GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — 27-year-old Maddy Haberling has always been athletic, from swim to track and even rowing.
“After all of my athletics in regards to my schooling, I wanted to continue on with something,” says Maddy. “So I got into the gym.”
She got a trainer — and that's where she discovered her love for lifting … and even powerlifting.
“It's a sport that's different than anything else, like you literally go into the gym or a competition and you just try to lift as much as possible. Like, you really test your limits,” says Maddy. “It really pushes you mentally and physically more than any other sport that I've ever done.”
She honed in on her newfound love and skill even more, taking it to another level by competing.
“I had my first meet in 2018. And then I also competed in 2020,” says Maddy. “I competed again here in 2022.”
Maddy went to a national meet in Atlanta in May, scoring and lifting a whopping 1,020 pounds total between three different lifts. That qualified her to represent Team USA in the International Powerlifting League World Championship next month.
“This is the biggest competition I've ever been to; I've never gone international for my lifting before,” she says.
It’s a big competition that requires a lot of preparation.
“With powerlifting, it's the squat bench and deadlift,” explains Coach Brevin Jandreau. “So our training primarily is around those three lifts, or different variations of those lifts on preparing because that's what you have to do on the platform as a one rep max.”
Brevin has been coaching Maddy for a year and a half. He says they spend anywhere from three to four hours a day in the gym.
“I think that that she has a really good chance to bring home a gold medal,” says Brevin. “And I think the coolest thing about that from my end is not necessarily the gold medal, competing with Team USA, all that stuff. It's her realizing the elite athlete that she really is and all the hard work that she's really put into everything and seeing that come to light at the end of all of this.”
The two will head to Australia Wednesday. Maddy is locked in on making Team USA proud and showing that hard work really does pay off.
“I'm really hoping to get like a 475- or 485-pound deadlift,” says Maddy. “I'm looking to get just over a 400-pound squat. And then my bench, I'm really shooting for 215 pounds. And obviously we lift kilos in powerlifting.”
Maddy will be one of six women representing Team USA in Australia. We’ll keep you updated on how she does.
If you would like to support her journey to World's, you can donate to her GoFundMe here.
