An unusual power lifter trains for competition in Cecilia Brown and Winslow Crane-Murdoch’s short documentary.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I'm going to go to bed now.
00:30Come on, you got this, come on, just like you do, come on, push, try it buddy, try it.
00:59160 kilos, 1-6-0 kilos.
01:15Aren't you serious? Look at all the weight.
01:23Is this really your last one?
01:26I'm thinking about it, I really am.
01:30One more.
01:41Good.
01:44Chest up, good, strong, two.
01:48Good.
01:50My name is Catherine Keene, I am 95 and a world record deadlifter.
02:05In competition, I have won every event that I have entered.
02:11My world champion trophy.
02:14It's been very easy for me to be world champion, which I do not feel,
02:22simply because no one my age was doing it.
02:28This one was the first one, and I lifted at 121 on my fourth attempt, and that was in June of 2013.
02:39I started weightlifting, both my husband and I, in my 80s, because I had osteopenia.
02:47I was 85 the first time I competed.
02:52I remember my first meet, I was very nervous, scared, pitless.
02:59Pitless.
03:08One of the coaches said I had perfect form, and I said, thank you.
03:16I had no idea what perfect form was.
03:20Going to the first national competition was very humbling.
03:27When I competed, the roar of the crowd was unbelievable.
03:37I thought, I don't deserve this.
03:42I haven't done anything out of the ordinary.
03:49What they make you wear at the competition is a wrestler's singlet.
03:56That is not very becoming to a woman in any shape or form.
04:06I don't care to be as beepy and as strong as they are. I'm too old for that.
04:15I'll never be it, so I'm not going to wish for it.
04:22I train with Dean on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and my training partner, Peggy Neal.
04:32Dean teases her unmercifully.
04:46She's such a joy.
05:08Peggy fills the gap that I have without Dick.
05:16Dick was my biggest supporter.
05:20He was all for it, and he was always on the front row, rooting me on.
05:30I wasn't that adventurous on my own.
05:35I was always on the front row.
05:39I wasn't that adventurous on my own, but together we'd do anything.
05:50Dick and I met at Bunker Hill Air Force Base in Indiana.
05:57I was working in the flight surgeon's office as the secretary,
06:02and he was assigned there as the flight surgeon.
06:07When Sergeant Ziegler introduced me, I fell for him immediately.
06:15He always said, oh, it's the uniform.
06:19It wasn't the uniform, it was his eyes.
06:23It took me three months to get him to ask me out,
06:27and we went to see Ben-Hur.
06:32I disturbed you.
06:34Which was a long, long, long movie.
06:39Well, I had just seen it two days earlier, and I wasn't about to say no.
06:49That was the beginning.
06:51That was the beginning.
06:53We met in 59, and we were married in 61.
06:59We were always together.
07:02He taught me to ski, and he loved flying.
07:08Could not understand why I wanted to jump out of an airplane at 10,000 feet.
07:16I just thought that would be an interesting thing to do.
07:22We just enjoyed being together.
07:28I was just glad I had the time with him that I did.
07:34We were together 61 years.
07:40And then right after that, he was gone.
07:46He was gone.
08:16I probably would not have competed without Dick.
08:43You know, when you have your soulmate rooting for you, you've got to do it.
08:51You've just got to do it.
08:54Good to see you.
09:04And I did do well at nationals.
09:07I don't doubt it one bit.
09:08That is so awesome.
09:09Did you know she's a powerlifter?
09:10No, are you serious?
09:14Powerlift?
09:15Yes.
09:16Oh my gosh.
09:17That's remarkable.
09:18I want to be you when I grow up.
09:24I have no idea what the secret is that I am 95 and still healthy.
09:30Just keep moving.
09:32Don't sit on the sofa and watch TV or be on your phone.
09:40Live as much as you can.
09:43The only advice I have.
09:44Zero kilos, 352 pounds.
10:16I'm never going to look back.
10:18What else do you want?
10:19All the best.
10:20You've got this.
10:21You've got this.
10:22Hold it!
10:23Check it out!
10:24Come on!
10:25Pull!
10:26Pull!
10:27Yay!
10:28Yay!
10:29Yay!
10:30Are they ready?
10:31Let's do it.
10:32Okay, last one!
10:33Deep breaths!
10:34Let's go!
10:35Come on!
10:36Oh my gosh.
10:37You've got this.
10:38Keep going.
10:39Everybody's got a number.
10:40You've got this.
10:41Come on!
10:42Yeah, yeah.
10:43With all of my family there and all of my grandkids, I goofed.
11:08I wanted to deadlift a hundred pounds so badly and I could not move that bar.
11:17I thought that would be my last weightlifting competition.
11:21I've changed my mind.
11:22I want to keep competing until I can hit that hundred.
11:29I want that hundred.
11:32And I know it can be done if I'm good and healthy.
11:46I had a dentist back in Iowa that said I'd have my teeth at 107.
11:55I don't want to be 107, I don't think, unless I'm healthy.
12:18As long as I can be self-sufficient, I want to live.
12:27I don't want to leave here.
12:31I look out at the mountains.
12:36When you can see them, it's so peaceful.
12:52And I like to watch the birds eating all the food and fighting over who gets it now.
13:07But the moment I have to go into assisted living or a nursing home, I'm ready to go.
13:17God has blessed us greatly that no one can deny.
13:27Know that this is true.
13:30I want eternity with you.
13:36The fundamental truth is I love you forever.
13:45What would Dick say if he saw you now?
13:48Well, first he'd put his arms around me and hug me, and then kiss me.
13:55And he'd say, he would say, I'm proud of you.
14:01And I love you.
14:04I know that's what he would say.
14:26Woo!
14:28Big breath!
14:30Big breath!
14:32Big breath!
14:34Sweet testosterone!
14:36Come on!
14:38Come on!
14:40Woo!
14:55Woo!