After finishing fourth in the car walk, second in the dumbbell lift and equal first in the deadlift (230kg), as well as winning the load and carry, Fifita held a half-point lead going into the final truck pull.
She fired up to obliterate the field, becoming the only competitor to cover the 15m course to be crowned New Zealand’s strongest woman.
“I’m still in shock,” Fifita told the Herald. “Who would have thought my first Nationals, I’ll walk away with the title?
“It wasn’t my intention to take that first place because I knew these other girls had been there for years and they’d been fighting for that title.”
Her journey into strongwoman began almost by chance. She had been an avid gym user for several years and was interested in strongwoman events but lacked confidence to give it a go.
Kesa Fifita.
That changed when one of the owners of BFT Airport Oaks mentioned the sport and she built up the courage to try it out.
“I remember the first day walking into the gym,” Fifita said.
“I was like, ‘Man, I love this’. I just found something that I love and then I just started training.”
Her regimen is intense, with cardio and personal training sessions early in the week before moving to heavy lifts with sandbag carries, deadlifts, yoke carries and truck pulls.
Her training paid off in the truck pull. As other competitors struggled, Fifita wondered if she could do it.
“When I was watching all the girls before me starting, I was like to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s no way I can move that truck with the two cars on there’,” Fifita said.
“But when I jumped on, the feeling of the adrenaline just in me, it was like, get to the end, touch that truck, finish it off.
“I still remember my coach telling me, ‘Man, you better keep going, don’t stop and say you’re tired, you better finish it’, and that just pushed me harder to get it done.”
Her achievement was made even more special by her sacrifices, including balancing training with caring for her sick mother.
Before leaving Auckland, Fifita’s mother had even asked whether she could finish first, but she didn’t believe.
When she returned home with the trophy, her mother was as shocked as she was.
“She was like, ‘What? Did you really, did you really come first?’.”
Now, Fifita has the opportunity to take her rapid rise to the international stage.
She will look to compete in events in Australia, with an eye on the 2027 Official Strongman Games.
Fifita was full of nerves about competing, but after winning her first national title she is encouraging others to step out of their comfort zone.
“Just give it a go and see where it takes you,” Fifita said.
“I walked in as a nobody, I’ll say, and then I walked out as New Zealand’s strongest woman.”
Fifita finished ahead of Nerisa Utailesolo (second) and Nime Tupuo (third).
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.