Watch 73-Year-Old Powerlifter Mary Duffy Crush a 250-Pound Trap Bar Deadlift With 50-Pound Chains
Mary Duffy has tried her hand at competitive powerlifting for over seven years. A recent strength accomplishment shows that the 73-year-old powerlifter might only be getting better as time goes on.
On July 27, 2022, Duffy posted a clip to her Instagram profile where she deadlifted 113.4 kilograms (250 pounds) raw with a trap bar that had 22.7 kilograms (50 pounds) in chains attached. Per Open Powerlifting, Duffy has only competed in the 56-kilogram weight class since the start of her career in April 2015. With that in mind, her deadlift training feat — where she wore a lifting belt and lifting straps — is 2.4 times her usual recent competition body weight.
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Duffy at a Glance
Notably, Duffy’s recent trap bar deadlift is not the first instance where the powerlifter deadlifted around that weight. Approximately a month before this mark, in early July 2022, Duffy completed a raw deadlift of 111.1 kilograms (245 pounds) off weight plates while using a traditional barbell and sumo stance.
Duffy made her competitive powerlifting debut at the 2015 International Powerlifting Association (IPA) Connecticut Ironman Push/Pull Showdown. She came in first place during that contest. At the time of this writing, she has 11 sanctioned meets to her name and has only failed to finish in first place once in one age category. That result came during the 2016 IPA Connecticut State Championships, where she captured second place in the Amateur Open Division. (Note: Duffy has often competed in multiple age categories at each of her contests.)
According to Open Powerlifting, Duffy has competed in the Masters 70-74 raw age category since November 2019. In the 56-kilogram division, some of her notable achievements include the Raw bench press World Record of 57.5 kilograms (126.8 pounds), and the third heaviest totals in the Raw and Raw With Wraps categories (235 and 249.5 kilograms, respectively).
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Duffy’s Future
Per Duffy’s Instagram, she recently battled a case of COVID-19 in early June 2022.
Since then, Duffy has been capturing various noteworthy training figures. Shortly after her recovery, the powerlifter finished a 113.4-kilogram (250-pound) deadlift off weight plates. Then, in late June 2022, Duffy successfully notched a 102-kilogram (225-pound) raw back squat (with 15 extra pounds in band weight). A general glance of her social media would show that Duffy makes it a point to share similar training marks with regularity.
At the time of this writing, Duffy has not confirmed any plans for her next sanctioned powerlifting competition. However, whenever Duffy does compete next, it seems she’ll be ready to finish another stellar performance.
Featured image: @mduff2404 on Instagram
Credit: Watch 73-Year-Old Powerlifter Mary Duffy Crush a 250-Pound Trap Bar Deadlift With 50-Pound Chains
