Meet Penn thrower Stella Inman, who’s also a powerlifter advocating for ‘body positivity’
The senior is a standout in the weight events and also a powerlifter. Before she became enamored with weightlifting, Inman felt pressured to have a certain body type as an athlete.
Five hundred and one pounds.
That is how much Stella Inman dead lifted March 7 at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, setting a junior world record for her weight class of 182 pounds. What makes this feat even more impressive is the fact that powerlifting is not her primary sport.
A week earlier, Inman, a thrower on Penn’s track and field team, earned silver in the women’s weight throw at the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Championships in New York. In one way, the two strength-based competitions came at the perfect time for the senior, who was already peaking in her weight training. In other ways, the overlapping events posed significant challenges.
“The prep was hard,” Inman said. “Balancing school, track, and the lifting portion, which gets really fatiguing. And then I work down in the weight room where I help coaches set up lifts for teams. It’s really exhausting, but it’s just what I love.”
At the conclusion of the indoor track and field season, she was named second-team All-Ivy in the weight throw. Inman also competes during the outdoor season in the hammer throw and discus. She will contend for a medal finish at the Penn Relays this Friday in the college women’s discus (3:30 p.m., FloSports).
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“It’s like all year she’s basically doing something for school, and then getting all of her workouts in with me,” said Jake Karboski, Inman’s powerlifting coach. “For an athlete like this, I make sure to have a program that would have a lot of carryover to throwing as well, with some more explosive movements versus what most other powerlifters would be doing.”
In the last year, Inman has gained a significant following on her Instagram account, where she posts her impressive lifts and throws. She has 15,400 followers. Many of Inman’s posts promote women building muscle. In one video caption, Inman writes, “I’d rather throw weight than worry about losing it.”
“We get messages everywhere all the time about what a body should look like and what the right type of body is,” said Danika Hoffman, Penn’s head sports dietitian. “That’s a little bit extra for women. … I think it’s super important when people like Stella, who are successful in their sport, are advocating for celebrating what their bodies can do versus what their bodies look like.”
Inman added: “During COVID, you would see all these girls promoting their bodies that were super small or saying you should eat super healthy, that you shouldn’t eat carbs. You kind of fall down that trap of comparison. But recently, there’s been a lot more body positivity and lifters promoting being strong, bigger bodies, and athletic bodies.”
Inman says there are pressures that young female athletes face. Before engrossing herself with weightlifting, she ran cross-country in high school. At the time, Inman developed “really bad eating habits” as she thought she needed to lose weight to gain speed on the course.
“Doctors told me, ‘If you keep down this route, your body’s going to start deteriorating and eating at itself,’” Inman said.
Along with the warning from her doctors, a few things shifted around Inman’s life that pushed her to ditch those destructive habits. She developed shin splints, and for rehab, she had to gain weight and begin lifting. Inman quickly became enamored with “all the basics” of weight training. Meanwhile, her home state of Maine was under a partial shutdown during the pandemic. High school sports were put on pause at the beginning of her junior year, so she spent more time lifting.
When the lockdown ended, Inman’s running coach saw the amount of muscle she had put on and suggested she try throwing. The sport led her to the University of Maine before she transferred to Penn after her freshman year.
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Since she has gained a following online, Inman says she is not used to having critiques, especially those who suggest she must take performance enhancers to achieve her physique.
“It’s kind of like a compliment,” Inman said. “It’s like, OK, you really think I look that strong. I don’t know — I don’t care that much. People are going to think what they’re going to think. It doesn’t mean it’s true.”
One thing is for sure, Inman is not going to let any online hate slow her down.
“Embracing your body for what it can do, rather than what it looks like, is big for me, and I want to promote that for other girls,” she said.
After graduating in May, Inman will begin training with Olympic lifting coaches through Team USA’s new transition athlete program, which looks to convert elite college athletes into Olympic-style weightlifters.
Her eyes are set on the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
“I love throwing, I love the community aspect it gives me,” Inman said. “But it’s been hard on the body. I’d say I’ve had a lot of back issues, shoulder issues, leg issues in general. I’m excited to be able to focus on just one thing.”