Lorna Belyea: World Record Holder
Local Senior Citizen Sets State, National and World Records For Powerlifting
Dana Michie
Lorna Belyea, local Senior Citizen Sets State, National and World Records For Powerlifting
Longtime Nine Mile Falls resident and family matriarch of the Belyea family, Lorna Belyea, competed March 31st in Missoula, Montana, at the World Association of Bench Pressers & Deadlifters (WABDL) powerlifting meet. In doing so, she set the Washington State, United States and World records in the Bench Press and Deadlift.
Lorna and her husband Dave have been lifting the past two years three times a week at the Explosivelyfit gym. Both of them have been active all of their lives raising three boys, working on their farm and being model parents for their sons and their grandchildren.
Lorna overcame a golfing injury midsummer last year and missed several months of training. Once she healed up, she decided to enter the competition and test her strength under contest conditions. After making the decision to go, she was still apprehensive about competing, waiting to sign up until the last week of registration before.
Lifting and training in a gym is a bit different from lifting in a strictly controlled and judged meet. During the actual lift, the judges give commands. These have to be followed if the lift is approved.
In the competition, there is one head judge and two side judges monitoring the lift. They are watching to make certain the bar constantly moves upward with no pauses or ratcheting, that the feet are not moving around, and that the buttocks stay in contact with the bench at all times.
The head judge gives two commands: press, off the chest and rack, once the weight is in the top position of the bench press. If either of these two commands is violated, the lift is no good. Regardless of how often these commands are practiced in the gym, they are frequently ignored due to the nervousness generated by being on the platform for the first time.
Before the competition began, Lorna thoroughly warmed herself up. She made her first bench attempt of 22.68 Kilos (50.70 lbs.), she waited as her flight finished and then successfully completed her second attempt of 24.95 Kilos (55.11 lbs.). In her final press at 27.22 Kilos, she reset, for the third time in a single day, the State, National and World record at 60.5 pounds.
All of her lifts went up easily.
On her dead lift, she opened at 52.16 Kilos (115 pounds) and followed with her second lift at 56.70 Kilos, (125.88 pounds). Lorna’s third and final successful lift of the day was an easy 59.87 Kilos (132.2 pounds). Once again she set and reset all three of the records with her fine lifting.
After each of her final Bench Press and Deadlift attempts were completed, Lorna received a standing ovation from the one hundred plus lifters and attendees in the room.
Record breaking may run in the family because for a long time their grandsons owned lifting records at Lakeside High School. Now we know why.
Did I mention that Lorna is 86 years old! She and Dave are living examples of what clean living, hard work and being active can do for a person. Neither one of them spends much time on the couch…they have more to do than waste time sitting down.
As a matter of fact, they wear me out just watching them go about their lives.