Kimberly Walford

Pound for pound, she ranks among the greatest American powerlifters of all time, regardless of gender. And in her early 40s, there is zero indication that Kimberly Walford is slowing down. The New York City native and Rogue athlete is a 7-time IPF World Champion.

As a teenager, Kimberly initially got into lifting as part of her overall training as a versatile track-and-field athlete. “My high school coach told us he not only wanted us to be fast, but strong,” she says. “From the moment I touched the weight I was hooked, and I continued strength training throughout high school and college.”

While she was reluctant to enter into competitive powerlifting at first, her first victory in a bench press event spurred her on from that point forward, as she followed a simple mantra: “Hard work equals results.”

In January 2020 at the Reykjavik International Games in Iceland, Walford showed she is still at the absolute top of her sport. She set the new deadlift world record for the IPF Open and Masters at 244kg in the 72kg weight class—this broke her previous deadlift record of 243kg that she set two years prior.