Strength Through The Years -- Powerlifter, 38, Won't Let Injuries Slow Him

Even at 38, Andrew "Bull" Stewart, an old warrior in the sport of powerlifting, is not one to be discouraged.

Three times he has failed to make the U.S. Olympic team, the last two times because of injuries.

In 1992, he was injured in a head-on car accident, breaking his thumb, jaw and sternum. Two months later, after cutting off his cast to compete, he won the National Drug-Free Powerlifting Championship.

In the 1993 World Championships, he had to lose eight pounds overnight to reach his 242-pound weight limit. That led to dehydration and a subsequent injury to his left pectoral muscle.

Competing despite the injury, he won the world title. Three months later he was competing again. But it wasn't until early 1995 that doctors discovered he had ruptured a tendon in his chest and the muscle had pulled away from the bone.

"I didn't have the stability, but I still had enough strength with my other muscles to compensate. So I continued to compete," he said.

After surgery and a six-month layoff, he tried to make the transition to Olympic-style lifting, which requires more speed and different disciplines. But a torn muscle prevented him from making the U.S. team.

"If I wasn't injured, I know I could have medaled. I still have a good chance for the 2000 Olympics," said Stewart, who would be 42 then.

Lifters' careers are often on a downhill curve when they hit their late 30s, but Stewart is still on a straight line to success.

This weekend in Chicago, Stewart, who grew up in Mississippi but has lived and trained in Seattle for three years, goes for his eighth drug-free world title. He won his 11th national title in June. He holds the U.S. and international record for his weight class (242 pounds) with a combined weight lift (squat, deadlift, bench press) of 2,149 pounds.

"That record will be gone by the end of the weekend," he said. "I'm feeling good. I feel I can do 2,250."

He'll do it with lifts of plus-800 pounds in the squat and deadlift. He'll push 500 pounds in the bench press, but must guard against re-injuring his pectoral muscle.

The drug-free competition is strictly maintained. He is tested four times a year and is subject to random tests during competitions.

Despite the availability of approved performance-enhancing drugs and illegal ones on the black market, Stewart said his beliefs keep him chemical free.

"I was raised on hard work in Mississippi and I've never taken a short cut," Stewart said. "I need to feel good about myself. My parents drank when I was young and I saw what it did to them. Why do the same thing to myself?

"I was the youngest on the 1984 national team and I'm the oldest now because of the lifestyle I have chosen."