MIAMI (WSVN) - A student studying to earn her doctorate from the University of Miami is also making a name for herself in the world of powerlifting.
At only 26 years old, Stefanie Cohen has hit several world records and earned one doctorate degree. However, she still isn’t done.
Cohen is now working to earn another doctorate in sports medicine, all while training as a renowned powerlifter.
“I think I should [do this] because I can,” Cohen said. “I found that I had a talent for this particular sport, and it just seemed wrong for me not to keep going.”
Cohen is currently training for the U.S. Open Championships.
However, powerlifting and academics aren’t her only talents. Cohen also has a passion for soccer,
The powerlifter, with an Instagram following approaching 300,000, played on the U17 Venezuelan National Soccer Team from 2006 to 2009.
“Soccer kind of brings people from all kinds of socioeconomic classes together, and as a 15, 14-year-old, that was incredible for me to see, and I think it really shaped who I was,” she said.
Standing at 5 feet and 123 pounds, Cohen is one of the strongest people on the planet. In March, she deadlifted more than four times her body weight at 545 pounds.
She is also an 11 time world champion.
“I think to myself that there’s just nothing that I can’t do,” Cohen said. “I don’t even think about missing a lift as a possibility.”
Cohen trains for three hours every day, six days a week in order to increase her strength.
She has also become a pulp figure in the lifting world and a role model for other young girls.
“It’s mostly parents who reach out to me that are like ‘Thank you for putting yourself out there in this light and allowing younger girls to see that beauty’s not only about the way you look but that there is beauty and strength and that is important too,'” Cohen said.
Cohen said her next goal is to deadlift nearly five times her body weight at 600 pounds.
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