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Today he told us more about their experience via Zoom.

Khalid Usher, President, Belize Powerlifting Association
"It was excellent, a lot of the people on the team, this was their first opportunity to really compete and represent the country abroad. One of our lifters went through so much, for example, one of our lifters went through so much trouble to get here just so he could represent the country. He had to go through El Salvador, and the Panama, then Jamaica, just to make it to the Cayman Islands, that's the level of seriousness and commitment we were dealing with from some of the team members. Overall, we did excellent at the competition, this was the largest delegation Belize Powerlifting has sent abroad, last year we sent 8 people to Panama, and this year we more than doubled the team to 18 persons."

"We really wanted to give a lot more of the athletes we have in the country that opportunity to compete abroad and once given the opportunity, they worked hard."

"Of course that also includes the training they had to put in. The athletes from last year came back stronger and the new athletes we have on the team made an effort to really show their talent. Again, Belize has a lot of strong people, a lot of people that can excel in the sport of powerlifting and so it was all about giving them that opportunity to really make it there and really represent the country, and they did well."

"From my perspective, from my standpoint, the feeling is amazing. Me and some of my friends started the association at age 18 in the university, since 2018 to now there's been so much improvement to the association, there's been so much improvement to the sport of powerlifting in the country, it's been phenomenal."

"The one athlete I'd say that stood out the most was Mr Eric Sanabria from Belmopan. He's our sub junior 17 year old athlete and his competition was fierce, he was competing against two Americans, and he beat them for the gold place medal. And the way he beat them was the most poetic way in powerlifting, almost like the 2 point jump shot in basketball, that one penalty in football, he beat them on his last deadlift, he basically jumped from third place to first place on his last deadlift."

And this budding sport will only grow larger in Belize, especially since the 2026 regional championships will be held right here. According to Usher, about 500 athletes will be traveling to Belize to participate.

Khalid Usher, President, Belize Powerlifting Association
"In 2018 we went to the NAPF for the first time with 3 athletes. Since that day and since that competition, it was one of my dreams and one of the association's dreams to bring that competition to Belize. Every year it grows. What to expect from that competition, as I said, every year the competition is growing, in the general meeting there's budget that predicts the amount of people that will be at these meetings, at these competitions for the year of 2026 when we won the bid for to host the North American Championships, it's estimated to have about 500 athletes. These aren't just one age group, these are people between the ages of 30 and up, there are master lifters, powerlifters, up to the age of 80 competing at these things. We have sub junior athletes, Belize itself send 4 15 year old girl to compete at this competition, all of them returned with medals. It's going to be an exciting competition, it's going to be, I believe one of the biggest international competitions Belize has held to date."

"What I see for the future of powerlifting in Belize is boundless. The talent we have here is extraordinary. With just over a population of 400,000 people in this country and the amount of people that compete in powerlifting for us, we've been able to beat out countries like America, Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean at these events and as the team grows bigger and bigger, we can only stand to do better. The sport is growing the sport is seeking IOC, that's Olympic recognition, in 2025, we're going to the World Games in Chengdu, China, there are a lot of big things that are coming out of this sport, I believe that Belize can be at the forefront of it."

Last year, the team placed fifth, with only 8 athletes in their delegation.