Our Next Event: Strong!

Join AETN and UALR Public Radio/KUAR FM 89.1 for a free advance screening of “Strong!” as part of Community Cinema Monday, May 21, at 6 p.m. at Roosevelt Thompson Library in Little Rock.

By 15 she was an American national champion. By 17 she was competing in the Olympics. A formidable figure at five feet, eight inches tall and weighing over 300 pounds, Cheryl Haworth made history in Sydney, Australia, in 2000 when she became the youngest athlete to win an Olympic weightlifting medal. “Strong!,” directed by Julie Wyman, follows Haworth as she struggles to defend her champion status even as her career inches toward its inevitable end. From the highs of her spectacular rise to the lows of battling injuries, "Strong!" explores the challenges this unusual elite athlete faces: coming to terms with a body that is celebrated within her sport but shunned by mainstream culture.

In presenting Haworth's story, "Strong!" follows the path of a gender pioneer in an unconventional sport and questions stereotypical notions of health, size and fitness. Even from a young age Haworth was aware of her unique body and relished its strength, and when introduced to weightlifting as a teenager, she excelled.

"It's so rare I think to really find that thing that you're supposed to do," she said. "Weightlifting was that thing that I found."

Following her win in Sydney, Haworth's career gathered momentum. But while competing in Mexico and attempting an American record of 286 pounds, she tore two ligaments in her left arm. With an uncertain future in a sport that demands complete confidence, Haworth fought back, eventually breaking both the Pan American and U.S. records when she successfully lifted 354 pounds at the 2005 Pan American Games.

"Strong!" takes viewers inside the rarefied world of elite athletes to follow Haworth through several competitions and eventually on to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Yet, the toll weightlifting takes on Haworth – both physical and psychological – is enormous. With honesty and candor she reveals her conflicting feelings about the weight she has to lift, the weight her body carries, and what kind of future she will face when she steps off the stage.

For more information please call 800-662-2386.