Record-breaking oldest female powerlifter granny is turning 100
This Sunday, Florida resident Edith Murway-Traina will become one of the strongest centenarians on Earth.
The 99-year-old’s birthday milestone comes just shy of two years after the great-great-grandmother hit another: When she was 98 years old, the Tampa resident became the world’s oldest powerlifter, according to Guinness World Records.
In September 2019, Murway-Traina broke the record for oldest powerlifter by hulking upward of 150 pounds. Her achievement is marked in the 2022 edition of the “Guinness World Records” book, out next month.
Murway-Traina was a spry 91 years old when she first decided to take up the sport, inspired after her first visit to the gym with a friend.
“While I was watching those ladies doing their thing [lifting weights], I thought I might just as well, since I was there so it shouldn’t be a total loss, I might just as well pick up a few bars,” Murway-Traina told Reuters. “So I did, and they got to be fun.”
The former professional dancer and instructor was quick on the uptake, in part thanks to her trainer, Bill, she said. The pair are currently preparing for Murway-Traina’s next competition in November, her first since she “last competed at the age of 98 years, 94 days,” the record-breaker stated.
“Bill is getting me ready now to go back to lifting my body and controlling my balance,” said the athlete, who now stands to break her own record set in 2019.
“So I am expected that in November, I will have another trophy with a whole bunch of applause and take it from there,” she added.
