2016 STRENGTH SPORTS NATIONAL ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

Ten-year-old Internet sensation and AAU Strength Sports star Damiyah Smith, of Commerce, Oklahoma, and eighteen-year-old multi-sport athlete Evan Pittman, of Phoenix, Arizona, have been selected as 2016 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Strength Sports National Athletes of the Year.  For Pittman, it is his second time receiving Athlete of the Year honors.   

The awards for America’s top strength sports athletes were announced in late September, and are based on the athletes’ individual achievements.   

“The competition for Athlete of the Year was intense in 2016,” said Martin Drake, AAU Strength Sports Chairman.  “Damiyah and Evan had great competition years, standing apart as exceptional athletes, and as great kids.  They are both incredible, multi-sport athletes who have made their mark nationally over the past year.”       

Damiyah Smith, Commerce, OK
2016 Female Junior Athlete of the Year

Ten-year-old Damiyah Smith, from Commerce, Oklahoma, is 2016 AAU Strength Sports Female Junior Athlete of the Year.  Damiyah, also known on social media as “The Powerhouse Princess,” blasted onto the international powerlifting scene at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Hampton Roads in 2015.  Her appearance on the “Now This” video titled, “This 4th Grader Can Lift Heavier Weights Than You,” has been viewed over 15 million times. 

Damiyah set multiple American and world powerlifting records in her first year of competition, and in 2016, added Olympic weightlifting as another competition sport at the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Houston and the AAU World Championship Weekend in Las Vegas. She competes in weightlifting, powerlifting, tumbles, runs track, plays basketball and is an aspiring fitness competitor.  Damiyah is also a straight “A” student at Alexander Elementary School in Commerce, OK, and a two-time AAU Strength Sports Academic All-American. 

In the past year, Damiyah has garnered attention from Ellen DeGeneres, Steve Harvey, and America's Got Talent, and has appeared in multiple television news stories and in ESPN online reporting.  She is the youngest sponsored athlete on the 5% Nutrition team, the youngest representative of Team Unbreakable Gear, and has appeared across the U.S. promoting strength, fitness and a healthy lifestyle, including at the LA Fit Expo, the Dallas and Orlando Europa sports conventions, the Arnold Sports Festival, and at the Mr. Olympia contest in Las Vegas. 

“Miyah was inspired by another little girl out of Kansas whose story was in the newspaper,” Says her mom Kris.  “That was two years ago, and Miyah has been training ever since.  She also says that she loves to spend time with her dad in the gym, inspire others, and the fact that lifting is her versus herself, which makes it fun.”

Damiyah trains the powerlifts (squat, bench press and deadlift) four days a week with her father in the gym at around 6:30 AM.  She also trains on the Olympic lifts (snatch, clean-and-jerk) two nights per week with a coach from another gym.  She has received sponsorship from two companies – 5% Nutrition and Unbreakable Gear, which provide her with training equipment and apparel, and also have her make appearances throughout the year at sports expos and charity events. 

This young athlete has her eyes set on the Olympic Games.  “Powerlifting is how I got started,” Damiyah says, “and adding Olympic Weightlifting was hard at first, but now I love it, and I love how it is an Olympic sport!  Competing in the Olympics is one of my goals!”

Her parents are working with a manager, and television commercials and a possible TV show have been discussed. 

“This is a very special young athlete, who has unlimited potential for the future,” says Martin Drake, of AAU Strength Sports.  “We look forward to seeing Damiyah compete at the top of her game here in the AAU for a long, long time.”

Evan Pittman, Phoenix, Arizona
2016 Male Junior Athlete of the Year

Evan Pittman captured National Junior Athlete of the Year honors for the second year in a row.  The Arizona high school senior competes as captain of the Jets Barbell National team, and has had national success in strength sports, as well as in other pursuits. 

“Evan is an amazing young man,” says Drake.  “Not only is he one of the most prolific record-breakers in AAU Powerlifting history, he is also a standout athlete in multiple sports, is a top student, is heavily involved in the community, and is incredibly humble.  He’s just simply a class act.”

Undefeated in 20 AAU national and international strength sports events since 2009, Pittman has broken 97 world powerlifting records in eight weight classes since age 10, and hopes to break his 100th world record at a powerlifting world championship meet in November – a feat that has never before been achieved by a high school or collegiate athlete.  Pittman has also set more than a dozen national and world records in Feats of Strength, and is the only athlete to win the AAU Junior Olympic Games All-sports combine three years in a row. As a varsity springboard diver at Phoenix Country Day School, he is a two-time Arizona state high school diving finalist, and before he began diving in middle school, he was a successful Taekwondo competitor, winning 10 state titles and medaling nationally.     

Beyond sports, Pittman is extensively involved in community service.  He received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award in 2015, and in 2016 was selected as one of the City of Phoenix’s Outstanding Young Men of the Year.   His many successes are profiled on his website, http://worldsstrongestviolinist.com.