UPDATE: Harris obtained bronze medals in squat and deadlift and silver in bench. Based on points, she placed third overall, which is a national record.
A 61-year-old woman who was born and raised in Iroquois Falls is competing in the world powerlifting championship in St. John’s, NL on Saturday.
Fran Harris – née Proulx – is a lifelong athlete who, despite countless injuries and surgeries, has always been a competitor.
Living in Fredericton since 1984, the retired civil servant represented New Brunswick in the nationals in 2017 in Saguenay, Quebec.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” she recalls. “I had qualified at the local eastern meet and went to Nationals to see what it was all about. Made a lot of mistakes, learnt a lot, but I really liked it and I was determined to try it again.”
Following a hip injury, Harris vowed to try powerlifting again when she turned 60 last year.
The married mother of one son and grandmother of a three-year-old granddaughter is in a category for woman 60 to 69, and weighing less than 63 kilograms or 139 pounds. She says at six or eight women, it’s not a huge field.
“Not too many people lift at the age of 60. I want to compete, so… It’s a huge time commitment to move up to the competitive level.”
Audio of the complete interview with Fran Harris is below, including exactly where and when she got into weight training on a universal gym apparatus you might remember, and how growing up in a small town influenced her lifelong athletic activity.