How a dog and a barbell saved this woman’s life
Amelia DeCoil transformed her life through the companionship of her canine pal and the discipline of powerlifting.
Powerlifter Amelia DeCoil back squats at a CrossFit in Lehi on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. DeCoil will be competing in the United States Powerlifting Association Ultra Nationals next month. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News Perhaps the first thing that strikes you about Amelia DeCoil is her size.
She’s a petite 4-feet 9-inches tall and 95 pounds. You might even mistake her as delicate if she weren’t a powerlifter. She holds Utah state records in her weight class and age division for the U.
S. Powerlifting Association and USA Powerlifting, two of the organizations that sanction competitions. She recently qualified for the USPA Nationals in California.
But this story is about more than a tiny woman competing in a predominantly muscle-bound male sport, though that’s changing. It’s about love, loss and lifting. During a difficult period, two things saved DeCoil’s life: an American pit bull-Bassett hound mix named Colby and powerlifting.
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