Avila Allsop took up power lifting three years ago - she was 86 years old.
This year she had her proudest win yet, pulling up a weight of 70kg in the sport at the New Zealand Masters Games in early February.
She joked she was able to power lift her own body weight, (standing just over 4-foot tall, 1.21m) ahead of her 90th birthday in August this year.
Powerlifting at the Masters Games usually consisted of three attempts at a maximum weight on three lifts - a squat, bench press and deadlift - against other women in the same age category.
But, being the only person aged in her group, Allsop proved her strength on just the deadlift.
"Shoulders back, keep your hands taught … if you lower the bar at all you're disqualified, you can hold it still but you mustn't drop it," Allsop explained.
There could also be no foot movement, no resting the bar on your legs, at the top of the lift you must stand up straight and you can't lower the bar to the floor until a referee signals "down".
Avila Allsop is the only person in her age category at the Masters Games. Photo: Avila Allsop
"Reaching my goals is more important than winning, and you've got to be honest, I was going to win anyway, because I was the only one in my age group."
The 70kg deadlift was a record that the mother of two did not think was in her sights for this competition.
"At Labour weekend, when I should have been training hard, I had this awful virus. I just had no energy. So eventually I started sort of half training, I went back to [lifting] 30kg. The bar itself is 20kg," she said.
"A fortnight or so before, 70kg was really not in my sight, and [my trainer] Tim wanted me to get more aggressive, he said some of the athletes had the grunt, but that's not me.
"Finally I decided I'd do it my way."
That way, Allsop believed, was powered by her faith in God, but "I'm not a Bible basher," she said.
"We saw another girl, she was aggressive, and she marched up to that bar and she stood there, and we could see her lips, and she said, 'it's mine'.
"Well, I said, 'God is my strength', and I got it up.
"I really don't see how I could have gone from 60kg to 70 without intervention."
Every day, Allsop warms up by laying on the floor of her Auckland apartment within the Country Club Huapai complex, getting herself up into a standing position at least 10 times.
Among other hobbies like spinning wool and arts and crafts, she cycles on a stationary bike to keep her "gammy leg" in good health and water walks with a friend in the fancy pool in her complex.
She tried to move every day, but admitted, "sometimes I am a couch potato".
Photo: Nick Monro
Allsop said she eats well, avoiding sugar, ultra-processed foods and very rarely drinking alcohol, and sees her trainer, son-in-law, Tim Joyce, twice a week.
Her workouts with Joyce, who was also a physiotherapist, included doing lots of bodyweight work like squatting down with her back against the door.
Photo: Nick Monro
Allsop made her debut at the Masters Games in 2019 in the indoor row. She made her power lifting debut in 2023.
"It was one of the events at Masters. I said, 'why not?' Right?"
Now, her medal haul between both sports stands at five gold, four silver and two bronze medals. She holds records for her age group and believed she might be the first 90-year-old to compete at the NZ Masters Games if she gets there next year.
Photo: Avila Allsop
Proving it was never too late to start moving your body or getting fit, Allsop said you need to be prepared to "start at the bottom and work your way up" - always with the guidance of an expert.
"It's satisfying to know you can just keep going, I don't ever think of age, I don't think I'm old, and I don't know what all the fuss is about."
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