Hastings teenager Chinayd O'Sullivan has made a grunty entrance into the world's powerlifting record books.
The Karamu High School 15-year-old was still "over the moon" after blitzing the former world record for the women's front squat harness lift earlier this month.
The plucky Year-10 student literally raised the bar in the women's under 80kg category to lift 65kgs, smashing the previous world record of 59.8kgs.
And what made it even sweeter for the Year 10 student was accomplishing the feat at her own school gym - with a group of screaming gym mates yelling support.
"I'm still reeling from it - I've only been weightlifting for 16 months," Chinayd told Hawke's Bay Today.
"It was pretty stressful because even after making the lift it had to be verified."
With the lift now officially recognised, she was eagerly awaiting a certificate from the official body, www.getstrength.com
A video of the feat had been posted on YouTube and was helping to boost her profile in the sport in which one day she hoped to be national champion, or compete on the Olympic stage.
The plucky teen wasn't fazed about the male-dominated weights room at her high school. "Sometimes there's up to 40-60 people in there, mostly boys, but I just kick them off the equipment," she quipped.
She paid tribute to her coach and Karamu teacher, Aron Noble. "If I didn't have his support, I wouldn't have this title."
While the discipline paid dividends in her other interests including rugby, netball and canoe polo, the sport wasn't all about muscle.
"The mental side of the sport is important. You just have to shut out the negatives and focus on the positives."
Her coach agreed.
"There's many aspects to it that make it a great sport for students," Mr Noble said. "Goal-setting is one of them. Chinayd has shown what can happen after continual perseverance."
