Time and time again, Heather Connor shows why she’s thought to be one in all the world’s strongest powerlifters. Upfront of her next competition across the pond, the elite 47-kilogram lifter recently showed off her tremendous leg strength.
On August 29, 2022, Connor shared an Instagram clip of herself completing a 152.5-kilogram (336-pound) raw back squat during a training session. The feat is a private record (PR) for Connor, and it also eclipses her all-time competition best by 9.4 kilograms (20.8 kilos). Connor previously notched her competition best back squat of 143 kilograms (315.2 kilos) on the 2022 USA Powerlifting (USAPL) Raw Nationals.
Connor wore a lifting belt, wrist wraps, and knee sleeves while achieving her latest squat PR.
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Connor’s strides along with her squat are an element of her overall preparation for the upcoming 2022 Fédération Française de Force (FFForce) Girl Power in France. The competition will happen on October 15, while its precise location remains to be unclear on the time of this writing. The competition will mark Connor’s debut in a sanctioned French lifting setting.
The athlete has competed on a global lifting platform before. Connor is a two-time International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Champion within the 47-kilogram weight class (2018-2019). Her most up-to-date appearance on the IPF Worlds earlier this summer saw the American athlete rating a latest deadlift IPF World Record of 185 kilograms (407.8 kilos). That staggering pull helped Connor to an eventual second-place finish behind the victor, Tiffany Chapon.
Here’s an outline of Connor’s all-time raw competition bests:
Heather Connor (47KG) | All-Time Raw Competition Bests
- Squat (Raw) — 143 kilograms (315.2 kilos)
- Bench Press (Raw) — 75 kilograms (165.3 kilos)
- Deadlift (Raw) — 192.5 kilograms (424.4 kilos) | American Record
- Total (Raw) — 410 kilograms (903.9 kilos)
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On the time of this text’s publication, Chapon has not made a public allusion to competing within the 2022 FFForce Girl Power against Connor. After falling short to Chapon on the 2022 IPF Worlds in South Africa, Connor seemed disillusioned at her performance while giving credit to her peer.
“Not my best, actually not my worst, but today is what I had in me,” Connor wrote in a reflective June 6 Instagram post. “The stronger lifter [Chapon] won today, and I’m perfectly okay with that.”
A win on the Girl Power contest, no matter whether Chapon participates, would undoubtedly be a top quality way for Connor to bounce back from her finish in South Africa. Within the event there may be a confirmation, Connor and Chapon could start making for an enchanting, back-and-forth rivalry within the 47-kilogram weight class in the approaching years.
Featured image: @heather.e.connor on Instagram