The ‘Bench Queen’ almost died twice this winter. Now she’s bouncing back

Paris: In the lead-up to Paris, Hani Watson has had a rougher road than many.

Watson, known as “the Bench Queen”, is the first female powerlifter to represent Australia at the Paralympics since 2008.

Hani Watson took third in the Commonwealth Games women’s para-powerlifting heavyweight event.Credit: Getty Images

But in June, and then again in August, the 42-year-old Queenslander experienced near-death anaphylactic episodes that resulted in being hospitalised in intensive care.

“I have been calling it the attempted assassination of the queen,” she says.

Doctors have been unable so far to determine what caused the reactions.

Both incidents occurred in ordinary circumstances – the first while packing a birthday picnic for her partner, and the second when having breakfast at home – and as someone with a peanut allergy, she is diligent with her food preparation.

Hani Watson at the Olympic Village in Paris.Credit: Paralympics Australia

“It freaked me out. Whatever I was ingesting was sending me sideways,” Watson says.

“Really, mentally, I took a bit of a hit.”

It’s made going to a foreign country “scary”, she says, but she’s doing everything she can to put her mind at ease.

She will compete in the women’s over 86-kilogram category on Sunday (Paris time), the last day of the Paralympic Games, and the day after her teammate, men’s powerlifter Ben Wright.

Watson has two EpiPens on her at all times, as does her coach. And Team Australia dietitians are preparing all her food.

“We’re still here,” she said. “I know how to bounce back out of it.”

Watson was born with bilateral leg metaphyseal dysplasia, which bowed her tibia and femur bones.

She underwent numerous surgeries that involved breaking a bone and putting it back together, but they failed, and her disability continued to worsen.

Watson had been pumping iron since she was a child, and she started competitive powerlifting in 2018 to try to support her bone strength.

Watson’s father, Charlie, was a bodybuilder, and she recalls being in the gym with him when she was as young as five years old, picking up small weights to curl or flicking through a fitness magazine.

“It was the golden era of lifters in tights and stringer singlets and permed hair,” she said.

“We’d watch Olympic weightlifting together. I always had this big dream to do that sort of thing.”

By age 10, her dad bought her a gym membership. She said she could never lift much with her legs, but her dad always encouraged her.

“I’d go after school and train. That’s where I’d spend most of my time.”

After her failed surgeries, Watson found she could no longer do squats. It’s around then that she found para-powerlifting, which focuses on upper-body strength with the bench press.

Watson won bronze in the women’s heavyweight at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 with a best lift of 127 kilograms – nearly 30 kilograms more than her body weight.

Watson was 17 when she lost her dad, and her mum died last year. She knows her parents would be extremely proud to see her compete at the Paralympics.

“My parents had the mentality of keeping focused; work hard and focus on something that gives you joy,” she said.

Watson said she was nicknamed the “Bench Queen” by training buddies who would watch her visit the gym six days a week and, right away, hit the bench for hours.

She hoped her story would encourage more women, of all ages, to start powerlifting.

“When you lift a barbell and accomplish so much and progress the weight, you feel so strong and proud for pushing past some big barriers,” she said.

“Lifting is the one thing that’s very meditative for me.”

She said she had learnt, over time, that no matter what challenges someone faced, there was always something they were capable of doing.

“Everyone is a bit of a king or queen. Find that superpower and run with it.”

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