Watching big, strong adults lift massive weights is impressive by itself. However, when the same feats are performed by a 13-year-old girl, the effect can be astonishing. At 13, Aurora, better known as Rory van Ulft, began her weightlifting journey at a young age. On July 5, Ulft broke the U44KG Youth World Records at the 2026 IWF World Record Championship in Cali, Colombia.

As per Fitness Volt, this event was her international debut, where she ended up sweeping all three gold medals in the 44 kg category. She simultaneously set not one but two world records. Van Ulft made four out of six successful lifts, narrowly missing one Clean & Jerk and one Snatch.

Rory completed her first lift- a 147.7-pound (67-kilogram) Snatch, following it with a 152.1-pound (69-kilogram) Snatch, which she couldn’t complete successfully. However, her third time was more successful, managing to lift 152.1 pounds (69 kilograms) above her head.

As for the Clean & Jerk, Ulft opened with a 194-pound (88 kg) lift. Her second attempt was also successful, at 205 pounds (93 kg). However, her third attempt was unsuccessful when she tried to lift 209.4 pounds (95 kg).

In totality, she lifted 357.1 pounds (162 kg), winning the U44KG IWF Youth World Record.

The second and third spots were taken by Asel Senel (Tur) 66-77-142 and Althea Bacaro (Phi) 60-80-140.

However, long before her international debut in Colombia, Ulft had been working towards building an impressive resume that would put most to shame.

Years of viral strength phenom lead to Youth World Champion

Ulft has remained unbeaten for years now, rewriting weightlifting record books since she was a child.

At just 9, Ulft was the youngest person in the world to Clean & Jerk double her body weight, lifting  145.50 pounds or 66 kg. At the time, she weighed only 72.31 pounds or 32.8 kg.

“I want a world record – that would be really cool. I know I’m capable of it, especially in clean and jerk,” she said, as per IWF, before she made her international debut.

She had begun lifting weights that exceeded existing youth world records much before she was eligible for IWF competitions. However, due to age and eligibility rules, these records could not be officially recognized.

“I started so young, I can’t remember not doing it. When I began competitive gymnastics (age five), my parents did some research to see what was the best way of preventing injuries and decided on weightlifting training. I turned out to be really good at it,” she said.

Outside of weightlifting, Rory admitted to enjoying making crafts, loving fashion, playing video games, drawing, painting, and building Lego.

Do you think Rory has what it takes to break more world records in the future?

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Written by

Avantika Das

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi