SINGAPORE – Having come close to breaking the women’s Under-52kg deadlift world record two years ago, national powerlifter Farhanna Farid knows well the disappointment of falling just short of the 195.5kg needed.
The skin at her thumb tore halfway through her lift at the 2019 Asian Open Powerlifting Championships in Kazakhstan and while she still won the overall title (sum of best squat, bench press and deadlift lifts), she still rued the one that got away.
Her chance, delayed by the pandemic, came two years later at the Singapore Powerlifting Open (SPO) on Saturday (Oct 16) and Farhanna made it count, successfully lifting 196kg on her third and final lift to surpass Briton Joy Nnamani’s 195.5kg world record. It also rewrote Farhanna’s previous national record of 178kg.
Her lift however will not be ratified as the world’s best as she did not complete it at an event sanctioned by the International Powerlifting Federation.
Farhanna, 29, was nevertheless delighted, especially since she had made some last minute changes to her grip as the previous method was not working as well for her.
The pharmacist, who started powerlifting in 2018, said: “It was risky changing the grip just three weeks before but it’s what probably helped me hit the record. We always visualise our lifts and what we want to achieve so the world record was definitely the centre of my visualisation leading up to that day.
“After I did it, I was like finally! It was a massive relief. I have lifted heavier in training but every time when it comes to competing, there’s always something that doesn’t go according to plan.
“It felt like a long time coming and I knew it wasn’t beyond my capability so to be able to lock it in (although not officially) felt like the biggest relief of my life.”
Nigel Ng, 18, was another who surpassed his own expectations at the SPO. The second-year Ngee Ann Polytechnic biomedical science student set national records in all the U-74kg sub junior categories (squat, bench press, deadlift and total) for competitors aged 14 to 18.
His squat (230.5kg) and total (646kg) also surpassed the current world records of 230kg and 645kg respectively.
While the records will not be ratified, Ng said “the sense of achievement was still there”. He added: “In my mind, I was constantly reminding myself that the weights were nothing I have never attempted before in my training.
“I already knew that the strength was in me and all that was left was for me to execute to the standards of the judges.”
He now hopes to improve his mental strength to better cope with time management during fast-paced competitions ahead of the Tertiary Powerlifting Championships slated for January.