Sponsored Athlete

Sponsored Athlete of 2023 - Emily zur Linden

Nationals in Vancouver

The meet was great. I am now a 2 time national champ which is awesome! I had a lot of self doubt about being able to win since my training wasn’t the greatest with lots of ups and downs.  I was 2.5kg ahead going into the last deadlift and we had the same weight listed for the last lift (195kg).  Now there’s rules on who lifts first when the weight is the same so the person with the lower lot number lifts first, in this case, it was me with the lower number so IF we had the same weight on the bar, I would lift first and if I made it, she’d have an opportunity to increase the weight by 2.5kg and if she makes it, we would tie.  She weighed in lighter than me so she would win on body weight. My coach saw all this so he increased my weight by 2.5kg to 197.5kg so I would go after her but it also put a lot of pressure on her to make her lift at 195kg and then hope I missed the heavier weight.

As it happened, she missed 195 so I won before I even stepped out for 197.5 but…I also made it! So it was a pretty sweet final lift!

Winning punched my ticket to my second Worlds too! So now I’m planning on competing in Malta in June. I hear it’s lovely there that time of year!

Final stats:

Weight: 61.42kg / 135.

Squat: 175kg / 385.8lb

Bench: 100lb / 220.5lb

Deadlift: 197.5kg / 435.4lb

Total: 472.5kg / 1041.7 lb

Update janaury 2023

Congratulations to Emily, our sponsored athlete for her recent success at the “Commonwealth Women's Classic Powerlifting Championships 2022, Open 47kg - 57kg, 63kg”

“I got second place in the squat with 177.5kg (391.3 lb), first in bench with 100kg (220.5 lb) and second in the deadlift with 194kg (427.7lb). That was a commonwealth record (was broken shortly after by the next lifter but I still get credit for it!). My total of 471.5kg (1039.5lb) was good enough for first place! We had a near perfect day and it was just such a wonderful experience. We only have a few short weeks before Nationals in Vancouver so I’ve been back to work to bring my best package yet to the platform. Thank you for supporting my lifting career!”

Update: April 2022

If you would have told me 5 years ago that I’d be writing this, I would have said “you’re crazy!”

I have been fortunate enough to be able to continue training in my garage for the past year. Our Nationals date was changed from March to May in St. John’s, Newfoundland due to lockdown measures. I was also selected to represent Team Canada at this year’s International Powerlifting Federation Open Worlds in Sun City, South Africa in June! This is an incredible accomplishment as only 9 women each year are selected to represent Canada on the world stage. I could not be more honoured to be part of this team.

On another note, I was added to the athlete roster by SBD (Canada), a major powerlifting equipment company; they outfit Team Canada for international competitions. As always, I am incredible grateful for your support from pregnancy and beyond; you have made my athletic career possible!

I can’t wait to update you again soon.

Update: August 2021

Wow! What a competition! I am so thankful to have been able to experience my first international competition. This was my first meet with my new coach and I was lucky enough for him to also be named as the assistant coach for Team Canada. I made personal records for all my lifts which is fun!

I weighed in at 61.31kg / 135.16lbs

My heaviest lifts were:
Squat: 170kg / 374.8lb - new North American Record
Bench: 95.5kg / 210.5lb - new North American record and Pan-American record
Deadlift: 190kg / 418.9lb - new Ontario Classic and Equipped Record
Total: 445.5kg / 1004.2lb - new Ontario Classic and Equipped Record

I scored 101.45 “Good Life” points which is where your body weight and total weight lifted is put into a formula, (anything over 100 is considered elite), but makes this me officially an elite powerlifter!

That 101.45 was better than all other female lifters so I won the Best Lifter award!

I am so thankful and so proud of this meet. It validates all the hard work and long hours put in toward this goal; it’s not all for nothing! Charlie was so proud and asked me how I did and painted me pictures for when I came home. Alex recorded all my lifts from the live stream so I can go back and watch.

The whole thing is so surreal and I’m incredible grateful for you. Without your help, none of this would be possible. You are instrumental in my success as an athlete, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much!

Update: March 30, 2020

A positive post from Emily Zur Linden,  our sponsored athlete!

The 2020 Canadian Powerlifting Union Nationals was a huge success. Emily went 9/9 and set new personal bests in all lifts and in the competition total. 

Body weight: 61.28kg (135lbs)
Squat: 162.5kg (358 lbs)
Bench: 87.5kg (193lbs)
Deadlift: 185kg (407lbs)*
Total: 435kg (959 lbs)
*new Ontario record 

Emily was sitting in 6th going into the last deadlift of the meet. Her coach(Mark Griffen, Vault Barbell Club, Guelph) put a weight increase in to 185kg. His advice before she took the platform: "Whatever you do, don’t stop pulling".  It was quite the pull!  Triple body weight to jump from 6th to 3rd and secure her place on the podium!  It was a day to remember! 

Emily said "Good news! I had no problems with continence, even at the heaviest loads! I can never thank you enough for helping become the athlete I am today! Big things to come! I have put my application in for North Americans however I’m not sure what will happen with that given Covid 19.  I’ve given myself my best chance to get on the team!"

We are so impressed Emily! We are hoping you continued success in the future!

Emily’s Story…

I grew up as a competitive gymnast for almost 20 years and that led to joining a Crossfit gym shortly after finishing professional school in 2013. My competitive nature continued into this new sports arena. I was a competitive crossfitter for four years before deciding it was taking quite a toll on my body and I was burnt out. I had always been pretty strong and decided to pursue a powerlifting-specific focus under the coaching of Mark Giffin at The Vault Barbell Club in Guelph, Ontario. I entered my first powerlifting competition in December 2017 and didn’t know it then but I was already pregnant!

After doing some research on athletes and pregnancy, it quickly became apparent that I was going to need help with navigating exercise during my pregnancy and more specifically, how to maintain my pelvic floor health. A fellow CrossFit athlete recommended Renee to me and we first started working together when I was about 5 months pregnant. With her guidance, I was able to successfully maintain my pelvic floor health and manage the symptoms associated with growing a baby all while staying active in the gym 5 days a week.

After having my baby, Renee helped me back into activity once again, clearing me for exercise when my pelvic floor was ready for the challenges, as well as correcting symptoms associated with dysfunction such as urinary incontinence and painful intercourse. Those symptoms are resolved and we continue to monitor my diastasis rectus periodically. With Renee’s help, I have have successfully returned to competing in powerlifting and have competed at Eastern Canadian Powerlifting and Bench Press Championships and Ontario Opens and Masters Provincials. I have qualified for Canadian Powerlifting Union Nationals in March 2020 with plans of making the Canadian Powerlifting International Team.

Competitions to date:

2017 - Vault Barbell Club Open - 63kg Open - weight class winner and meet best lifter

2019 - Eastern Canadian Powerlifting and Bench Press Championships - 63kg Open - weight class winner and meet best lifter

2019 - Ontario Open and Masters Provincials - 63kg Open - third place