A Prince Albert teen is a world champion powerlifter.
While Aaron Lemoal was the only competitor in his age and weight class at the world championships in Eger, Hungary, he’s proven he can take on the world by setting a handful of powerlifting world records.
The 19-year-old started going to the gym about four years ago, where he met others involved in the powerlifting community.
“They took me under their wing and taught me how to powerlift, and introduced me into the powerlifting sport,” Lemoal said.
Now, he does two to three competitions a year.
In late September, he competed in worlds. Lemoal was one of a handful of Prince Albert athletes to head to the competition.
Lifting 205 kg in the deadlift and totalling 460 kg across all three of his lifts, (squat, bench and deadlift), he set new world records in both those disciplines.
Lemoal also holds the world record for the bench press at his age and weight class with 105 kg, but he was unable to match that total in Eger.
“It’s pretty cool,” Lemoal said of his accomplishment.
“You’d never expect that you could do something like that. It’s unfortunate I didn’t have anyone to compete against directly, but … it’s kind of cool to know that I’m the strongest in the world for my age and weight category.”
Even being able to experience a world championship was a worthwhile experience. It was Lemoal’s first time in Hungary. He estimated that about 1,000 people competed over the eight days of the tournament.
“It was a lot of fun to see a whole bunch of people lifting from different countries, and different types of people lifting in different age and weight categories,” he said.
“It was a great experience.”
While he has been competing two or three times a year, Lemoal is taking a bit of a break from powerlifting competitions to compete as a bodybuilder, but he won’t be gone from the powerlifting world for long.
Canada is set to host the worlds in 2020, and Lemoal plans to earn more world records on home soil.
