KELLOGG — American Writer Elbert Hubbard once wrote, “There is no failure, except for no longer trying.”

Three Special Olympic Powerlifting athletes competed in the World Association of Benchers and Deadlifters (WABDL) tournament at 360 Fitness in Coeur d’ Alene this past Saturday.

Joanne Coast, Andrea Mousseau, and April Cason have competed in deadlift competitions for about fifteen years and have no plans to quit.

The trio has been trained by the owner of Silver Valley Fitness, Tom Rahm, and Sue Hanson-Barber, who has worked for the Special Olympics for several years and have prepared this trio for around five.

“These ladies have been training, for around fifteen years. Two of them hold both world and state records,” said Rahm proudly.

Powerlifting includes deadlifts, squats, and bench presses, but it’s often more. It’s also effort, persistence, and a lot of training.

The training often consists of the ladies going into the gym about three days a week, 1-2 days a week for training and then doing conditioning training. Conditioning training is used to target the whole body instead of focusing on specific areas.

“After the competition, I told the ladies that I would take a couple weeks off. They kept asking the next day if we were going to the gym to train. They never want to stop,” said Hanson-Barber.

Although competitions were somewhat postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic, that did not stop these athletes from training and getting outdoors.

“The ladies also love skiing, so we work on training towards skiing, and then switch to powerlifting. They are always moving,” said Hanson-Barber.

Powerlifting competitions can be challenging to plan, and it can be hard to find a good location, but Hanson-Barber and Rahm were overjoyed with the employees and care of 360 Fitness.

“It’s really important for our athletes to feel safe and secure,” explained Hanson-Barber, “They had a very supportive, caring culture that made the day even better.”

The next powerlifting competition won’t be until spring, but that won’t stop the athletes and trainers from training and working to beat their personal, state, and world records.

The Athletes, their top lifts, and their award are as follows:

Joanne Coast- Deadlift- 125 lbs. - First Place

Andrea Mousseau- Bench Press - 90 lbs. (Idaho State Record) First Place

Deadlift- 150 lbs. First Place

April Cason- Bench Press- 100 lbs. (Idaho State and World Record) First Place

Deadlift- 200 lbs.- (Idaho and World Records) First Place