A 9-year-old girl in the Four-States Area is stronger than most adult women.
Damiyah Smith, a fourth-grade student who turned 9 in June, is an ordinary kid in every way except for one: She’s already a record-breaking powerlifter. She can squat more than 100 pounds, bench press 65 pounds and dead lift nearly 150 pounds.
Not only can Damiyah — dubbed the “powerhouse princess” — lift more weight than most women her mother’s age, “she could lift me. I weigh 145 pounds,” said Kris Smith, Damiyah’s mother. Kris and husband, Jason, own the House of Steel, located in downtown Commerce.
Damiyah has been powerlifting since she was 4, working out for about an hour each morning with her father before doing her daily chores and heading off to school.
Her first powerlifting competition was back in May at the Oklahoma Amateur Athletic Union State Powerlifting Championships in Tulsa. She set state records in the squat (100 pounds), bench (55 pounds) and dead lift (135 pounds) for a 290-pound total.
At the 2015 AAU Junior Olympic Games in Hampton Roads, Virginia, Damiyah set new records in the bench, dead lift, squat and total overall in the 77-pound weight class for 8- and 9-year-olds in the female raw world classification. Her total score there was 283.3, eclipsing the previous record of 242.
And between the Virginia competition on Aug. 3 and the AAU World Championship in Las Vegas that took place in late September, Damiyah increased her bench press from 55 pounds to 65 pounds and, even more impressively, her dead weight pull from 135 pounds to 148 pounds. Her next event will take place just before Christmas in Mesquite, Nevada.
A YouTube video posted on Sept. 18 showcasing Damiyah’s powerlifting prowess has received 12.6 million views.
“You’re versus-ing yourself,” Damiyah said in the video. “It makes you want to get more heavier weights, just makes you feel really good.”
Powerlifting is a form of weightlifting in which a competitor attempts three types of lift in a set sequence: squat, bench press and dead lift. Aside from powerlifting, Damiyah also plays basketball and softball. She also tumbles and participates in cheerleading.
“There’s a lot of positives and some negatives,” Kris said. There are some who “think that we’re encouraging her to stunt her growth, but it’s never been proven that weightlifting (does that) … She’s been more hurt falling off the front porch than powerlifting. We just feed off the positive. People are intrigued by what (Damiyah) does. The town of Commerce really supports her, and they are tuned in on what she’s doing.
“She likes powerlifting because of the whole gym atmosphere,” Kris said. “We’re not powerlifters, but we train with her, so it’s a family experience.”
Courtesy of: The Joplin Globe