Kari Thibeault just can’t help herself. She keeps breaking records.
On Aug. 16, the adaptive strength competitor was in Dublin, Ireland for the 2025 Static Monster World Championships. Against a field of 20 adaptive competitors, Thibeault set records in both the log lift and the dead lift.
In fact, in the dead lift she broke her own record three times to win the event and claim the new record.
Thibeault, who lives with multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair to get around, became the world’s strongest adaptive woman (“adaptive” indicates how strength events are slightly modified to allow athletes with mobility issues to compete) in September 2023 at a competition in Florida.
On Nov. 1-3, 2024, she and Poitras were in Birmingham, England, at the Magnus ver Magnusson Adaptive Strength World Championship to defend that very title (with thanks to the Markstay-Warren Fire Department, which held a fundraiser that brought in $6,400 to fund the trip, half of which came from an anonymous donation).
Then, in Miami, Florida, this past April, at the Miami’s Baddest event she set an adaptive deadlift record yet again.
Travelling with her partner, Emmanuel Poitras, who also competed, it was Thibeault’s first trip to Ireland. And like other places she’s travelled to compete, she didn’t really see any of the country as she was too busy competing, but she did find the Irish much friendlier than British competitors she’s encountered, Thibeault joked.
There were 20 adaptive competitors at Static Monster, a higher-than-usual number for adaptive competitions, she said.
In the log lift, Thibeault set a new world record when she hefted a 154.5-pound log over her head.
“I just went for it. I grinded it out for 41 seconds to get it up,” the Warren resident said. “I was just pushing and pushing, and it was going up a centimetre at a time.”
She didn’t let the log beat her though, and set a new record.
The deadlift was another feat entirely. The way that competition works at Static Monster is each successful lift earns the competitor an extra lift. Thibeault was able to best herself three times.
Thibeault and her partner play a bit of psychological game when it comes to the weights. Poitras knows her strength so he chooses how much weight she’ll attempt without telling Thibeault. The idea is to prevent her from getting in her own head about the weight and over-thinking things.
So in Ireland, Poitras started Thibeault at 605 pounds, itself a record. When she lifted that, he moved her up to 625 pounds, another record, which she bested. Poitras then put the weight at 650 pounds, and Thibeault hefted that, too.
If you’re keeping track, that means Thibeault set three world records in one single event. Not a bad day.
Despite the fact the couple were across the pond, they had some supporters on hand. Competitors and friends from Kapuskasing and Thunder Bay were at the same event and were among the crowd that “went crazy” when Thibeault set the records.
“It was really nice to have personal friends there — that doesn’t usually happen,” Thibeault said.
Her partner also competed in Ireland, with Poitras placing fifth in the world with a 705-pound deadlift.
The highs of winning a competition came crashing down on the way home, however, as Thibeault and Poitras ran into the Air Canada strike on the way home, making for some long layovers and challenging travel conditions.
They had to sleep on the floor of Philadelphia International Airport, which made for a long night dodging rodents, Thibeault said.
Next up for the couple is the Canadian national strongman competition, which will be held in Calgary, Alta., from Oct. 3-5.
Mark Gentili is the editor of Sudbury.com.