By TENAJH SWEETING 

Tribune Sports Reporter 

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN powerlifter Kraschanda Oliver has been in preparation mode for the last couple months in efforts to perform well at the 2024 USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals slated for September 5-8 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

She is coming off the heels of a big victory in the women’s raw open 90kg class at the 2024 USA Powerlifting Ghost Summer Slam 2 competition which took place in Miami, Florida, three months ago.

Oliver, 36, is pretty confident headed into next month’s competition despite it being her first time competing at an event of this calibre.

“I am hoping to get first, second or third. We are gonna see how it goes because this is my first nationals and I will be competing against a whole different class of people so I am hoping for a good turnout. 

“If not, I am hoping that the experience just takes me to another level and pushes me to wanna be even better at the sport,” she said. 

She has been training alongside her coach Domonique Munroe for the entire summer and, although the process has not been seamless, it has certainly been effective, according to her.

“Training has been a bit more difficult this cycle because I have been doing competitions basically back-to-back so I haven’t really had any downtime. 

“It has been harder but still effective. Also, I was nursing a minor injury so it has been a bit difficult but we are getting through it,” Oliver said.

While competing in Miami, Oliver went on to prevail in the women’s raw open 90kg class with totals of 162.5kg (358 lbs) in the squat, 95kg (209 lbs) in the bench press and a personal best 192.5kg (424 lbs) in the deadlift. She accumulated a grand total of 450kg (992 lbs) to qualify for the USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals.

Back in May, she told Tribune Sports that her goal is to try and raise the numbers achieved at the USA Powerlifting Ghost Summer Slam 2 competition.

“So far, so good. I am pretty confident in my squats and my deadlifts. My bench [press] has been a bit shaky but we are working on getting it up to par because last competition was pretty decent so we are trying to get it to that standard again. 

“That is the only thing I am really working on right now so we are just tapering coming down to the competition,” she said.

The personal trainer turned powerlifter has two major wins under her belt so far since joining the sport in January this year. She earned the first win of her young career in Atlanta, Georgia, at the USA Powerlifting TruBorn Rookie Rumble. 

She picked up two first-place finishes in the adult women’s 82.5kg class and was awarded as the best overall female lifter.

With back-to-back victories on her résumé so far, Oliver is optimistic that her recent strides in powerlifting will lead to good results in Salt Lake City, Utah. “I am simply surprising myself with how well I am doing in the meets and even in training with the PRs, lifting weights that I didn’t think I would ever get to. 

“I am pretty confident going into this USA Nationals. 

“I don’t know what is going to  happen. It’s a bigger stage with a whole lot more people and a whole lot more competitors so we are just hoping for great numbers and a great outcome at the end of the day,” she said.

She is headed to Miami, Florida, this week to complete the remaining portion of her training before heading to Salt Lake City, Utah closer to the competition date.