Since taking up powerlifting several years ago, Ethan Golden has quickly established himself as a rising star on the scene, achieving personal bests and breaking Canadian records in the process.
Golden, who is currently a student at Brantford Collegiate Institute, discussed how he got started in the sport.
“During the [pandemic], my friend and I were looking for things to do. I knew he went to the gym and I ended up joining him there one day because it looked fun. I started going there more and more, and noticed that I was getting stronger,” he said. “One day when I was training at the Brantford YMCA [and at some point] I needed a spotter as a friend didn’t come with me on that day…I then noticed a person there doing around 500 pounds on a deadlift…I would then ask him if he could spot me.”
That ‘spotter’ was David Locke, who would eventually become Golden’s coach.
“I’ve always liked the idea of competing and when Dave became my coach, he helped me get stronger and I learned some good techniques from him,” he said. “Training with him made me want to compete and we started making plans on going to some competitions.”
Golden’s first competition was The Maple City Classic in 2023; he again took part at the event in 2024.
“In both competitions I competed in the 110-kilo class, which is 242 pounds [and] I did powerlift, squat, bench and deadlift. The first competition was a good one for me…I set a Canadian record for my squat. My total score was a Canadian record too…I made all of my lifts [and] didn’t fail any of them,” said Golden.
More recently, Golden competed at the Iron Annihilation 8 event in Kingston, Ontario, capturing multiple Canadian records for his sub-junior category.
“I did the squat and bench, and the deadlift was the last lift of the day…I made my third attempt at 496 pounds, setting a new Canadian record. My coach and I then decided to go for a fourth attempt,” he said. “Fourth attempts aren’t usually allowed unless a new record has been [established]. We decided to do 512 pounds, but I ended up not getting it. It was very close though.”
However, Golden’s coach has been very important to his success as well as making the decision to move to another gym.
“Having Dave as my coach has really helped [because] he understands the sport well [as he’s] competed in many competitions before,” he stated. “But [overall], there aren’t a lot of people in the sport, much less kids competing…ever since I switched gyms to The Fit Effect in Paris, I’ve gotten to know a lot more powerlifters, and learned a lot from them. I’ve also had the chance to teach some of them too…It’s hard finding like minded people when it comes to powerlifting, because it’s a very unique sport.”
Golden’s raw strength and growing success in powerlifting has gotten him a lot of notice from his peers as well as coaches.
“When I was going to the YMCA in Brantford, I would see a lot of the kids there from my school; they would ask for advice on powerlifting [and] I would tell them to focus on their technique [because] that’s very important. If you have bad technique, then you’re not going to get stronger and you’re just going to just end up getting hurt,” he said. “There’s also been a lot of kids I know at school that have either watched some of my TikTok posts, or they found out what I do from their friends…and they congratulate me [on my success], but some of them try [and] convince me to try out for the football or rugby teams because of my strength…some of the coaches at my school have tried to recruit me, but I don’t necessarily want to get into football…I just want to focus on powerlifting.”
Golden is now looking ahead at competing again in 2025 and has key numbers he is aiming for.
“We’re looking at another competition in February…which will be in Niagara Falls. It’s a little closer than the other ones I have been a part of [and] easier to get to,” said Golden. “I’m also hoping to finally get up to about 600 pounds on my squat, 300 pounds on bench press, and do a 500-pound deadlift which I’ve been fighting to get to for a while now.”
As Golden continues to develop as a powerlifter, his focus is to compete on a consistent basis and to break records.
“For me, the goal is to try and break Canadian records at every competition I go to and to eventually break records at international competitions. I’m almost at the cut-off for the sub-junior division…soon, I can start to compete in juniors, where it’s a little more competitive,” explained Golden. “I’m hoping, within the next couple years, to do national competitions which are held across the country. I can qualify for them… but it’s hard to make it to the [events] and it’s very expensive to do so. I hope to be part of a few higher-profile competitions within the next ten years and eventually do a world competition and place at least in the top three. That would be amazing.”
