Sylvia Clarkson, who has had two knee replacements and had a blanket over her shoulders during parts of the South Island Championships and novice event in Dunedin on Saturday, produced a squat of 50kg, bench-pressed 34kg and a deadlift of 87kg.
"I’m happy with today’s effort," she said afterwards. "I enjoyed it."
Ms Clarkson has returned to the sport after injury and she will be eligible to set records once she has been a member of World Powerlifting New Zealand for six months, just in time
for the association’s national championships in August.
Ms Clarkson, a former Dunedin resident now living in Hokitika, said her new knees were holding up well. She had been careful with them.
She used to enjoy powerlifting and competed until 2015, when she was forced to give it up.
"I had fairly bad arthritis in my knee joints," she said. "I could barely walk around the block. I was more or less crippled for several years."
Her left knee joint was replaced about three years ago and her right about a year later, she said.
Ms Clarkson joined Bodyworx Fitness Centre in Hokitika, initially with the aim of recovering her fitness.
"I had not been able to go to the gym for a long time," she said.
She gradually recovered her mobility and improved her strength.
"I enjoy feeling strong," she said.
"I enjoy the buzz of competing. I love the sport anyway. It’s really good for your bones, and especially for older women. More people should do it."
Ms Clarkson began powerlifting because of a back injury.
Employed as a nurse at the time, she was off work for five months.
"When it got better, I decided to join the gym to strengthen my back."
In 2008, she looked down the list of various sports listed for the Masters Games and nothing quite gelled with her until she got to the last page and noticed weightlifting/powerlifting.
"I rang the man up and he told me how it worked and I watched a session."
That led to a gold medal in competition.
Now aligned with World Powerlifting New Zealand, she competes in the 53kg weight class and 75-79 age class for women.
Her first comeback event was in Christchurch about six weeks ago and her numbers at the Propel Fitness gym in Dunedin on Saturday were slightly up on what she had done there.
Asked when she might retire from the sport, Ms Clarkson said she hoped to continue for a while yet.
"I’m just getting back into it."
Her husband Phil Murphy has had various roles in the sport, but has not himself taken to lifting.
She said he was her powerlifting handler and support person.
Ms Clarkson said she had 10 grandchildren and two were into powerlifting and others engaged in exercise in other forms.
"They think they’ve got a cool grandma."
