Profile | How a Singaporean pharmacist became a powerlifting world champion, and found her strength
- Record-breaking powerlifter Farhanna Farid talks about picking up the sport by chance and how it has made her physically and mentally strong
In June 2024, petite Singaporean powerlifter Farhanna Farid set a world record in the 52kg class – dead-lifting 209kg, or about four times her weight – at the World Open Classic Powerlifting Championships in Lithuania.
It was not her first achievement in the sport.
In her international competition debut at the Asian Classic Powerlifting Championships in 2018, the 158cm (5ft 2 inch) Farid won three gold medals, and in June 2022, she set a world record in her class by lifting 200.5kg (442lbs) at the World Open Classic Powerlifting Championships in South Africa.
In December the following year, she smashed her world record twice, lifting 203.5kg on her second attempt and 208kg on her third attempt at the Asian Classic Powerlifting Championships in Malaysia.
The 31-year-old’s foray into powerlifting was accidental. In 2015, Farid would accompany her then boyfriend, now husband, James Barcelo – who is also a competitive powerlifter – to the gym.
Barcelo, whom Farid describes as a “gym rat”, lifted weights, so Farid picked up his routine and fell in love with the sport.
