THE Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation’s (GAPLF) is looking to have more female involvement in the sport.

Following the body’s elections and Annual General Meeting on January 27, Runita White was elected Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the federation and that is one of her early missions.
She aims to garner more recognition and support for female powerlifters in Guyana as well as to enhance the image of women in the sport.

In an invited comment, White told Chronicle Sport; “Powerlifting is a sport that is dominated by men; and women who venture into this sport are often thought to be ‘manly’ and are given reviews such as ‘You shouldn’t be lifting that much weight, it’ll make you too bulky’ or ‘you know you won’t be able to get pregnant because of all the weight you lift’ or the most annoying of them all “a woman can never be as strong as a man’.”

She further pointed out, “These are things that I’ve had people say to me and it’s all about challenging the stereotypes. Meet after meet we see women who challenge those stereotypes and break records.”

White also noted that the sport already has some outstanding female athletes; “We have our very own set of strong women: Andrea Smith, Lisa Oudit, Nadina Taharally and Natoya Robinson. Each of those women mentioned has broken records and can lift more weight than some of the men who critique them.”

She also highlighted: “At the Novices/ Juniors National Championship we had four women who competed in powerlifting for the first time and we would like to see more women take part in the sport.”

After the recently concluded Novices/Juniors Championships on February 4, the GAPF and powerlifters will set their sights on the Intermediate/Masters Championships on May 27.