Hani Watson wins second straight Commonwealth Games bronze as she chases Folashade Oluwafemiayo

There is a two-minute countdown clock when para powerlifters enter the arena.

In that time they have to settle on the bench, most get their legs strapped down, align their back and shoulders under the bar, get their grip perfect, then lift.

Eventually, the pump-up music fades out when the lifter is finally ready, usually about halfway through the time.

Not Australia's Hani Watson, though.

For the first 30-40 seconds of her time on the bench, Watson, an effusive and effervescent athlete who loves a chat, takes a moment of supreme stillness.

As trusted coach Simon Bergner hurriedly organises straps and chalk with arena staff, he at no point rushes his charge.

As the crowd nervously watches the seconds tick down, Watson sits, eyes closed, breath steady, mind awash with the words of her late mum.

"You got this darlin'."

Watson credits mother Laurita June "Bub" Rayward, who died in 2023, for "creating the strong woman" she has become.

"I believe in having that spirit, that energy, that mana, my culture that's within me, the Australian spirit and just sitting there and calming myself down and listening to that internal voice," she said after winning a second straight women's heavyweight Commonwealth Games bronze medal.

"As kids we don't listen to our parents, but I'm listening to them now. And they told me, 'This is your superpower, this is what you can do, this is what you need to focus on.'"

She was plenty strong enough in 2022 to win bronze with a best lift of 127 kilograms, and shattered that number with a final re-rack of 147kg in Glasgow on Saturday morning AEST.

"I didn't actually think I was going to hit the numbers coach was gonna ask me to hit," she said.

"But I just blocked it out, I didn't wanna know. I just went balls out and just hit it."

A "wild" crowd at Glasgow's Armadillo was enraptured by the ease with which she completed her lifts — although the third took some shifting.

But the loudest moments were reserved for the Nigerians, who collected silver through Rita Ferdinard and gold courtesy of the all-conquering Folashade Oluwafemiayo, who shattered the 86kg+ world record with a final lift of 175kg for a second straight Commonwealth gold.

Watson is chasing her, and is hoping to have closed the gap by the time the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics roll around.

"It's nice to have someone to chase and I keep chasing her, I keep looking up to her," she said.

"I think it's important to have mentors in the game. She's been doing it since she was a teenager so she's got a lot of years on me — maybe about 30 years in the game — and I've been doing it for five, so I've got a lot to learn from her."

Oluwafemiayo also broke her own Games record score of 134.8 points despite weighing 15kg less than Watson (Commonwealth Games scores are calculated by comparing body weight to weight on the bar).

Both athletes had added 20kg of apparently pure muscle since Birmingham.

"Every time I see her it's like she's become this big chunky cow that she's eaten or something. It's muscle upon muscle on that woman," Watson said with pure admiration.

"I just watch her in awe. I ask her what's changed, what do you bench, what are you eating, and she tells me everything.

"I need someone to look up to because the sport's always changing, the goalposts are always changing.

"As long as she's there I've gotta keep watching her and she's watching me too. She knows I'm on her tail."