Nine-Year-Old Commerce Powerlifter Heads To World Championships

For Damiyah Smith, a 4th grader from northeast Oklahoma, fitness runs in the family.

When she was four years old she was already lifting weights.

"She's the type she wants to do everything we do. So she was like, ‘I want to lift too.' So we just started out just letting her do push-ups, pull-ups, she starts walking on her hands,” Damiyah's dad, Jason Smith told KOAM, the CBS affiliate in Joplin.  

Damiyah powerlifts with her dad coaching her four times a week.

"It really increases our bonding time. Cause we're always doing it in the morning and then afterwards. It's just really fun,” says Damiyah Smith.

The nine-year-old just got back from the Junior Olympics where she broke records in all three events in her age group and 70 pounds weight category, beating out the last overall winner by 40 pounds.

Her parents say Damiyah can squat 100 pounds, she can bench 65 pounds and she can deadlift 135 pounds.

Damiyah Smith will compete in the AAU World Championships on the September 25 in Las Vegas.  She hopes to pursue powerlifting, professionally.