SUDBURY - On her way to defending her title as the planet’s strongest adaptive woman, Warren’s Kari Thibeault deadlifted an amazing 330 kilograms — or for those in the crowd not familiar with metric, that’s more than 727 pounds.
An impressive feat, to be sure, made all the more impressive by the sheer force of will that keeps Thibeault competing. In September 2001, Thibeault, then 29, suddenly lost vision in her right eye.
An MRI a few months later confirmed her fear: she was eventually diagnosed with secondary progressive MS, which brings with it a constellation of symptoms, the most obvious of which is the virtual loss of her ability to walk.
Thibeault languished in a dark place for more than a decade. But then, in 2020, her partner, Emmanuel Poitras, introduced her to strongman competitions, something that would not only change her life, but help transform her into the iron woman she is today.
The truth is probably that Thibeault was an iron woman all along; it just took the help of Poitras and strongman competitions to bring it out.
She became the world’s strongest adaptive woman (“adaptive” indicates how strength events are slightly modified to allow athletes with mobility issues to compete) in September 2023 at a competition in Florida.
On Nov. 1-3, she and Poitras were in Birmingham, England, at the Magnus ver Magnusson Adaptive Strength World Championship to defend that very title (with thanks to the Markstay-Warren Fire Department, which held a fundraiser that brought in $6,400 to fund the trip, half of which came from an anonymous donation).
It was a bit like stepping into the lion’s den. Strength competitions are a much bigger deal in the U.K. than in Canada, so for a Canadian to step onto their turf raised some feathers.
“It was really a fight,” Thibeault said.
“They did not like her being there,” Poitras said.
Thibeault was the only Canadian woman competing. In fact, of 40 or 50 competitors, only she and two American men were the only non-European competitors. What’s more, Thibeault’s biggest competition in the event was from Birmingham and was none too impressed to have the Canadian strongwoman beating her on her own soil.
Check out a video below of Thibeault competing in the U.K.
They made it known, too. Making fun of how Thibeault says “sorry,” jibing her with exaggerated use of the word “eh” and refusing to shake her hand.
But the Canadian took it all in stride. Actually, it “definitely” gave her a little extra juice to stick it to Old Blighty and her strongman competitors.
And stick it she did, handily winning all five events she competed in.
She held a 100-kilogram farmer’s lift for some 58 seconds. She hefted a truck axle over her head at weights of 60, 65 and 67.5 kilograms. She pulled a 100-kilogram weighted sled across the floor in 32 seconds in the hand-over-hand event.
She hefted ascending weights of round stones weighing up to 50 kilograms. In the ascending deadlift (in which weights are continually added until the competitor can do no more reps), she did 10 repetitions, hauling an incredible 330 kilograms in the final rep.
How does it feel to be the world’s strongest adaptive woman two times in a row?
“It feels like I want to be a three-timer — I don’t want to stop,” Thibeault said with a big smile.
The performance was impressive to say the least, but for Poitras, her winning performance at the Canadian national strongman competition in Moncton, NB, on Oct. 12-13 was even more so.
“Her performance was just insane,” Poitras said.
Remember those 50 kilogram stones Thibeault hefted at the worlds? At nationals, she was hefting 100-kilogram stones (an unofficial record, by the way). She lifted weight that put her on par with the professional strongwomen at the event.
Now, Poitras is Thibeault’s biggest booster and supporter, but he is an impressive strongman competitor in his own right. At nationals in October, he not only came second in the 50+ category, but also set three national records in circus dumbbell (150 pounds), sandbag to shoulder (225 pounds) and the stone lift (310 pounds).
He also won the Static Monster 2024 50+ event in Sudbury on Oct. 23.
Both Thibeault and Poitras had to power through the past few months of competition for another reason, too, besides the ribbing from the U.K. competitors and the unfamiliar territory. A couple of months prior to the competition, Poitras was diagnosed with cancer in his throat.
Treatment is beginning soon for Poitras, but he said getting Thibeault to the global competition and helping her fulfill that dream, had to take priority because of its immediacy.
As for what’s next, “I’m sure there are more records to break,” Thibeault said.
She wants to set an official record for lifting stones and she’s set a goal of pulling a firetruck to set a Guinness World Record.
Thibeault certainly has the team behind her to help her set more records. She credits the crew at local professional strongman Lance Lavallee’s “Gorilla Farm” in Estaire for helping her and Poitras get where she needs to be. Lavallee is also the man behind Cereberus Strength Canada.
“This is a group effort,” the humble iron woman said.
The motivation she gets from having a team behind her, pulling for her, is incredibly motivating, Thibeault said.
She is actually looking to pay that motivation forward, too. Thibeault wants everyone to know — but particularly people with mobility challenges like she has — that doing strongman competitions is for everyone, not just naturally strong people.
Anyone can build strength and muscle. All it takes is desire and determination.
“Anybody can start,” she said.
To that end, Thibeault has been doing demonstrations at local gyms to spread the word and encourage other locals to get out there and start lifting. If you would like Thibeault to provide a demonstration at your gym or elsewhere, you can contact her through her Instagram account, @Kari2CuteWheelz.
And if you are reading this and think you might be interested in strongman training, your best resource is to contact the supportive and enthusiastic Nickel City Strongman group on Facebook.
Below is a list of Thibeault’s titles:
- Two-time world's strongest adaptive woman
- Two-time Static Monster Champion
- Canadian National champion World Deadlift Championships, holding records for:
- WDC trap bar world record
- Four-time Static Monster world record
- Holder of five national records
- Holder of four world records for deadlift, log press, stones and sandbag to shoulder
Mark Gentili is the editor of Sudbury.com.
