“What if I Fail”: A Year After a Career-Threatening Injury, a World Record-Winning Powerlifter Makes a Huge Comeback.

Lya Bavoil has been considered a significant powerlifting symbol for quite some time. Lya started competing in the 63 kg category and in two months, she bagged three world records in the 2021 IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships. However, now she has moved up to the category of 69 kg. Lya has participated in 21 sanctioned competitions and won 9 consecutive ones at 28. She has also been regarded as the most renowned female powerlifter because of her dedication onwards the sport.

Bavoil was anticipated to be one of the competitors at the 2023 Sheffield Powerlifting Championships. The news utterly thrilled her massive fanbase, and all expectations were put on her winning again. However, she suffered a severe back injury, and the world was largely unaware of that.

How did Lya suffer a back injury?

During one of her training sessions, Lya had a huge setback. She had injured her back during one of her deadlift sessions.

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Although there is little detail about what caused it, in one of her videos, Lya said, “During my prep, I failed again and again, but I never stopped believing in the process.” In the video, the caption also read she was scared and “what if I fail”  She had captioned this as, “From back injury to world record squat at 211 KG at 66 KG BW – 465 LBS at 145 LBS BW.” 

Bavoil’s journey after her injury

Lya injured her lower back and had to go through a painful rehab process to get herself back at the gym. Once she got out, Bavoil only had three weeks left for the 2023 Sheffield Powerlifting Championships. Lya was unsure how well she could perform, but she got her way up and finally set new Raw Squat and Total IPF World Records.

Lya was scared, and in one of her interviews, she said, “I thought about not showing up & pulling out, but. This is not me. Despite all the fears, I showed up and gave my best on the platform. It has been, so far, my hardest prep ever.” 

Lya missed only one deadlift out of her 9 lifts in the competition and set a new record. In the Total IPF World Record, she made marked 548.5 kilograms (1,209.2 pounds). The previous record was also in her possession and stood at 548 kilograms (1,208.1 pounds).

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