Melanie Roach isn't your typical Olympic weightlifter.

For one, she's very petite. The 5-foot-2, 117-pound Washington resident said she's frequently told by people that she doesn't look like someone who can lift enormous weights.

"That's the beauty of this sport," said Roach, who will compete in the women's 53kg weight class in Beijing. "Every body type could be a weightlifter."

But more important, the 33-year-old Olympian is also a wife and a mother of three who owns and operates a gymnastics center.

Roach's family and athletic demands mean that her daily schedule typically includes getting her sons Ethan and Drew off to school; training in the afternoon while her daughter, Camille, is in gymnastics; meeting her sons at the bus stop; helping with homework; making dinner; and then heading back to the gym to train.

Roach jokes that she's "probably the most selfish mother I know and the most unselfish athlete I know."

She says this because while she finds time to train, she is also willing to modify her training schedule if she needs to be with her kids.

In particular, Drew -- who has autism -- can occupy a lot of the athlete's time.

But Roach is quick to point out that Drew's demands are not a bad thing.

"It's not a terrible burden at all," Roach says.

Roach says Drew's biggest challenges are communicating his needs, his desire to be alone and dealing with transitions. She said he gets upset easily having to move from one location to another -- like from the car to the store -- or if she changes her route to a place they often visit, but she also points out the progress he's made. Roach said Drew is improving on wanting to spend more time with the family, and his outbursts have been more controllable, allowing him to be in public settings more often.

Roach also credits part of her weightlifting success to Drew, saying that having him provided her with the perspective to come back from injury.

Roach, who initially had aspirations of being an Olympic gymnast before eventually turning to weightlifting, was poised to make the 2000 Olympic squad before she herniated a disc in her back just weeks before the trials.

After taking time away from the sport to start her family, Roach tried to get back into competitive weightlifting several times, but each time her back caused her too much pain. Eventually Roach decided to have her back surgically repaired.

"It was a miracle," Roach said her of recovery.

The weightlifter said that she now competes almost pain free, although she sometimes feels a little bit of soreness due to arthritis in her back, but that pain tends to go away after she's warmed up.

Roach says the surgery has also improved all aspects of her life, not just related to weightlifting. She says she regained the freedom to carry her kids, get dressed and do daily tasks.

Her back will get its next test in Beijing, where the multitasking mother of three will add trying to win an Olympic medal to her already busy schedule.