We are all guilty of associating powerlifting with bulging muscles and huge physiques, but Rachel Ann Said has found this stereotype to be a great party trick: “no one believes me when I say I’m a powerlifter – I’m always greeted with a ‘but you’re tiny!’” she reveals.
Despite her small stature, Rachel is one gym tornado. Fresh off her second place finish at the Powerlifting World Championships in Halle, Germany, Rachel powered through a very shaky start to win a silver medal. She reveals that due to a gut health issue – which she attributes to a mix of stress, food and not taking things easy - just a week prior to the competition, she started gaining the weight she had lost.
Another issue followed, this time regarding the category in which she was supposed to compete in: “I was meant to compete in another category, -44kg, but I was told I couldn’t because I had to qualify for that category in a competition in Malta first,” Rachel says, confessing that the news coupled with her anger for not being made aware of this before, felt like a punch in the face.
She eventually competed in the -47.5kg class, but being 2kg underweight and classifying as the lightest competitor, Rachel had to sweat twice as hard. “The morning of the competition was a rollercoaster of emotions, and it was also the first time I failed my squat, twice,” Rachel admits as she continues: “I was set on it being a bad day, it happens to any lifter. But somehow I managed to turn it around and for the first time ever, I got three white lights in all my bench and deadlift attempts.”
Rachel reveals that local competitions are vastly different to international ones: “you feel at home, you don’t have the stress of packing, travelling, finding a place with a bath if I’m doing a water cut, planning all my food to take with me, etc.” Having previously competed solo, Rachel pitted against other female powerlifters in Germany and admits that “the competition was tough.”
Considering the events leading up to the competition, Rachel is still in awe of her high placing. As well as the silver medal, she also brings home two personal records in bench (50kg) and deadlift (110kgs) while weighing 45.6kg.
Rock on Rachel!