Northland’s Trish Muldrock claims ‘10 or 11′ medals at world masters powerlifting championships

Northland powerlifter Trish Muldrock smashed all her lifts at the recent World Masters Powerlifting Championships and Commonwealth Champs in South Africa.

• Trish Muldrock, 70, won multiple medals at the World Masters Powerlifting Championships and Commonwealth Championships in South Africa.
• Muldrock now holds eight world records and 13 Commonwealth records, including gold in squat, bench press, and deadlift.
• She aims to compete in the Asian African Pacific Benchpress Championships in Japan in July 2025.

Northland “pocket rocket” powerlifter Trish Muldrock was toying with the idea of retiring from competitions before entering her latest world championships in South Africa.

But the 70-year-old Haruru resident is back in a big way after winning a haul of medals – so many she’s lost count - at the World Masters Powerlifting Championships and Commonwealth Championships in Sun City in October.

Muldrock now holds a whopping eight world records and 13 Commonwealth records.

“When I left I wasn’t overly confident,” Muldrock said.

“I hadn’t travelled overseas for such a long time, and I wasn’t sure what it would be like.

“I was thinking I’d retire but this has enthused me again.

“Now I’ve got more things to do ... this has sparked me up.”

Muldrock, a personal trainer at Community Fitness gym in Kerikeri, is renowned for her strength training and powerlifting efforts, having won numerous national and international competitions over the last 25 years.

She won a total of “10 or 11″ medals at the latest two competitions, hosted by the International Powerlifting Federation and Commonwealth Powerlifting Federation from October 4 to 13.

The aim of powerlifting is to lift the most amount of weight in the squat, bench press, and deadlift.

Muldrock competed in the under 47kg masters 4 category at a bodyweight of 45.80kg.

She won gold for the squat, bench press, and deadlift for both the Commonwealth and world championships, along with gold for overall total.

Her best lift in the squat was 75kg, her best bench was 62kg, and best deadlift was 131kg for a total of 268kg.

Muldrock was also best female in the 47kg category and best overall female in the masters 4 category.

Trish Muldrock in action at the world champs in Sun City. She now holds eight world records.

Muldrock said she was pleased with how it all went.

“I enjoyed my day. I trained really hard and it was going well.

“But I’ve still got room to improve.”

It was Muldrock’s 11th world championships.

She said she was “extremely grateful” for the support of her colleagues and friends at Kerikeri Community Fitness who set up a Givealittle page which raised over $1500 to help her get there.

Muldrock also thanked her training partner Stephen Pickens, and her trainers Kevin Strachan and his son John for their expertise over the last two years.

Kevin Strachan said Muldrock was “a phenomenal athlete”.

“She’s the highest point scorer ever for masters 4 women of any federation and weight class anywhere.

“She’s clearly the best in the world by a margin.

“She also broke a whole bunch of M3 records as well.”

Strachan said Muldrock is so good, she qualifies at the world champs in every weight category.

“She’s the lightest weight but she qualifies for the 84kg plus.

“This is not just world-class, it’s so far above that it’s not funny.

“She’s doing numbers now that are as good as she’s ever done in her life - but she’s got room to go.”

Muldrock said she’s now aiming to compete in the Asian African Pacific Benchpress Championships in Japan in July 2025.

She said her main goal was to improve her squat and “extend those world records a bit.”

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.