{"id":18767,"date":"2026-04-23T07:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T07:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767"},"modified":"2026-04-23T07:25:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T07:25:00","slug":"aunt-and-niece-are-powerlifting-champs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767","title":{"rendered":"Aunt and niece are powerlifting champs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\">\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Behind every\u00a0one of Gila Smith and her aunt Sorah Garber\u2019s lifts at the South African\u00a0Powerlifting\u00a0Championships were\u00a0years\u00a0of discipline, setbacks, and determination. Their dedication paid off as they claimed victory in their divisions at the championships between 19 and 22 March.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cIt was\u00a0wonderful\u00a0competing together with my niece.\u00a0It made\u00a0the competition so much more enjoyable,\u201d says\u00a0Garber. They\u00a0weren\u2019t competing against each other,\u00a0as Garber won in the adult division,\u00a0while Smith\u2019s\u00a0achievement was in the sub-junior division.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cCompeting next to my aunt made the atmosphere lighter and more relaxed,\u201d says\u00a0Smith.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s nice having someone close to me competing because we understand and support each other.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Garber, an electrical engineer,\u00a0and Smith, a\u00a0Grade 11 pupil at Hirsch Lyons, have been powerlifting for\u00a010\u00a0and five years respectively, but\u00a0never thought they would\u00a0defend\u00a0their\u00a0respective\u00a0titles at the South\u00a0Africa\u00a0Powerlifting\u00a0Championships\u00a0at the same time.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Garber\u00a0says she\u00a0was introduced to powerlifting\u00a0a decade ago\u00a0when her husband read an article\u00a0by the woman who would later become her\u00a0coach. \u201cHe brought it to me to read because he knew I\u2019d enjoy the way she cut through all the nonsense around women training. She had a gym in my\u00a0area,\u00a0so I went to find her to see about training there,\u201d she says.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Garber\u00a0thought it\u00a0would be\u00a0a fun\u00a0way\u00a0to push herself, so she threw herself into the sport.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">She likes\u00a0competing as she is always striving to do better than she did before. \u201cOften when you\u2019re doing things, it\u2019s hard to see progress because it\u2019s always little by little. But here,\u00a0the numbers are the numbers, you either got it or you\u00a0didn\u2019t. Some years the progress goes backwards, and your numbers\u00a0aren\u2019t improving; they\u2019re going backwards, and you can\u2019t even get close to what you did before. But\u00a0on the whole, when you see the numbers moving up, it\u2019s an amazing feeling.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Smith\u00a0started\u00a0training at a\u00a0gym\u00a0when she was 12,\u00a0after\u00a0her dad\u00a0took her\u00a0to\u00a0his own\u00a0training\u00a0sessions. She\u00a0immediately\u00a0felt drawn to\u00a0powerlifting\u00a0as it was something different and\u00a0which\u00a0she could do with her family. Both\u00a0her aunt and cousin have\u00a0done powerlifting with her.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0such a different\u00a0sport,\u00a0and\u00a0it was\u00a0fun\u00a0for me,\u201d\u00a0Smith\u00a0says.\u00a0\u201cAt competitions, everyone\u2019s\u00a0really friendly\u00a0and always supporting each other because it\u2019s a small sport, so you know everyone. But also, when you try something\u00a0repeatedly\u00a0it\u00a0can be\u00a0disheartening, but then when you finally achieve your goal, it\u2019s more of an achievement. I really like that.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">For Garber, though she has competed in and won many South African\u00a0championships before, this one felt special as she was in a different weight class,\u00a0which meant that\u00a0she\u00a0competed\u00a0against people she\u00a0hadn\u2019t before.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cIt was more competitive, and I\u00a0didn\u2019t go into it knowing how it would go,\u201d said Garber. This fuelled her more, and she even broke the South African record for the bench press,\u00a0at 95.5kg.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cFor me, it was all about moving forward with my body. It\u2019s all about trying your best and just trying to be better than you are,\u201d she says.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Smith has been competing in the sub-junior division since 2022 and bench presses at a maximum of\u00a0100kg, squats 160kg,\u00a0and deadlifts 170kg. She\u00a0says\u00a0when she\u00a0heard she had become\u00a0division champ, she was over the moon, because it meant\u00a0all of\u00a0her training had paid off\u00a0\u2012\u00a0especially after a difficult training period where not everything\u00a0had gone\u00a0to plan.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cI was happy that I finally achieved this,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cIt proved that my work in the gym paid off. I did two to three months of more intense training,\u00a0focused only on the competition and not doing anything else,\u00a0to ensure that I\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0peaking in the gym for the competition.\u00a0But for\u00a0this competition, my training\u00a0didn\u2019t go so well before.\u00a0So,\u00a0I was surprised when the day went very well.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sajr.co.za\/aunt-and-niece-are-powerlifting-champs\/amp\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Behind every\u00a0one of Gila Smith and her aunt Sorah Garber\u2019s lifts at the South African\u00a0Powerlifting\u00a0Championships were\u00a0years\u00a0of discipline, setbacks, and determination. Their dedication paid off as they claimed victory in their divisions at the championships between 19 and 22 March.\u00a0 \u201cIt was\u00a0wonderful\u00a0competing together with my niece.\u00a0It made\u00a0the competition so much more enjoyable,\u201d says\u00a0Garber. They\u00a0weren\u2019t competing against [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":762,"featured_media":18768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[273],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18767","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-powerlifting-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Aunt and niece are powerlifting champs - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aunt and niece are powerlifting champs - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Behind every\u00a0one of Gila Smith and her aunt Sorah Garber\u2019s lifts at the South African\u00a0Powerlifting\u00a0Championships were\u00a0years\u00a0of discipline, setbacks, and determination. Their dedication paid off as they claimed victory in their divisions at the championships between 19 and 22 March.\u00a0 \u201cIt was\u00a0wonderful\u00a0competing together with my niece.\u00a0It made\u00a0the competition so much more enjoyable,\u201d says\u00a0Garber. They\u00a0weren\u2019t competing against [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-23T07:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lee Tankle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lee Tankle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lee Tankle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aacf58bd2e91dfe8d843501e4a08725\"},\"headline\":\"Aunt and niece are powerlifting champs\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-23T07:25:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767\"},\"wordCount\":692,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Sorah-Garber-at-the-SA-Powerlifting-Championships-1200x630.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Powerlifting News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767\",\"name\":\"Aunt and niece are powerlifting champs - World Bodybuilding News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Sorah-Garber-at-the-SA-Powerlifting-Championships-1200x630.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-23T07:25:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aacf58bd2e91dfe8d843501e4a08725\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Sorah-Garber-at-the-SA-Powerlifting-Championships-1200x630.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Sorah-Garber-at-the-SA-Powerlifting-Championships-1200x630.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=18767#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Aunt and niece are powerlifting champs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"World Bodybuilding News\",\"description\":\"Data, Rankings, Results.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aacf58bd2e91dfe8d843501e4a08725\",\"name\":\"Lee Tankle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lee Tankle\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?author=762\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Aunt and niece are powerlifting champs - World Bodybuilding News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Aunt and niece are powerlifting champs - World Bodybuilding News","og_description":"Behind every\u00a0one of Gila Smith and her aunt Sorah Garber\u2019s lifts at the South African\u00a0Powerlifting\u00a0Championships were\u00a0years\u00a0of discipline, setbacks, and determination. Their dedication paid off as they claimed victory in their divisions at the championships between 19 and 22 March.\u00a0 \u201cIt was\u00a0wonderful\u00a0competing together with my niece.\u00a0It made\u00a0the competition so much more enjoyable,\u201d says\u00a0Garber. They\u00a0weren\u2019t competing against [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767","og_site_name":"World Bodybuilding News","article_published_time":"2026-04-23T07:25:00+00:00","author":"Lee Tankle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lee Tankle","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767"},"author":{"name":"Lee Tankle","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6aacf58bd2e91dfe8d843501e4a08725"},"headline":"Aunt and niece are powerlifting champs","datePublished":"2026-04-23T07:25:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767"},"wordCount":692,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sorah-Garber-at-the-SA-Powerlifting-Championships-1200x630.jpeg","articleSection":["Powerlifting News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767","url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767","name":"Aunt and niece are powerlifting champs - World Bodybuilding News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sorah-Garber-at-the-SA-Powerlifting-Championships-1200x630.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-04-23T07:25:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6aacf58bd2e91dfe8d843501e4a08725"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sorah-Garber-at-the-SA-Powerlifting-Championships-1200x630.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sorah-Garber-at-the-SA-Powerlifting-Championships-1200x630.jpeg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=18767#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Aunt and niece are powerlifting champs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/","name":"World Bodybuilding News","description":"Data, Rankings, Results.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6aacf58bd2e91dfe8d843501e4a08725","name":"Lee Tankle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=initials&r=g","caption":"Lee Tankle"},"url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?author=762"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/762"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}