Vegan weightlifter breaks Swedish record
In her last competition of 2025, Swedish powerhouse Fia Kamlund set new records
Competing in the ~84 kg weight category at the 2025 IPF Open Equipped Powerlifting Championship in Romania, Fia followed up her recent national squat record with a 235 kg lift, setting a new Swedish record and achieving a new personal best by 5 kg.
Next up was a powerful bench press. She pressed 165 kg, matching her personal best and taking competition bronze – her first medal at a powerlifting World Cup. In the final event, Fia deadlifted an impressive 195 kg.
Her competition total of 595 kg was a new Swedish record and a personal best. On her Instagram account she said:
“I had such an amazing competition. I had a balance problem on the first squat, but knew exactly what to do to solve it and in the end a weight that I have wanted to do for so long. In the bench, it was total revenge from the Swedish Championships and my first medal at a World Cup in powerlifting (…) What a hell of a competition year! All the years in the gym are starting to pay off. Just keep going, the best is yet to come. Towards the future.”
Fia is the president of the Nordic Powerlifting Federation, and has a PhD in biology. She has now achieved five medals at European Championships, and one at a World Championship, What a great example to aspiring vegan weightlifters everywhere!
Content sourced and adapted, with permission, from Great Vegan Athletes.
About the author
Nicholas Hallows
Nicholas has been vegan since the early 2000s and worked for Viva! between 2017 and 2020 as a Senior Administrator and Web Content Assistant. He is a qualified teacher, specialising in Language and Literacy, and an accredited Proofreader and Editor. He is now a freelance writer covering topics including veganism, mindfulness and minimalism.
