The 2022 Powerlifting America (AMP) Classic (Raw) Sub-Junior, Junior, and Master Nationals took place on June 18-19, 2022, in Orlando, FL. Although a few younger athletes, like Mahailya Reeves, gathered some attention, the 64-year-old Dora Justice managed to do the same.
Dora competed in the raw 57-kilogram weight class of the Masters 3 (60-69-year-old), and despite finishing in second place, she scored a new AMP American Bench Press Record of 72.5 kilograms (159.8 pounds).
Dora Justice opened her bench press campaign with a 65-kilogram (143.3 pounds) lift. She then added another 5 kilograms (11 pounds) for her second attempt, which was also successful. For her third and record-breaking attempt, Dora loaded 72.5 kilograms (159.8 pounds), which actually looked very easy for her. With another successful lift, Dora claimed a new National record.
Dora Justice’s Full Performance
Dora Justice weighed in at 56.5 kilograms (124.5 pounds) for the 2022 AMP Nationals. She crushed all other attempts, meaning that she went nine for nine and didn’t miss a single lift.
“Dora Justice @doraa_puente with a national record 72.5kg/159lb bench press in the 57kg master III class. Dora was a huge crowd favorite at Master’s Nationals because she got hyped up for every lift and was clearly having the most fun!”
Dora Justice started her professional powerlifting career back in 2003, under the name Dora Puente. Since then she accumulated 30 appearances in sanctioned powerlifting competitions and failed to win only four times. She has slightly better competition PRs than what she lifted at the 2022 AMP Nationals, but she is defying the process of aging by maintaining her shape.
Dora Justice’s Greatest Performances
2022 AMP Bench Press Nationals — First-place
2021 USAPL Equipped Bench Nationals — First-place
2020 USAPL Iron Wars — First-place
2019 USAPL Bench Nationals — First-place
2017 NAPF North American Bench Press Championships — First-place
2008 WPF World Championships — First-place
2007 WPF World Powerlifting and Bench Press Championships — First-place
Data Source: Open Powerlifting. Last Updated: August 3, 2022
It is not clear what Dora Justice’s next step will be, but following her recent success, she definitely became a potential IPF Record Holder. If she wants to claim the IPF World Record, Dora will have to take part in a competition sanctioned by them. Nonetheless, Dora will definitely keep crushing the weights in the gym and come back even stronger the next time.
Andrew is a professional writer and a workaholic. He studied sports for 4 years and trained soccer for almost 15 years. In addition, for the past three years Andrew has been implementing functional training, with a dream or a plan to enroll in the special forces.
