Sport
4 March, 2025
Strength on show at comp
NORTH Queensland’s strongest men and women are set to showcase their power this March at the ZeroW Cairns Gym weightlifting competition where they will battle for glory and a shot at national rankings.
The ZeroW’s Cairns Cup is back for the third year to put some of Queensland’s strongest people to the test in a power lifting competition that will initiate rookie lifters and help seasoned lifters set records and open doors to competitions on March 22.
The lifters will compete in different weight classes for men and women with increases of 7kg to 10kg.
Registrations have been sold out but an audience is encouraged to attend.
First organised in 2022 by gym owners and powerlifters Brooke and Wesley Vick, the competition has consistently grown in the last two years.
This year, 50 athletes from Cairns, Townsville, Mackay and even Brisbane have signed up for an attempt at local glory and national rankings.
“We’re a small community, strength-based gym. There’s a misconception that you have to be a powerlifter to join but this is a gym for everyone to get strong, feel healthy and achieve their fitness goals,” Mrs Vick said.
“We try to do a couple of competitions a year. This one is called the Cairns Cup which is our biggest one and our most popular.
“Usually, we get around 100 people watching, so we set the gym up and organise seating. We’ve got a food van coming preparing yummy burgers, it’s a great event,” Mr Vick said.
“Wes and I used to compete ourselves and we always had to travel to Melbourne and just anywhere. But here, it’s amazing that we can offer it to Cairns people, it saves them money and it’s something this city didn’t have before,” she said.
The pair said that despite not being any prize money, the competition was highly regarded by athletes for being a supportive environment and a space to establish records and move up to bigger competitions.
“The competition has really grown, we’ve actually had to cap it because we can’t handle more than 50 competitors, so registrations online sold really fast,” Mrs Vick said.
“Besides the honour and the possibility of ranking, if they do well enough, they can potentially get invited to nationals, so it’s great for qualifying to bigger competitions,” Mr Vick said.
“We’re really proud. I think it’s just going to keep getting bigger and bigger each year, especially with women as well, which is really cool, because it’s always been a men’s sport, and now we’ve got more than half women members here, so I think the women will slowly start to take over.”
“What we are about is getting people into strength training, and then hopefully get people into the sport of powerlifting, because we think it’s a pretty cool sport when everyone you know gets along, and it’s a pretty cool community.”
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