Youngest Female Powerlifter Aims for Special Olympics National Games Personal Best
At only 15 years old, Payton Dicks is already making her mark as an autism self-advocate competing in powerlifting at the Special Olympics Canada Games Medicine Hat 2026.
Krista and Brandon Dicks put their daughter into Special Olympics at a very young age, through the Active Start and FUNdamentals programs, both designed to help children learn basic motor skills and sport movements through fun, positive experience. Brandon said she loved it so much, the hardest part was getting a young, active child to wait until she was 12 and old enough to enter the competition pathway.
Her first Special Olympics sport after the FUNdamentals program was kayaking, which Payton originally focused on, and still spends a lot of time training. Even though she loves kayaking now, Payton said she originally was less than thrilled to be enrolled.
“I fought the whole way there saying I’d never go back,” she said, “and it’s been 7-8 years.”
“Now she’s a two-time national defending champion [in kayaking],” Brandon added proudly, “with two records in the Special Olympics division.”
Given that Payton’s sport in the upcoming Special Olympics National Games is powerlifting, she has given the gym more focus than she did while travelling for kayaking competitions. She originally took up powerlifting as a casual, weekly way to help her body get stronger for kayaking, but Payton and her parents soon found she had a natural affinity for the three compound lifts used in Special Olympics powerlifting competitions.
But beyond competition, powerlifting has had a deeper impact. For Payton, building strength has also meant building confidence.
“Payton struggled a lot in her younger years with body imaging,” Brandon said, “and once she felt stronger that body self-confidence stuff started to improve.”
Through training, Payton began to see her body differently—not just in how it looked, but in what it could do.
Brandon added that powerlifting helped Payton start associating her body’s size with gaining strength and therefore something to be proud of. While Payton’s journey is uniquely her own, many young people face similar challenges when it comes to confidence and body image.
Currently, Payton is benching 55 kilos (121 pounds) , deadlifting 115kg (253lbs), and can squat 87kg (191lbs). These numbers are higher than her last officially recorded lifts, which she hit while representing Canada at the 2025 World Open Women’s Special Olympics (SOI) Event in Chemnitz, Germany. Payton took home gold in all three individual lifts and set new records for Special Olympics Nova Scotia.
“It was surreal knowing I could come that far,” Payton said, adding, “I couldn’t have gotten that far without my family, friends, coaches, and supporters over the years.”