Female powerlifter brings home Junior Olympic gold

Date: 8/30/2010

Aug. 30, 2010

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Managing Editor

LONGMEADOW -- For the second time in three years, Alexandria "Lexi" Zippin has brought home Junior Olympic gold in a sport that few think of as a girl's competition.

The 17-year old is a powerlifter.

"Nationwide there are 2,000 boys and girls [under the age of 18] who compete regularly in powerlifting," Dr. Bobby Dodd, president and CEO of the Amateur Athletics Union (AAU) said from the union's Florida headquarters. "And only 20 percent of those are female. There's not a lot of girls [in this sport]."

The AAU sponsors the Junior Olympic competition in powerlifting, weightlifting and track and field annually.

Zippin won the 2010 medal in the full power-raw division of her weight class at the Hampton Roads, Va., competition in July for total weight lifted. She also brought home a gold medal in 2008 for all-around performance.

A newcomer to the sport, Zippin said she got interested in powerlifting in 2007 while attending The Chamberlain School n Middleboro, Mass.

"One of the teachers formed a team and I thought maybe I should try it," Zippin said. "I wasn't sure I'd be good at it."

She remembered thinking it was "pretty cool" being the only girl on the team, but that there weren't many practices before the first competition.

She competed in her first meet in Scituate in 2007. "I think I did pretty good," she said. "But it was kind of scary . there were all these different commands when lifting . I messed up a few times but I did pretty good."

Watching other competitors at the meet "I saw people who did it until they were 90" convinced her that powerlifting was a sport she wanted to stay with.

"It was something new, something I was good at and if I did something wrong, I wouldn't bring anyone else down," Zippin said, adding that competitors are really measuring each performance against their own personal best scores, and not trying to add to a team total.

Her grandfather, Al Zippin, said the idea of competing on the Junior Olympic (JO) level grew out of a conversation at one of the Scituate meets.

"Someone said' why don't you try it' and I said to Lexi 'why not?'" Al remembered.

With the help of friends in Scituate, Lexi connected with Zeeke Wilson, a renown powerlifting competitor turned coach from Penslynvania, who agreed to meet her at the 2008 Detroit, Mich., competition venue to help her polish her performance just before the meet.

But when Lexi and Al arrived at the Detroit venue, she refused to get out of the car.

"I was so nervous to go in and compete," Lexi admitted. "There were all these new people .at all the meets in Scituate, I knew some people."

Al said he went in and told Wilson Lexi said she couldn't do it.

"He went out to the car, spoke to her, and a few minutes later he came in with his arm around her," Al said. "He said to me, 'Go away, she's my girl now.'"

"I was so scared for the JO's in 2008," Lexi said. "But I took a gold medal in the 14-15 year-old (age group)."

Lexi and Wilson have remained close since that meet.

In addition to her JO medals, Lexi has set several powerlifting records for her age and weight class at the state, national and world level, including two medals from the 2008 world powerlifting competition in Laughlin, Nev.

"I did a world record in the 14-15 category. In the 16-17 I've got American records, but no world," she said.

"She broke her own American record in the bench press at this year's Junior Olympics," her grandfather added.

Lexi will compete again this year, this time on the world level, in Las Vegas, Nev. during the Columbus Day Weekend.

"The record I want to beat in October is the dead lift," she said. "I have two records over 402 (lbs.). I hope I can do it. I know I can do it."