A Moose Jaw athlete could be the lone Canadian competing at the World Games this summer. In the women’s heavy weight 72-kilogram division, Rhaea Stinn qualified to compete amongst the best of the best this summer.
“It is definitely nice to be there,” Stinn said.
She qualified for this event from her results at the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) Open Powerlifting World Championships that were held in Puerto Rico in November. She placed seventh there and secured a wildcard position for North America to compete at the World Games coming up in late July in Columbia.
“There were three North Americans in my weight. There was a lady from the States that won bronze, which gave her a spot automatically. So, I was the next highest ranked person from North America,” she explained. “With the 72 weight class, there has to be wild cards so that they can fill that division. That’s what I knew going in and I made sure that I made weight for 72 so that I would have that chance.”
The World Games are a multi-sport event run under the direction of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and are held every four years. Many of the sports featured in the different categories include artistic/dance, ball sports, martial arts, precision sports, strength sports, trend sports and invitational sports are disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games.
There will be four weight classes — light weight, middleweight, heavy weight and super heavy weight that both 40 men and 40 women will compete in at this event over three days in late July and early August. There are 27 different nations represented and all winners were be decided on by wilks points. Wilks points are scored when a lifter receives a designated point system that factors in the total weight lifted versus the corresponding body weight and it said to be the most accurate.
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