Strong and powerful: Powerlifter Farhanna Farid and rugby’s Teagan Levi embrace all body types

SINGAPORE – When Farhanna Farid made the transition from lifting weights recreationally to powerlifting about eight years ago, she had doubts about whether it was the right choice.

While there were female powerlifters then, the community was small. Being a muscular Asian woman was also outside the norm, owing to social stigma and traditional views of how women should look.

Farhanna became more conscious about her body’s changes after going past 50kg on the weighing scale and realising that some of her clothes no longer fit.

She also received comments from her family about why she was “getting so big” and “bulky”.

But, conversely, she felt in the best shape of her life, which played a key role in redefining how she perceived her body.

The 32-year-old said: “It rattled me for a bit in the beginning and I started questioning whether I should do it. But again, I felt so much better in terms of my strength, how good my body felt and my body awareness.

“I realised that it didn’t matter what people thought I should look like, as long as I’m comfortable in my own skin.”

What helped was having a supportive boyfriend – who is now her husband – and within a year, Farhanna signed up for her first competition and got her first win.

It kick-started a successful powerlifting career, in which she has broken the deadlift world record several times since 2022.

Powerlifting has brought more than just accolades for Farhanna.

She said: “Competing on the platform is a show of strength, not aesthetic, and you’re being judged and celebrated for your capabilities. I revel in that and it amplified the benefits of it.”

It also taught her about her body. Her shorter torso used to be a source of insecurity– she was uncomfortable with how she looked in certain clothes – but it has proven to be an advantage for deadlifting.

But she stressed that self-acceptance is an ongoing process.

She said: “There are days when I’m like ‘Oh, I’m so bloated today’ but, because I felt strong and capable, it didn’t really matter. It used to bug me 50 per cent but it went down to 10 per cent because there were bigger things in the picture.”

Australian rugby player Teagan Levi also knows the impact that words can have. The 21-year-old once received a phone call from unknown individuals who told her that “she was fat, ugly and looked like a man”.

While the incident left her shocked, she felt it was important for her to share her story to underline how words can affect others.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games and Rugby Sevens World Cup gold medallist also stressed the importance of more education to promote inclusivity in sport.

Levi said: “There is a lot of attention around how a player or person in the public eye needs to look or should look.

“Body dysphoria is real for women, particularly athletes, and comments whether they’re good or bad can have an impact on people.”

She has played in the first four stops of the 2024-25 HSBC SVNS season, with Australia sitting second in the overall standings ahead of the April 5-6 Singapore leg at the National Stadium.

Having played both the sevens and 15s formats, she noted that rugby is a game for players of varying body types, adding that “there needs to be more education around it because females should be able to embrace their body and use it to their advantage on the field”.

Rugby has also taught her lessons in body confidence.

She said: “It’s how you feel inside and how you’re performing that should determine how you feel.

“Only you know that internally. I’m proud of my body and I look up to many other female athletes in a similar way.”