Dutch Junior powerlifter Betty Aborah has quietly built a massive deadlift over her short career. She began competing in 2022 and lifted at several local meets before attending the 2023 International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) Junior World Championships (JWC) in Romania. There, she deadlifted an impressive 210 kilograms. She has come a long way since then.
Aborah competed on her home turf at the 2024 Euro Muscle Show in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on July 14, where she demonstrated her true potential. She broke the Junior deadlift world record with 216.5 kilograms on her second attempt and followed it with an Open world record of 232 kilograms. Check out the lift below, courtesy of the IPF Instagram page:
Aborah received much support from the crowd but gestured for quiet as she set up in a sumo stance. Deadlifting with the aid of a lifting belt but no other supportive equipment, Aborah took the barbell in a hook grip. Without much apparent effort, she pulled the weight to lock out and wrote her name in the record books.
Samantha Eugenie previously held the junior world deadlift record in the 63KG class, which was set at 216 kilograms at the 2022 IPF JWC in Istanbul, Türkiye. Four-time world champion Joy Nnamani had set the Open record at 231.5 kilograms. Nnamani broke the record at the 2024 IPF Classic World Championships in Druskininkai, Lithuania, on June 18, so it stood for less than a month before Aborah broke it.
2024 IPF Euro Muscle Show Results — Betty Aborah (Netherlands), 63KG
- Squat
- 167.5 kilograms
- 175 kilograms
182.5 kilograms
- Bench Press
90 kilograms- 90 kilograms
- 95 kilograms
- Deadlift
- 207.5 kilograms
- 216.5 kilograms — IPF Junior World Record
- 232 kilograms — IPF Junior & Open World Record
- Total — 502 kilograms
Aborah’s performance earned her second place in the competition and a 2,000 Euro prize purse.
It won’t be long before Aborah is back on the platform. She is on the 2024 IPF JWC roster, which will be held in Malta at the end of August. She will face stiff opposition at that contest, including the 57KG Open world champion Jade Jacob, who has elected to lift in the 63KG class. It will be Jacob’s last JWC before moving into the Open class.
Whether Aborah can meet this challenge is yet to be seen, but she has the advantage of an additional year in the Junior category after Jacob moves up. Aborah will have another opportunity to break some records, but they will be her own this time.
Featured image: @theipf on Instagram
