This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, May 2, 2012 - Cheryl Haworth, 29, does not have your standard body for sports, as a 5'8" woman, weighing more than 300 pounds, she is an outlier. However when you google, "strongest woman in the United States," her name pops up.
This Thursday night viewers can learn Haworth's almost unbelievable story in the documentary "Strong!." The film captures Haworth’s struggles and accomplishments in weightlifting, a sport that does not normally have women from her weight class.
"I was at a lot of competitions she was at,” said Justin Thacker, 31, owner of St. Louis’ Lab Gym and also a professional weightlifter. “I knew her from a distance and was always inspired when I watched her compete.” Thacker claims Haworth would beat the men about 75 percent of the time.
“She was definitely larger than life. On the weight class spectrum, she was the largest," said Thacker. "She stood out because she was so big and so strong, and everyone has a lot of respect for her.”
By the age of 13, she could lift 110 with ease. By 15, she was a national champion and the nation's leading female lifter. She has gone on to break records and prove to the world that she is a top notch athlete. Introduced in 2000, women’s weightlifting is a relatively new sport for the Olympics. Haworth was in that inaugural class.
Weightlifting competitions (for both men and women) consist of two lifts: the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. Each contestant competing gets three attempts at each lift and the top scores are totaled.
“The snatch is a harder more technical lift,” said Thacker. “The Clean goes from the ground, to your chest and then over your head.”
Thacker began lifting in high school when his high school football coach encouraged him to try it. He then went on to Saint Louis University where he got his undergraduate degree and did personal training on the side. Word of mouth spread of his skills, and he opened the Lab Gym in 2007.
“People in all sports can benefit from lifting,” said Thacker who lifts three to four hours a day, six days a week. Thacker also still professionally competes.
On Thursday night, Thacker will be in attendance along with a few of his weightlifting friends who will be giving a demonstration and answering questions about the sport. "I am glad this film is shining a light on the best sport in the world."
This event is May’s Community Cinema offering. The programming is put on by the Missouri History Museum, which hosts Community Cinema, presented by the Nine Network of Public Media. The series shows free screenings of the PBS film series Independent Lens, with open discussions following each film.