Training at Cannington’s Muscle Pit Gym has paid off for Carlisle’s Annie Malard after she set a world record two weeks ago at the World Powerlifting Congress Australian Championships in Adelaide.
Malard, competing in the over 40 Masters division, said she was quietly confident going in to the event, but was initially disappointed with her result in the squat.
“I’d been hitting 185 kilograms in the gym regularly, so to not hit that at the championships, it was disappointing,” she said
“I couldn’t dwell on that though; you have to stay positive during the competition.”
After posting 177.5kg in the squat and 85kg in the bench-press, it came time for the deadlift, and Malard said that in the week leading up to the championships, she was feeling as good about the deadlift as she had in a long time.
“I was quietly confident, you know, the most I’d hit in the gym was 200kg, but in the week before the comp I’d done 195kg for two reps so I was feeling strong.
“I hit 190kg, then 200kg, then I went for 205kg and hit that.”
It’s then that the tension started to build.
After deciding to go for the Masters world record of 207.5, Malard opted to take a four-minute break to slow her heart rate.
“I wasn’t going to but my coach thought I should, and my heart was beating a little fast so I took the four-minute break, which started after the one other competitor left did her lift.
“So, everyone was waiting for me to take on this world record, the crowd was getting louder, the volume of the music went up, it was a bit crazy”
To her credit, Malard didn’t let the moment get to her – she went out and confidently deadlifted lifted the 207.5kg.
“I was very happy, you know, not everyone can say they have a world record and I set two new personal bests at the same time.
“On the livestream all my friends were supporting me and they were going a bit crazy, it was great.”
For her efforts, Malard also walked away with a silver medal in her division, and the 41-year-old has no plans on stopping any time soon.
