Northland's newest world champion Trish Muldrock with friends and supporters at Community Fitness Kerikeri after her triumphant return from the World Powerlifting Champs. Photos / Peter de Graaf
Northland's newest world champion Trish Muldrock with friends and supporters at Community Fitness Kerikeri after her triumphant return from the World Powerlifting Champs. Photos / Peter de Graaf
Northland's newest world champion is a Kaikohe grandmother less than five foot (1.52m) tall who can lift three times her own body weight.
Trish Muldrock has just returned from the World Masters Powerlifting Championships in the Czech Republic weighed down with four gold medals and the overall trophy for theMasters 3 division (60 years and over).
She also set three new world records and placed fourth overall across all age and weight classes.
Mrs Muldrock, who was competing in the under-47kg class, lifted 130kg in the deadlift - a gold medal-winning world record and just under three times her own weight of 45kg.
She also won gold in the squat (115.5kg) and bench (70kg) events and for total weight lifted (315.5kg). All but the bench press were world records.
The grandmother of five was welcomed back to work at Community Fitness Kerikeri yesterday with flowers and an entrance festooned with red carpet and Grecian columns.
In typically understated fashion the gym instructor said she was "reasonably happy" with her wins, especially the overall Masters 3 trophy she had been targeting. "That's the one I wanted because it's a little bit harder to achieve."
New world powerlifting champ Trish Muldrock is already hard at work for her next event.
Her gym colleagues were not so restrained. Manager Debbie Klinac said, "She just never gives up. She has an amazing focus. To have the mindset to do what she does, at her age, is absolutely incredible."
Mrs Muldrock, who also volunteers at the Mill Gym in Kaikohe, trains five times a week. She started powerlifting after a friend invited her to a gym in Kaikohe.
"The guy who was running the gym, Nev Couchman, decided I was strong and talked me into lifting. That was 18 years ago." She enjoyed the sport and the competitive element, though her focus was on trying to beat herself. She was grateful to her family, friends and communities in Kaikohe, Ohaeawai and Kerikeri for their support.
The 2014 World Masters, for powerlifters aged 40 and over, were held in the Czech city of Plzen on September 20-28. Mrs Muldrock has been to eight previous world champs and brought home medals from all but one.
For now she is straight back into training for the Oceania Championships in Melbourne in December.
Other current world champions from Northland include Alannah Rihari, 16, of Kerikeri (CrossFit) and Chris Huriwai of Kaikohe and Sam LaHood of Dargaville (men's and women's street unicycling).
