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32 | August 3, 2017 | Malibu surfside news Sports
malibusurfsidenews.com
Looking stronger than ever before
Pepperdine professor
shows muscle in
weightlifting, CrossFit
competitions
Barbara Burke
Freelance Reporter
At 65, many are winding down
physical activities.
Au contraire for Laurie Nelson,
a Pepperdine professor who decided
to pursue CrossFit training
six years ago at the age of 65.
It was a herculean undertaking.
“Laurie had never done a pullup
in her entire life, had never
trained in her life and had only
done intramural volleyball in
high school,” said Mike Anderson,
owner of CrossFit Malibu.
“She came into my gym with a
torn ACL and not a lot of mobility.
She was physically growing
old.
“She worked hard and was able
to do her first pull-up at 65 years
old. She dedicated herself to coming
into the gym five to seven days
a week and only two years later,
she was breaking world records
in two Olympic events. She now
has an ability that you don’t find
in most human beings, let alone
someone of her age.”
At 66 years old, with dogged
determination and laser-focused
commitment, Nelson qualified for
the CrossFit Games in 2012 in the
Masters 60+ category. She came
in 10th place.
By the age of 69, Nelson was
taking special coaching for Olympic
weightlifting.
In 2016, Nelson set USA records
in the snatch and clean and
jerk. Her lift of 34 kilograms for
snatch was 5 kg over the U.S.
record, and her clean and jerk of
42 kg was 6 kg over the U.S. record.
She won her event and was
awarded the Best Lifter award for
her age category of 70+ females.
But Nelson was only getting
started.
In 2017, she went to Savannah,
Georgia, for the USA Nationals
and bettered her own record in
clean and jerk by 1 kg, lifting 43
kg, and qualifying for the World
Master’s Games in New Zealand
in April. Her snatch of 29 kg (64
pounds) beat the world record by
1 kg. Her clean and jerk of 42 kg
(92.5 pounds), beat the world record
by 2 kg. Her total of 71 kg
beat the world record by 3 kg.
Malibu Surfside News sat down
with Nelson to chat about her
amazing feats and her philosophy
of staying in shape, continuously
striving to improve and try new
things, and her life’s narrative.
Given her physical feats, one is
somewhat surprised by her relatively
diminutive stature. However,
it is her driven personality,
tempered by a laser-focused sense
of humor and a self-deprecating
manner that most impresses.
“I grew up in Hollywood and
went to Hollywood High School.
There were no organized sports
for girls back then,” Nelson said.
“I had no opportunity to participate
in organized sports.”
Nelson has had a meteoric
professional career that parallels
her phenomenal achievements in
Olympic weightlifting and Cross-
Fit competitions.
She attended UCLA, getting
physical education and psychology
degrees. She obtained a
master’s and PhD in athletic administration.
Her 1979 doctoral
thesis addressed Title IX’s seismic
changes to collegiate sports
and how universities struggled
to comply with requirements that
women athletes be given equal
sports participation opportunities.
Nelson and many others have,
over time, helped women athletes
achieve equality. For 42 years,
she has worked at Pepperdine,
starting as the women’s athletic
director and serving now as an associate
professor and pre-health
advisor.
“Professor Nelson is an expert
Pepperdine professor Laurie Nelson (right) and her weightlifting
coach Bob Takano pose for the camera at the USA nationals in 2016.
Photo Submitted
in assisting students interested in
the health professions — whether
it be medicine, physical therapy,
physician’s assistant, nursing, occupational
therapy, dentistry, or
veterinary medicine — decide
what profession would be the
best fit for them,” said Priscilla
G. MacRae, a fellow professor at
Pepperdine.
By all her academic and sportenthusiast
colleagues’ accounts,
Nelson is amazingly indefatigable.
“I have known Laurie for 42
years, first as a professor and
mentor when I attended Pepperdine
as an undergraduate, then
as a colleague in sports medicine
and as a training buddy and friend
at CrossFit Malibu where she always
outperforms me, though I
am 10 years younger,” MacRae
said.
Nelson is matter of fact when
asked why she chose to try competitive
weightlifting and Cross-
Fit at her age.
“I wanted to inspire myself and
other older adults to get moving
and be fit,” Nelson answered. “I
knew I could do it and I know
others can too.”
She started CrossFit training
slowly, unsure it was for her.
“I joined Malibu CrossFit in
2010 when Mike Anderson started
it,” she said. “I just came to try
it. I did a beginning class for one
month. I noticed I got a lot more
fit even after one month. So, I decided
to keep going.
“One day, I looked up what
women my age in the competition
were doing. I realized I could do
what they were doing.”
CrossFit competition is extremely
taxing.
“They can ask anything of
you,” Nelson said. “You may
have to do pull-ups, push-ups,
front and back squats, snatch,
clean and jerk, overhead squats,
rowing, running, jump roping,
or the toughest of all, handstand
push-ups.”
With the help of Bob Takano,
a world famous weightlifting
coach, Anderson, and other professionals,
Nelson has achieved,
literally, what no other weightlifting
competitor her age has
achieved.
“There is significance in the
fact that Laurie, she was able to
lift more than any woman her age
and body weight has ever done,”
Takano said. “This is providing us
with information about the range
of accomplishments for the species.
She is a person of great integrity
and understanding. These
qualities attracted her to a sport
that is all about revealing the
truths about the competitor.”
Laurie Nelson – a trailblazer, a
quiet leader, an inspiration.
Andrew Benton, president of
Pepperdine, summarized the significance
of Nelson’s accomplishments
and the lady’s essence best:
“Her humble demeanor and quiet
way of going through the day
hides the heart of a lion that powers
her forward in competition.”