Anna Guðrún Halldórsdóttir set three European records and two world records in her weight class at the European Masters Weightlifting Championships in the Netherlands earlier this month, Vísir reports. If that isn’t impressive enough, the 52-year-old resident of Hveragerði, South Iceland managed to achieve these results while still holding down a job as part of Icelandair’s cabin crew. She even worked a six-hour flight to Chicago the day after the competition.
“It was awesome,” Anna said. “I got first place in my weight class and set world records and European records and I’m just so happy about all of it, just over the moon. It’s been a bit hard to practice alongside work, but it works.”
Anna Guðrún trains at least five times a week at her local CrossFit. She took up weightlifting at the gym shortly after moving to Hveragerði and it was quickly apparent that she had real potential. “We saw right away that she’s really strong,” said Anna’s trainer, María Rún Þorsteinsdóttir. “She’s a former handball champion. We knew for sure that she had a chance at these world records […].”
Anna Guðrún hasn’t let her world champion status go to her head, though, and doesn’t have plans to stop working as a flight attendant any time soon—her weightlifting skills come in handy all the time. “It’s great,” she laughed. “I can help everyone with their hand luggage and other things, so that’s something.”
