When Hani Watson settles under the barbell at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, she will be lifting more than just the plates on the bar.<\/p>\n
Watson credits mother Laurita June “Bub” Rayward, who died in 2023, for “creating the strong woman” she has become.<\/p>\n
“I believe in having that spirit, that energy, that mana, my culture that’s within me, the Australian spirit and just sitting there and calming myself down and listening to that internal voice,” she said after winning a second straight women’s heavyweight Commonwealth Games bronze medal.<\/p>\n
“As kids we don’t listen to our parents, but I’m listening to them now. And they told me, ‘This is your superpower, this is what you can do, this is what you need to focus on.'”<\/p>\n
She was plenty strong enough in 2022 to win bronze with a best lift of 127 kilograms, and shattered that number with a final re-rack of 147kg in Glasgow on Saturday morning AEST.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t actually think I was going to hit the numbers coach was gonna ask me to hit,” she said.<\/p>\n
“But I just blocked it out, I didn’t wanna know. I just went balls out and just hit it.”<\/p>\n
A “wild” crowd at Glasgow’s Armadillo was enraptured by the ease with which she completed her lifts \u2014 although the third took some shifting.<\/p>\n
But the loudest moments were reserved for the Nigerians, who collected silver through Rita Ferdinard and gold courtesy of the all-conquering Folashade Oluwafemiayo, who shattered the 86kg+ world record with a final lift of 175kg for a second straight Commonwealth gold.<\/p>\n
![\"Powerlifters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/77127c511ab4ab2e31f0af748886d636.jpeg\")
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Folashade Oluwafemiayo (centre) is seemingly untouchable, but Watson is chasing. (Getty Images: Mattia Ozbot)<\/p>\n
Watson is chasing her, and is hoping to have closed the gap by the time the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics roll around.<\/p>\n
“It’s nice to have someone to chase and I keep chasing her, I keep looking up to her,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s important to have mentors in the game. She’s been doing it since she was a teenager so she’s got a lot of years on me \u2014 maybe about 30 years in the game \u2014 and I’ve been doing it for five, so I’ve got a lot to learn from her.”<\/p>\n
Oluwafemiayo also broke her own Games record score of 134.8 points despite weighing 15kg less than Watson (Commonwealth Games scores are calculated by comparing body weight to weight on the bar).<\/p>\n