Powerful Mira Lahtinen celebrated the World Championship title

Last Thursday, however, he reversed his speech. The 38-year-old powerlifter celebrated the bench press WC title in Warsaw, the capital of Poland.

The championship tasted so sweet that Lahtinen wants to experience it again.

“It was a really great feeling when the Maamme song was playing and everything else. I got a certain reward for my hard work,” says Lahtinen.

I’m in Lahti the championship came in the 84 kg category. His winning result in the tightrope was 137.5 kilograms.

of the United States Michelle Robbins pounded the same result. The gold medal was slipped around the Finn’s neck because he was 1.5 kilos lighter.

The parts of the racing partnerships changed from the World Cup battle a year ago, where Robbins won and Lahtinen finished second.

Last year, Lahtinen got to celebrate gold in the EC competition.

The Espoo native improved his World Championship result in Warsaw by five kilograms. 137.5 kilograms is his new competition record and is next to the Finnish record.

In training, he has managed to lift 143 kilos from the bench.

Lahtinen says that he has always been very strong. Already at a young age, he enthusiastically went to the gym to lift weights, but only started goal-oriented training in 2018.

The following year he started competing.

“I drifted into the sport a bit by chance as a competitor. My friend (Juho Honkanen) started training me and noticed that I am exceptionally strong. The power grabs me well.”

“I guess it’s genetic, because my strength levels have developed quickly. Sometimes in group exercise classes, the bars started to run out of plates,” says Lahtinen with a big smile.

He changed two years ago from the 76-kilogram division to his current weight class. Although the strong woman has been developing all the time, she does not intend to continue to the higher leagues.

“This is definitely the top division I’m ready to go to. I’m still a bit small for the 84-kilogram division, and my results will be positively affected when I gain more body weight.”

The ME result of the Lahti series, 156 kilos, belongs to the Polish wonder woman Agata Sitko on behalf of.

Sitko holds records in many weight classes, but he is not competing internationally at the moment because he has a dispute with his country’s wrestling association.

Does the new ME result have a suitable goal for you?

“I’m sure it’s not impossible either, if my strength levels increase and my development continues like this. But 156 kilos is quite a lot of iron for a woman”, no matter what size she is.

Lahtinen says he will continue competing for a few more years.

“I have once said that when I am world champion, I can stop. Now, however, I may not be ready to stop.”

in Savonlinna born Lahtinen’s home club is Savonlinna Jyry, but in international competitions he represents the Finnish Powerlifting Federation. His national team coach is Mats Finne.

Lahtinen says that he trains 4–5 times a week. Training takes 12 hours.

His main job is a coordinating special education teacher in a secondary vocational school in the city of Helsinki.

Punts are not raised in class, but Lahtinen discusses his sport a lot with students interested in sports.

“Powerlifting is not a forbidden topic for us, quite the opposite. Sports is a nice common interest of ours.”