LINN — When David Horvath prepares to lift, he tries to make the competition disappear. That ability to reduce an international competition to something familiar has helped carry the 2019 Linn graduate from a freshman physical education class to the USA Para Powerlifting national team and competition around the world. On Oct. 4, he earned two gold medals at the 2026 Parapan American Open Championships in Mexico City, winning the Open and Americas total-lift titles.

“My cue I tell myself is, ‘Just another day in the gym,’” said Horvath, who sat facing a wall with headphones on in Mexico, blocking out as much activity as possible until his coach tapped him when it was time to get ready. “Block out all the noise. Block out everything that’s going on, and it’s just me versus the bar.”

Mexico City was the latest stop in a journey Horvath admits has developed much faster than he once expected.

Horvath first encountered serious weight training as a freshman at Linn when his required PE class spent about two weeks in the weight room. He immediately felt an attraction to it that went beyond simply completing the class. He took the school’s weightlifting course as an elective the following year, then convinced his parents to buy him a membership at the State Tech Activity Center so he could keep training after the class ended.

“At first, I just wanted to get bigger and stronger,” Horvath said, but by his senior year, friends had convinced him to try track and field, which opened another path and introduced him to coaches who helped him see more possibilities in himself.

Horvath credits Linn coaches, including Tim and Suann Bower, Jeff and Laura Kruger, and Robyn Baker, with helping him work through the learning curve of adaptive track while also building his confidence at a time when he had little idea where athletics might eventually take him. “They really inspired me to believe in myself a lot more,” said Horvath, who was born with spina bifida. “At the time, I was just trying things out. I didn’t really think at that time where I would be next.”

His involvement with the Disabled Athletes Sports Association (DASA), founded by Kelly Behlmann, initially helped him obtain the equipment he needed for track, but the organization also exposed him to para powerlifting, which quickly felt less like another sport to try and more like the place he belonged. “I saw something that was like an advertisement for powerlifting, and I’m like, ‘What’s that?’” Horvath said. “That sounds awesome. I want to try that.”

When he attended an event and saw the sport in person, the connection was immediate. “That spark once again reignited,” Horvath said. “I was like, ‘Yes, this is where I’m destined to be.’”

His progression from amateur competition to Team USA accelerated soon afterward.

Horvath was competing at the Endeavor Games in Oklahoma City when USA Para Powerlifting High Performance Manager Mary Hodge was scouting athletes at the meet. Horvath had no idea she was there, but his mother, Erin, and sister, Amanda, were sitting nearby when Hodge saw his planned opening attempt of 285 pounds (129 kg) and questioned whether the number was correct — it was.

Horvath made the lift, then continued through the competition until Hodge approached him with a challenge: Make his third attempt and she would give him her card.

He made the lift. “She gave me her card, and the rest is history,” Horvath said.

By March 2022, Horvath was competing at the national-team level, and later that year he participated in the Americas Open Championships in St. Louis, where he placed fifth in the 59-kilogram class (120-130 pounds) and earned silver in the combined-lift competition.

The following year brought another significant step when Horvath represented the United States at the 2023 Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile. At 23, he was the youngest member of the U.S. para powerlifting team with a personal best of 135 kilograms, approximately 298 pounds, improving on the 133 kilograms, about 293 pounds, he had lifted in St. Louis.

From there, the travel and competition continued. Horvath took part in a developmental event with Canadian athletes in Calgary in 2024, then traveled to Cairo, Egypt, for the 2025 World Para Powerlifting Championships, where the level of competition increased again as he faced athletes from around the world.

He did not medal in Cairo, but the experience reinforced the scale of what he was doing. Horvath had progressed from learning to lift in a high school weight room to competing against some of the best para powerlifters in the world.

Horvath’s rise has also become a family journey. His parents, Erin and Tony, and sisters, Amanda and Megan, have supported him throughout his progression, with Erin and Amanda attending many of his competitions. Erin accompanied him to the 2025 World Championships in Cairo, and Mexico was the first major international event Horvath attended without a family member.

Those trips have also given Horvath a broader view of accessibility outside the United States. While the Americans with Disabilities Act provides a familiar framework at home, Horvath said he has generally been impressed by the effort other countries have made to accommodate disabled travelers and athletes, even when the systems differ from what he is accustomed to.

Cairo provided one example. Instead of being taken from the aircraft through the jet bridge using the process he normally encounters in the United States, Horvath said airport personnel moved him using a lift-like device and routed him through another exit. With signs written in Arabic and an unfamiliar airport layout, the experience was confusing, although having his mother with him helped. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the countries,” Horvath said. “For the most part, every country that I’ve been to has at least shown that they have the effort put into trying to make sure that the handicapped population is heard and seen and taken care of.”

The 2026 championships in Mexico City provided Horvath his next major breakthrough. Competing in the 59-kilogram class, he and his coaches approached the event strategically because it included a total-lift competition. Unlike the traditional format, in which the heaviest successful lift determines the medalists, the total category rewards consistency by adding the weight of each successful attempt.

Rather than chasing the highest possible number on one lift, Horvath and his coaches reduced the planned weights slightly to improve the likelihood that he could complete all three attempts successfully.

His successful lifts of 142 kilograms (313 pounds), 146 kilograms (322 pounds), and 148 kilograms (326 pounds) combined for 436 kilograms (961 pounds), earning him gold in both the Open and Americas total-lift classifications.

That result can make powerlifting look deceptively simple, because the basic action is familiar: lower a bar to the chest and press it back up. At the international level, however, nearly every portion of the lift is governed by commands and technical requirements, leaving little room for sloppiness.

The athlete must wait for the start command before lowering the bar, control the weight to the chest without bouncing it, maintain the required body position, and continue pressing upward without allowing the bar to reverse direction. Both elbows must lock out correctly, and even after completing the press, the athlete must wait for the rack command before returning the bar.

A successful attempt may last only about 30 seconds, but Horvath has learned that small technical adjustments within those seconds can have a significant effect. Earlier in his career, he had a tendency to begin lowering the bar almost immediately after receiving the start command, and his coaches encouraged him to slow the moment down, take a breath, and settle himself before beginning the lift.

Once he incorporated that pause, Horvath said his form and performance improved.

That same emphasis on control now shapes the mental side of his competition.

Horvath does not spend his preparation time studying competitors’ opening weights, worrying about which judges may be stricter, or watching the crowd. He knows those things exist, but he has also learned that allowing them into his head can undermine the focus he needs.

“My focus is solely on what I have to do,” Horvath said.

That is why the wall, the headphones, and the familiar cues matter. If he can convince himself that the platform is simply another training day, much of the pressure becomes easier to manage.

USA Para Powerlifting also provides athletes with resources designed to support that process, including medical care and access to a mental-performance professional who can help athletes deal with the emotional or psychological strain surrounding competition.

Horvath said he has not needed to rely heavily on that support because his own method of narrowing his focus has generally worked, although he acknowledged that outside circumstances can still follow an athlete into competition. When something makes him angry, he sometimes tries to turn that emotion into fuel for the lift; when the emotion is sadness or something less easily redirected, the challenge becomes accepting that it is there without allowing it to dominate the moment.

There are other demands that continue well beyond competition day.

Horvath competes under anti-doping rules administered through the World Anti-Doping Agency and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, and he has been tested both during international competition and through USADA’s testing program, which can require athletes to provide a sample with little notice.

Maintaining his weight class also requires year-round attention.

Horvath must remain under 59 kilograms, approximately 130 pounds, and he reports his weight regularly to Team USA. Before Mexico, he was around 58.5 kilograms, or approximately 129 pounds, which left little margin for error.

Working with the team’s nutritionist, he adjusted his diet and weighed in at 56.8 kilograms, or approximately 125 pounds.

Horvath generally prefers to train somewhat closer to the upper end of his class because additional body weight can translate into additional muscle, although competition rules create a tradeoff. If two athletes finish in a tie, the lighter lifter has the advantage because he lifted more weight relative to his body weight.

Then there is the financial side of international competition, which Horvath said has largely fallen on him and his family.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee covered expenses for the 2023 Parapan American Games, but Horvath said events such as world and regional championships generally require him to fund his own travel and participation.

That has led him to begin considering sponsorship opportunities, although the process does not come naturally to someone who describes himself as shy and reserved. He appreciated two one-time donations from Carved in Stone and the Linn Knights of Columbus chapter, but ongoing expenses remain a concern. “I would like to start getting sponsorships because thus far, I have paid for every competition that I’ve been to, except for the Parapan American Games,” Horvath said.

The résumé he has built is beginning to provide a substantial case.

At 26, Horvath has represented the United States in Chile, Canada, Egypt, and Mexico while continuing to move toward the largest goal still in front of him.

He is careful about how he describes that goal and his current status.

Horvath does not call himself a Paralympian because that title is reserved for athletes who have actually competed in the Paralympic Games. For now, he is a Team USA national team member and Paralympic hopeful, with the distinction between those two titles serving as part of the motivation behind what comes next.

His next scheduled step is a qualifier in Birmingham, Ala., in March 2027. If he reaches the required standard there, Horvath will qualify for the 2027 Parapan American Games in Lima, Peru.

Beyond that sits the larger target: the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.

The long stretches between competitions can test an athlete in a different way because international events may provide the adrenaline and visibility, but most of the actual work happens during ordinary training sessions that can become repetitive.

Horvath trains three days a week and emphasizes recovery as a necessary part of building strength rather than something that interrupts progress. He acknowledged that the months of preparation can become monotonous, but he tries to keep the larger objective in sight by treating each workout as one more contribution toward it.

“Each training session contributes to that goal,” Horvath said. “That’s the mindset that you’ve got to try and have.”

Away from competition, Horvath has built much of his professional life around the same interests that shaped his athletic career.

He graduated from Lindenwood University in 2023 with a degree in exercise science and soon afterward began working at State Technical College of Missouri. Today, he is the full-time on-campus housing coordinator while also serving part-time as a personal trainer at State Tech and completing his own training at the recently renamed Klebba Activity Center.

The combination can produce long days, especially because Horvath currently works with four personal-training clients in addition to his full-time responsibilities and his own preparation, but he said the workload is manageable and fits well with the direction his life has taken.

His advice to someone who wants to begin strength training is considerably more measured than his own numbers might suggest.

Horvath recommends starting slowly, learning proper movement patterns through body-weight exercises and basic calisthenics, then adding resistance and additional training only after establishing a solid foundation. Just as importantly, he said beginners should not underestimate the value of recovery. “Definitely don’t discount rest,” Horvath said.

His long-term goal is to compete in Australia in 2032, but in the meantime, Horvath hopes eventually to return more often to events such as the Endeavor Games and Move United competitions, where he competed before reaching Team USA. Part of the appeal is the opportunity to gain additional competition experience, but another part comes from remembering what it was like to be the athlete who had not yet realized how far the sport might take him.

“I want to be involved with the athletes that were kind of in the position that I was,” Horvath said. “I didn’t think that I was going to be this far this quickly.”

He wants those athletes to see that what may begin as recreation or curiosity can become something much larger if they continue working toward it. “You can really get wherever you want to go,” Horvath said. “You just have to have the drive.”

For Horvath, that drive has already carried him from a Linn High School weight room to international platforms on several continents, and wherever the next competition takes him, the surroundings will once again include unfamiliar judges, other elite athletes, spectators, and all of the pressure that comes with representing his country.

Then he will narrow the world again, shut out as much of the noise as he can, and return to the thought that has helped him handle everything that comes with the moment.

Just another day in the gym, indeed.