Celebrating Strong Women by Joah Iannotta
Patricia Johnson deadlifting 530-lbs at the 2023 U.S. Powerlifting National Championship.
While I was growing up, sports created a sense of solidarity with other girls and women. We helped each other create space in which we could pursue our sporting interests even though the communities we lived in were not yet culturally accepting of women unabashedly pursuing strength and the other goals that mattered to us. We protected each other from discouraging words and disapproval, reminding each other that we should follow our own internal compasses.
At age 45, after years away from competitive sports, I began competing in powerlifting, and quickly discovered I had a gift for it. I won my first national championship, earned spots on national teams, and forged invaluable friendships. Although we were spread across the country and didn’t see each other frequently, my teammates and I made sure to maximize our time together at competitions, sharing warm-up racks and planning post-competition shenanigans.
Something about powerlifting made rekindling that sense of solidarity with other women easy and organic. Although each of us wants to win, we all also want everyone to have their best performance possible. If someone is grinding out a maximum-effort lift, we are all cheering for them because we all know exactly how that feels.
The crowd supporting Patricia Johnson at the U.S. Powerlifting National Championship.
In 2023, I was competing at my fifth National Championship. The day had gone well. I stuck to the plan, hit all of my lifts, including setting a new unofficial world record in the bench press. And I won, securing my spot on the National team again. My flight had finished just ahead of the final flight of the day, and the superheavyweights were closing out the competition with some gigantic deadlifts. I was milling around the warm-up area talking with friends and enjoying watching the lifts on the monitors.
Earlier that afternoon, before the competition has started, my friend Lily had walked over and said, “I just saw Patricia Johnson. Her traps waved hi to me.” I remembered seeing Patricia for the first time and worrying that I would face her in head-to-head competition, but thankfully she was two weight classes up from me. A friend told me that she had competed at body building earlier in her career before turning to powerlifting. “What do I need to do to look like that?” I'd later asked.
But now Patricia, at age 50, was about to attempt a 530-lb. deadlift.
Patricia Johnson celebrates a successful 530-lb deadlift at the U.S. Powerlifting National Championship.
As she walked out to the platform, the rest of us clustered around the monitor to watch, our excitement palpable. I could feel my own adrenaline lift a little watching her set up and, as she started to pull, the audience in front of her began to cheer. The noise came to a crescendo as she locked out the lift and got the down command from the head judge. Collectively in the warm-up area, we held our breath waiting for the judges' signal.
Three white lights appeared at the bottom of the monitor — the lift was good!
We lost our shit. There was jumping, fist-pumping, and yelling in triumph on her behalf.
On the monitor, we saw Patricia take a gracious bow, thanking the judges and waving to the audience. As one, we moved from the monitors to surround the gap in the panels that separated the warm-up area from the competition platform, waiting for her to join us. It happened completely organically. No one suggested it. We all just moved at once to celebrate her.
Patricia Johnson thanks the crowd for its support after a successful 530-lb deadlift at the U.S. Powerlifting National Championship.
Patricia emerged from the platform to a circle of women cheering and applauding. She stopped dead in her tracks with a look of complete surprise. She had no idea what had been going on behind her during the lift and was overwhelmed by the joy, attention, and raucous enthusiasm. Her face changed, and she raised her hands to her eyes. It looked like she might have teared up a minute. And then, one at a time, we started to approach her to high five, hug, and congratulate her individually.
Being part of that moment is the most special memory I have of this year’s championship. Few of us knew Patricia well—we weren’t all long lost childhood friends reunited. But we were all powerlifters and understood this moment. There is something amazing about watching another woman pick up more than 500 lbs. Patricia created the opportunity for us to celebrate how strong women are and reminded us of what we can be. The experience of being part of a group of women who all connected with that moment because it spoke to us in a universal way is a moment of women’s solidarity that I will never forget and that touches my heart deeply.
Joah G. Iannotta, Ph.D. works in data science and digital modernization. She is a member of the U.S. Masters National Powerlifting Team, has won five national championships, and holds four powerlifting world records. Follow Joah on Instagram: @iron__empress
