When Singaporean powerlifter Farhanna Farid set a world record in June, she was rightly applauded for a feat that may be tough to repeat.
Turns out that for her, breaking world records is now commonplace, as she set another one on Friday (16 Sep) by deadlifting 201kg.
In the process, she broke her own world record set just three months ago.
Farhanna, 29, was part of a 48-strong Singapore contingent that competed in the South-east Asian (SEA) Cup 2022 at Hotel Trove in Johor Bahru.
In the women’s Under-52kg deadlift event on Friday (16 Sep), she notched 192.5kg on her first lift, according to the livestream from the Malaysian Association For Powerlifting.
However, in her second lift, she successfully lifted 201kg, prompting cheers from the audience.
A day after the achievement, she told The Straits Times (ST) that the feeling was surreal, as she’d never previously dreamt of representing Singapore or breaking records.
Despite feeling more pressure now as she flies the nation’s flag on the world stage, she also uses it as motivation to drive her forward.
Her results so far are all the more amazing considering she picked up powerlifting just five years ago.
In June, Farhanna set a world record at the World Open Classic Powerlifting Championships in Sun City, South Africa when she achieved 197kg in her second lift.
She then quickly eclipsed that feat in her final lift by lifting 200.5kg — roughly four times her body weight.
For that, she won the Under-52kg deadlift title.
Besides shattering another world record, Farhanna also won Overall Best Female Lifter in the SEA Cup.
This added to the plaudits for Team Singapore, as Powerlifting Singapore president Clinton Lee — who competed in the men’s Under-74kg category — was named Overall Best Male Lifter.
Better yet, Singapore also won Overall Best Nation Team.
That capped off a very successful outing in JB for Team Singapore, as we scored 26 gold medals, seven silver medals and nine bronze medals, Powerlifting Singapore told MS News.
Besides Farhanna’s world record, our powerlifters also smashed a slew of Asian records.
For example, Shirley Chu, 22, lifted 123kg in the women’s junior U-47kg category to break the Asian squat record.
Saudi Tan, 42, broke not one, but three Asian records in the the squat (150kg), bench press (85kg) and deadlift (167.5kg) events of the women’s U-76kg Master 1 category.
Patricia Lynn Meyer, a 67-year-old Singapore permanent resident (PR), lifted 122.5kg to snag the women’s U-52kg Master 3 deadlift Asian record.
Yunie Yang lifted 170kg to set the Women’s U84 Master 1 deadlift Asian record.
Finally, Nigel Ng, 19, notched an Asian record in the bench press event of the men’s junior Under-83kg category by lifting 173.5kg.
His effort also beat Clinton’s previous record of 173kg in the event.
It’s incredible that Farhanna isn’t content to just set a record but continues to improve and break her own records.
However, the other Singapore athletes who competed alongside her last weekend should also be commended for making us proud.
MS News sends our heartiest congratulations to all Team Singapore participants, and are looking forward to more stunning showings in the future.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image courtesy of Powerlifting Singapore.
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