{"id":25056,"date":"2026-07-19T04:16:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T04:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=25056"},"modified":"2026-07-19T04:16:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T04:16:00","slug":"80-year-old-powerlifter-makes-history-at-cornhusker-state-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=25056","title":{"rendered":"80-year-old powerlifter makes history at Cornhusker State Games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) &#8211; More than 130 participants competed in the Cornhusker State Games powerlifting competition at Lincoln Southeast on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Among those participants was Phillip Ward, an 80-year-old powerlifter and Waterloo, Nebraska native. At the CSG, his bench press of 176 lbs. (80 kg) set a state record for his age group and weight class. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI never give it a lot of thought,\u201d Ward said. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to always do better.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Ward has accumulated many state records along his powerlifting journey, as he has often been the first competitor in his age and weight class. His state record bench press is also an unofficial world record.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWhen I was lifting I\u2019d go to the doctor, and he said \u2018Why are you doing this at this age?\u2019 I said, \u2018Because I can.\u2019 Just find something that works for you, something you enjoy, and stick with it,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Ward didn\u2019t start powerlifting until he was 65. He said he\u2019s come a long way since.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWhen I started, I couldn\u2019t bench press 85 pounds,\u201d Ward said. \u201cYou just have to keep at it and set some goals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Ward said he is considering attending a world meet in the future. He plans to keep raising the bar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI plan on lifting the rest of my life. One thing about old age, you have to keep moving,\u201d Ward said. \u201cYou have to do something. You can\u2019t stay healthy sitting on the couch.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.1011now.com\/newsletter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><i>Click here<\/i><\/a><i> to subscribe to our 10\/11 NOW daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><i>Copyright 2026 KOLN. All rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.1011now.com\/2026\/07\/19\/80-year-old-powerlifter-makes-history-cornhusker-state-games\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) &#8211; More than 130 participants competed in the Cornhusker State Games powerlifting competition at Lincoln Southeast on Saturday. Among those participants was Phillip Ward, an 80-year-old powerlifter and Waterloo, Nebraska native. At the CSG, his bench press of 176 lbs. (80 kg) set a state record for his age group and weight [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001,"featured_media":25057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[273],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-powerlifting-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>80-year-old powerlifter makes history at Cornhusker State Games - 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=25056\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"80-year-old powerlifter makes history at Cornhusker State Games - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) &#8211; More than 130 participants competed in the Cornhusker State Games powerlifting competition at Lincoln Southeast on Saturday. Among those participants was Phillip Ward, an 80-year-old powerlifter and Waterloo, Nebraska native. At the CSG, his bench press of 176 lbs. 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