After competing in the 19th annual North American Powerlifting Federation (NAPF) championship in Panama City, six Belizean athletes brought back gold and bronze medals to the jewel.
by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Tues. Aug. 23, 2022
A team of eight Belizean powerlifting athletes, four males and four females, has returned to the country with two gold and four bronze medals in their respective classes after competing in the 19th annual North American Powerlifting Federation (NAPF) Regional Classic Powerlifting Championships, a six-day tournament which was held in Panama City, Panama, and which had the participation of over 200 athletes from 15 countries.
Alida Sharp represented Belize in the Women’s Master II 52 kg category, while the country was represented by Edith Ruiz in the Women’s 57kg category, Jacqueline Alas in the Women’s Open 63 kg Category, and Nerry Sho in the Women’s 76 kg category. The four men representing Belize at the tournament were Leo Matura in the Men’s Open Category, Robert Williams in the Men’s Masters 1 Open 120 kg Category, Khalid Usher in the Men’s Open 93 kg Category, and William Murillo in the Men’s Juniors 105 kg Category.
On the first day of the competition, Alida Sharp was the first to capture the gold in her respective category, and set a new record for the squat, the bench press, and total points in the Master’s II 52 kg category. Following Sharp’s gold medal performance, Robert Williams also achieved the gold medal in his category.
Williams, who also participated in the competition in 2018 in Mexico and received a gold medal, stopped by the AMANDALA along with several of his teammates and granted us an interview about their experience competing internationally.
“Man, Panama was a great trip! If anybody knows me, I did [a] strongman competition in Belize [in] 2016, ‘17, ‘18, and ’19, but due to the pandemic, everything was shut down, and thanks to Khalid [Usher] and his crew of Belize Powerlifters Association, we launched this initiative and we were able to go out internationally. So I went to Panama with high hopes, because I was already accustomed to lifting heavy weights, but then I did have to adjust my training … So I went out there, I did it, I did it the best and brought back the gold to Belize,” Williams said.
The Belize Powerlifting Association is the brainchild of Usher, the president of the association, who developed the concept in 2018 along with his university colleagues, after competing in the same tournament in Mexico without receiving any medals. Then later that same year, a fully formed association returned to Mexico City and returned with two gold and one bronze medal.
Usher said one of the takeaways from the trip to Panama was seeing how other associations conduct their operations and getting insights into how to create a better association in Belize.
“When we were out there, and it’s the same thing with the athletes, we saw a lot of hope for the future. That’s the main takeaway from the competition. We saw where we need to go and what we need to be capable of. We got to network with a lot of them. We got to see what well-established associations how [to] work, how their athletes operated, and it was a very good learning experience for everyone,” he said.
William Murillo, who is the youngest member of the team, and who brought back a bronze medal, told us about his first international competition in powerlifting.
“… I’m still in shock that I brought back a medal and I brought back this bronze, because I got one of my lifts overturned. I lifted a total that earned me a silver, but they overturned it … it is something I’m going to cherish, and it’s something that I want to build. I’m focused now on improving on this medal, and I’m aiming for a silver or gold, and I’m more motivated. I see myself in years to come competing in powerlifting here in Belize and outside,” said Murillo.
Sho, who has been a personal trainer for 5 years, commented on the stigma of women who are ridiculed for being in the gym.
“That is from the days of our ancestors and the olden time when we felt like the woman’s job was to just be in the kitchen to be taking care of the house. We’re so past that; we have come a long way …. Lifting weights will not make you look manly, it will just grow your muscles [and] make you look better. The way your body turned out is the way your body has been structured, but you don’t need to be scared to lift,” she said.
The Belize Powerlifting Association is aiming to send out three of its women athletes to compete in the IPF (International Powerlifting Federation) World Classic Championships in Canada in October. Financial donations can be sent to the Association’s Belize Bank account, account number 186-293-010-120-000.
Usher, along with Ruiz, and Alas, captured bronze medals for Belize in their respective categories, while Matura placed 4th and Sho finished 5th.