september / october 2017 87
By Lara McGlashan, MFA, CPTAfter Photo by Herman Chan / World Masters Games photos by CMGSPORT ACTION IMAGES
And if push-ups were hard, the pow-
erlifting and Olympic-lifting moves
common to CrossFit were impossible. “I
tried to do a snatch but could not even
hold the 15-kilogram (~33-pound) bar
over my head,” she says. “My elbows
would buckle and the bar would slam
down on me.” But rather than encourag-
ing her, the coach was negative about her
prospects. “He said I was too weak, too
uncoordinated, too tight and too old to
learn Olympic lifting,” Petrat says.Starting Over (and Over)
Undeterred, Petrat ditched that coach,
attended a three-day course to learn
Olympic lifting, then signed on for some
one-on-one training. Slowly, she got
stronger and more confi dent.
In 2015, Petrat entered a competition
in the 53-kilogram (~117-pound) class.
“I walked away with a Canadian and
Provincial record in my age and weight
class,” Petrat says. Yet despite her success,
she still struggled with her coach, who
told her fl atly she was running out of time
and reminded her repeatedly about her
age. Petrat again chucked the naysaying
coach and hired a former Olympic medal-
ist, who — rather than telling her she was
too old — continually reminded Petrat
that she was strong.
Under this new tutelage, Petrat entered
another competition in 2016 and once
again astounded herself and audiences
as she closed with an 83-kilogram
(~183-pound) total in the 48-kilogram
(~106-pound) weight class at age 54. “I
made it to the podium with a gold medal
and an offi cial Provincial record,” she
says.
In 2017, she entered the World Masters
Games in New Zealand, and although she
had only been doing the sport for three
years, Petrat found herself lifting against
women with more than 17 years of expe-
rience. Despite the odds, in her fi fth-ever
competition, Petrat placed second with
an 85-kilogram (~187-pound) total and
brought home a Canadian silver medal.
“Some people laughed at me and some
people said I was too old to take up the
sport, but I never quit,” she says. “You’re
never too old to get strong. Just watch me
as I keep setting records.”Mastering
her sport
From an 89-pound weakling to an Olympic-
lifting record holder, 55-year-old Shirlee Petrat
proves that age is just a number.Photos
of Shirlee from
the World
Masters Gamesstats
Shirlee Petrat/
Summerland, British
Columbia, Canada
age: 55
height: 5’1”
old weight: 89
current weight: 110
occupation: Personal
trainer, Pilates instructor
best-ever snatch:
40 kg (88 lb)
best-ever clean-and-jerk:
52 kg (115 lb)Kick-Ass Canadian
Shirlee Petrat currently
holds these 2017 records in
her age group (55-59):
World Masters Games,
48-kg (106-lb) category:
49-kg (108-lb) clean-
and-jerk
Canadian Masters
record, 53-kg ( 117-lb)
category: 38-kg (83-lb)
snatch, 49-kg (108-lb)
clean-and-jerk
BC Provincial Masters
record, 53-kg ( 117-lb)
category: 36-kg (79-lb)
snatch, 47-kg (103-lb)
clean-and-jerkf you had seen Shirlee Petrat at 19, you would
never have predicted her trajectory: With two kids
younger than 2, Petrat weighed all of 89 pounds.
Diminutive and weak, she started taking fi tness
classes, and by the time she was 24, Petrat had become a
personal trainer and a certifi ed Pilates instructor and had
dedicated her life to helping others be fi t and healthy.Rebuilding a Body
Fast-forward 30-plus years — after a divorce, the rise
and fall of several businesses, raising two kids and doing
a live kidney donation to her now-husband Michael —
and Petrat was once again weak and spindly. She had a
skinny-fat physique with 32 percent body fat and was
uncomfortable in her own skin. When the 51-year-old
Petrat saw a sign for a new CrossFit gym opening in her
area, she joined right away.
“It hurt to do an air squat, and I was too weak to do a
push-up or swing a 10-pound kettlebell,” Petrat says. “I
was embarrassed. I told no one that I was once a fi tness
trainer and pretended I knew nothing about fi tness; I just
wanted to be the student.”