Illinois Grandmother Sets Powerlifting Record

73-year-old woman took up weightlifting after getting sick

Most of Sandra Foli's contemporaries gave up competitive sports a long time ago.

But the 73-year-old Bloomington woman is proving that age really is just a number by recently setting a powerlifting record in her age group.

Foli completed a clean deadlift of 181.5 pounds at a recent competition.

"She went out there and put up a pretty serious weight for a woman of her age," Foli's trainer, Chad Hobbs, said. "It's an inspiration to a lot of people, where so many people become sedentary later on in life, she's doing something about it."

Even more amazing, Foli only picked up the sport five years ago after suffering from septic shock.

"I said I just need to get fit after my illness," Foli said. "It was touch and go for awhile, but I fought it and I recovered."

The grandmother says she's going to continue training and hopes to break her own record.

"I see people one or two years older than me in a wheelchair, and I don't ever want to be there," Foli says.

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