Heather Connor won the 2017 International Powerlifting Federation’s Open Raw World Championships in Minsk, Belarus earlier this week and she was incredible.
The 47kg world titleholder hails from North Carolina where she is a personal trainer and weightlifter. In a video from the competition, the 26-year-old appeared wildly confident as she squatted, dead lifted and bench-pressed.
In her final competition, Heather did a 375 lb. deadlift. Earlier the commentators described her as “wild on the deadlift” and it was certainly accurate. As soon as her back was straight she flashed the biggest smile, knowing that she had become the world champion in her weight class. To celebrate her win she ran up to the referees, hugging and kissing them (“whether they like it or not,” the commentator remarked).
Earlier this year Heather wrote a blog for BPI Sports about how the sport helped her overcome her severe anxiety.
“I began powerlifting in 2015, and in the time that I have been doing it, I have found my haven. I found a place that allows me to escape everyday life and focus solely on me. It’s in training where all my stress disappears and whatever may have previously upset me is no longer relevant,” she wrote. “I have found that in the powerlifting community, no one allows you to feel alone. No matter what it is you are going through, whether it is depression, anxiety, a breakup, not performing your best or simply weight cutting and feeling miserable, the community will ALWAYS have your back.”
Christopher Meatto