Saturday, April 19, at the IPF São Paulo State Powerlifting Championship, the Brazilian powerlifting community experienced a moment expected for many years: Kellen Larissa “Lala” Souza’s first official championship. Lala is a 14 year old girl who grew up among powerlifters, bars and disks. She is powerlifter Eumenes “Mendinho” Leite’s only daughter and powerlifter and fitness athlete Judy Delago’s stepdaughter. Many who were screaming her name as she squatted, pressed and pulled that Saturday, one day held her on their arms. It was one of those days that will never be forgotten.

Lala’s debut was not only remarkable for her history and the general love shared by the community for this cute smiling girl, but for her impressive marks. At the 90kg+ category and being only 14 years old, she did a 170kg squat (national record), a 76kg bench press (national record) and a 130kg deadlift.

Watch her video:

Lala’s father introduced her to many different sports and only started training her for powerlifting competition this year. She remembers, however, that she always loved the bar and disks. “I think powerlifting was in my blood”, she said. She recalls the excitement of having squatted for the first time when she was eleven with 40kg. She remembers screaming words of encouragement to her parents as they were lifting, thinking: “I can’t wait to be fourteen and be on the platform myself!”

Mendinho divides his role as parent and coach with Lala. Father and daughter agree it is perfectly manageable, but as a coach, Mendinho is hard and demanding even with his own kid. He recalls having scolded her because of a bad training performance after vacations, accusing her of being negligent and spending too much time on video-games with her cousins. After that, the father in him was guilt stricken and full of remorse for having made her cry.

Lala knows she is Brazil’s greatest hope of gold medals in powerlifting today. After a 220kg squat at the gym, she knows the country looks upon her for international success. This is a pretty high expectation for someone this young. Lala, however, takes it lightly: “one thing I learned with my father and Jefferson Cuaglio is that I should do whatever I do for myself, and not to satisfy others. If I do a 200kg squat, I will do it for me, not for anyone else”.

Out of the platform, Lala is just a smart, happy teenager living in Ribeirão Preto, State of São Paulo, Brazil. She is a good student who likes Math and Computer Science and thinks about a university degree in Technology or Design. I would say, myself, that she also has a way with words – very good writing.

Mendinho has been promoted to proud father of Brazil’s highest powerlifting promise. He described the minutes that preceded her first squat, that Saturday, April 19th: “when I prepared her, wrapping her knees, adjusting her belt, I didn’t know if I would cry or smile on that moment I had been waiting for all my life. I looked at that girl sweating all over, full of adrenaline, putting on her wrist wraps and at the same time remembered the little baby out of her mother’s womb, weighing only 3.445kg (sic: he remembers her weight to the third digit…) and measuring 51cm. It was such a short time between these two moments… A fast movie showed in my mind’s screen with all the things I lived with this girl and when they announced 200kg for her last squat… Well, you can imagine how I felt.”
We are all very proud of Lala!