And the records keep falling at the 2018 IPF World Classic Championships.
Twenty-three year old Catherine Smith has toppled the Junior world record for the deadlift in her -57kg weight class with a mighty 177 kilograms (390.2 pounds), which is over 3.1 times her bodyweight. This beat out the previous record by 500 grams, which was set by Finland’s Satu Pylvas at last year’s World Championships. Check out Smith’s very pumped up lift below.
[Want to get as psyched up as this? Here are Ben Pollack’s three favorite tools for getting psyched.]
Sure, it’s a pretty far cry from Joy Nnamani’s Open world record in the -57kg weight class — she pulled 200 kilograms at 25 years old without a belt — but this is still a phenomenal result for Smith.
The British athlete posted a story to her Instagram account in which she seemed pretty happy with her result.
I just want to say everyone who’s watching back home I f*cking love you so much, like it means the world to me. World record deadlift. It’s what I came for, gold deadlift and fourth place overall, like I’m absolutely gassed. Love you all, thank you.
Smith is relatively early in her career, but she’s already built quite a resume: in addition to her shiny new IPF record, she was the 2017 British Junior Champion, setting a national record with a deadlift of 175.5 kilograms (387 pounds) at the championships held in November last year.
She wound up totaling 368 kilograms for a Wilks of 437.3, winning her weight class despite weighing in at 55.3 kilograms, the second lightest of the 14 women who competed as -57kg athletes.
Another fun fact: Smith’s sociology dissertation is entitled: “I wasn’t put on this planet to wear a dress”: The lived experiences of femininity and muscularity in female athletes. It look like this is Smith’s last year as a Junior athlete — we’re looking forward to her Open results.
Featured image via @theipf on Instagram.
