Breaking record twice a top-5 highlight for Farhanna

The Chinese city of Chengdu is famous for two things: Giant pandas and hotpot.

- Kimberly Kwek

After spending days in the capital of Sichuan without experiencing these delights, Singaporean powerlifter Farhanna Farid finally managed to catch the famous bears and indulge in the spicy local cuisine when the World Games 2025 concluded on Aug 17.

Ahead of the Games, she held off on both to focus on the competition.

Her hard work and discipline paid off as the 32-year-old broke the deadlift world record twice at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Centre Gymnasium on Aug 14, lifting 210kg and 217kg in the women's lightweight final.

Her new mark of 217kg was almost 8kg more than her previous mark of 209.5kg set at the IPF World Open Classic Powerlifting Championships in Chemnitz, Germany, in June.

It was her 12th world record since first achieving the feat in June 2022.

With additional lifts of 147.5kg in the squat and 70kg in the bench press, she finished sixth overall with 110.58 points. France's Tiffany Chapon took gold (124.45), ahead of New Zealand's Megan-Li Smith (122.69) and Evie Corrigan (120.79).

Said Farhanna: "Everything felt surreal. Still does, actually. From being nominated for World Games to actually stepping into the athletes' village to that last deadlift, everything felt like a dream.