State of Utah.

She moved into the Roaches’ house full time. She is still there four days a week.

Roach credits her mother with giving her the determination to keep going.

Another influential figure in Roach’s life is coach John Thrush of Lake Tapps, who was twice an Olympic weightlifting hopeful himself. She met him 14 years ago.

“I told John I just wanted to get in shape,” she said.

“We’ll see,” he said.

On a recent Tuesday night, Thrush, 63, scanned the athletes – men and women, young and not so young – working out in his new Olympic weightlifting facility. It is next door to the new Roach Gymnastics, in a warehouse at 1627 45th St. E. in Sumner.

He had eyes for everyone there, but especially Roach. She is his first Olympian. The soft-spoken coach admits he’s like a proud father.

“I always felt she had unfinished business,” he said.

He was with her at the high and low points in the sport. Her back betrayed her at the trials for the 2000 Olympics. She had to watch in tears from the stands as her hope died.

Thrush said she was primed for a gold medal. It was the first time women were allowed to compete. The field was thin. Roach owned the record in her weight class.

“The first time you are injured, it’s a defining moment,” he said.

Some athletes fold. Others have the drive to come back, he said.

“Athletes need to be self-absorbed. They need to be selfish,” he said. “She’s come to understand where she came from. It was all taken away from her.”

Thrush will travel with her to China on Friday.

“It’s been a long trip, down a long, hard road sometimes,” he told the crowd at the rally. “I hope you can appreciate how hard this is to do.”

HER MIDDLE CHILD

A softness comes into Roach’s eyes when she talks about Drew and his autism.

She recalled the Sunday morning in early 2005 when she came downstairs and told Dan she wanted to train for the Olympics a third time. He didn’t blink.

“Let’s do it,” she recalls him saying.

Four weeks earlier, they had welcomed Cami to the family.

Four weeks later, Drew was diagnosed with autism.

“It was awful,” she said, “a most devastating time.”

Roach remembers kneeling by his bed, pondering all the things she thought her middle child wouldn’t be able to do in his life.

She took a leave from her gymnastics center. “We didn’t leave our house for two years.”

She went to their Mormon church bishop and vented about the pains of motherhood.

“I told him that wasn’t what I signed up for,” she said. “He told me that was exactly what I signed up for.”

He told her to focus on what Drew could do.

Today Drew is speaking. He still growls and screeches and has loud “parties” at night where he jumps on his bed for two hours. Sleeplessness is an autistic trait, Roach explained.

Drew, however, may have been her most important support.

“Having him diagnosed changed my perspective. I appreciate my time in the gym a lot more. I finally let go of the past.”

“Drew taught me you don’t have to worry about the future,” Roach said. “You can enjoy the now.”

Mike Archbold: 253-597-8692

Melanie Roach’s Achievements

 • 2008 Olympian

 • 2008 Olympic Trials champion

 • 2007 Pan American Games bronze medalist

 • Eight-time U.S. national champion

 • 2006 Pan American Championships bronze medalist

 • Five-time U.S. World Team member