PETALING JAYA: A leisure visit to a mall seven years ago practically changed Kenneth Kaden Chin’s life.
Kenneth stumbled upon a local powerlifting competition at the Jaya Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya and quickly became fascinated by the sport and he wanted to try it out.
Fast forward to the present and the 34-year-old recently created history by being the first Malaysian gold medallist at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships in Sun City, South Africa.
Kenneth won the title in the bench press and deadlift along with the silver in the squat in the Under-59kg Open category and earned himself the overall title.
He was proud of his achievement after only taking up the sport at the age of 27.
“I’m proud to be the first Malaysian to win the gold in this tournament,” said Kenneth.
“Honestly, I never thought of representing my country in powerlifting and competing in international tournaments.
“When I went to the mall seven years ago, I found the competition very uplifting. The spectators were very encouraging and the whole vibe was really positive. The spectators were supporting every lifter.”Kenneth said that factor captivated him even more.
“If you see in sports like football and badminton, the fans only support their own team or players and kind of try to bring down the opponents.
“In powerlifting, it’s different as the fans cheer for every lifter and encourage him to succeed in his lifts.
“At first, I just wanted to try out the sport but then I found that I was doing better and better and I decided to compete professionally,” added Kenneth.
Kenneth, who has a full time job as an assistant regional marketing manager in a wellness company, has been training part-time under Singaporean coach Clinton Lee, who is also the Singapore Powerlifting president.
“Clinton is in Singapore, so we conduct our training online,” said Kenneth.
“I send him my training videos and he reviews them and we have online sessions a few times in a month to discuss my progress and work on my weaknesses.
“Usually, I train at the national powerlifting training centre in Subang. This is not a major sport, so lifters don’t need to train full time.
“I did not find powerlifting too difficult as I used to work out casually and play sports like football, badminton and volleyball, so I was quite active.
“I just had to learn and improve on my lifting technique,” added Kenneth.
Kenneth’s other achievements include a bronze in the deadlift in the 2023 Asian Championships in Johor, silver medallist in the 2022 Commonwealth Championships in New Zealand and multiple titles in the National Championships.
He believes that his achievements prove that anything is possible.
“Every time I’m able to lift heavier weights, it boosts my confidence and proves that anything is possible if only I have the passion for it work hard,” said Kenneth.
“This mentality has carried over in all aspects of my life.
“Before I took up this sport, I was just leading a normal life but now I have a goal to strive for.”
Kenneth is looking forward to continuing his good form in the Asia Pacific Championships in Japan next year.
