Enumclaw’s Faith Anderson has come a long way in the world of powerlifting – about 5,600 miles, give or take a few. That’s how far the 19-year-old traveled to compete last week in the Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire world championships.
A relative newcomer to the sport, Anderson nonetheless qualified for the FISU world event staged in Tartu, Estonia. The competition – which featured the top 205 powerlifters (122 men and 83 women) – kicked off July 22.
The 2023 graduate of White River High School took a rather untraditional route to the world stage. Her mother, Jennifer, recalls getting a phone call shortly after dropping her daughter off at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. There, Faith and her parents had perused the various clubs and activities making their pitch for new members.
Faith chose to turn out for powerlifting, despite no formal exposure to the demanding sport.
The learning curve was extraordinarily rapid. With just one meet under her belt, Anderson qualified for the 2024 Powerlifting America Collegiate National Championship in Reno, Nevada. She placed third in Reno and figured her season was done, since only the top two finishers in each weight class qualified for the Estonia event.
Soon, however, she learned the No. 2 female in the 69kg division was unable to make the trip. That set in motion a whirlwind of events that landed Anderson in the Republic of Estonia, home to 1.4 million people. The nation, once a subunit of the Soviet Union, sits along the Baltic Sea, bordered on the north by the Gulf of Finland. The country gained its independence in 1991 and now ranks fairly high in the international “quality of life” index.
Anderson’s time in the spotlight was seemingly brief – about three hours – considering the time and training demands that go with worldwide competition. The hours were spent in the squat (where she lifted 132.5 kilograms), the bench (75) and the deadlift (127.5). Her combined lift of 335kg left her No. 12 among the 15 females in the weight class.
At the world competition, she was noted for both her age (there were just two 19-year-olds) and her recent introduction to the sport.
