By RICHIE HALL
It wasn’t that long ago that Carmel’s Stephen “Sky” Simpson was too anxious to get off the bench to play on the Unified Football team.
Look at him now. Simpson spent part of last November in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he put on a show while winning gold medals in the 2024 International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Open Equipped Powerlifting Championships.
Simpson won three gold medals in the Special Olympics 93-kilogram division (93 kilograms is around 205 pounds). He won two of the three individual events, taking the squat and bench press while finishing second in the deadlift, then placed first in the total standings to win the gold medal there.
“It was good for me,” said Sky, who turns 24 in February. He competed with another athlete from his gym, Ben Boehn, and enjoyed having him there as well.
The World Open took place from Nov. 11 to 16 in the Iceland capital. Simpson started with the squat, which he won with a lift of 127.5 kilograms. Next was the bench press, and Simpson was first in that event as well with a lift of 97.5 kilograms. He finished with the deadlift, placing second and winning the silver medal with a lift of 107.5 kilograms.
Simpson’s total was 332.5 kilograms, easily earning him the gold medal. Throughout it all, Sky was putting on a show, flexing for the appreciative crowd and wearing a big smile on his face. The announcer referred to Sky as Stephen “The Rock” Simpson, a nickname that goes back to his days throwing shot put on the Carmel Unified Track & Field team. (You can watch the entire competition on YouTube at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UhKslWkRFs)
A couple hundred spectators watched Sky Simpson compete, and the event was also broadcast live on YouTube. (Photo provided)
“He went crazy,” said Sky’s father, Stephen Simpson. “He was jumping up and down and flexing his muscles for the crowd. The response with the audience was terrific, too. They connected with them. The crowd really loves to see them at these meets.”
“He was super hype,” said Sky’s coach Kyle Moran. “He enjoys putting on a show anyway. Getting a few extra medals never hurts that willingness to put on a show.”
And there were many people there to watch Sky’s show. Moran said there were “a couple hundred spectators” at the meet, adding that the presentation the IPF put on was “world class.”
“Iceland, the host federation, did a really good job of promoting it,” said Moran. “They had a pretty big contingent there to help with loading and run the meet.”
Iceland was certainly a long way from Sky’s athletic beginnings. He played Unified football at Carmel in addition to participating in Unified Track.
“He had anxiety along with Down’s Syndrome when he started,” said Stephen Simpson. “When he first started with Unified football, he wouldn’t even get off the bench. When Sky wouldn’t get off the bench, the kids would just surround him and make him feel good and make him laugh a little bit. By the third game, he was trotting on the field. It was really cool as a dad to see that. Unified track was the same thing.”
Other people started telling Stephen that he needed to get his son into weightlifting, which Sky began to do about four years ago. Stephen jokingly said he blames Carmel High School for this, adding that he doesn’t believe Sky would be this far along without his initial participation in Unified sports.
“I think all of that has worked to make Sky much more confident in himself, more outgoing and take risks in social settings,” said Stephen. “That’s so important for the kids to be able to have the courage to go out there and be themselves. Unified sports is huge for these guys. Sky’s chance was Unified sports.”
Moran, the owner and head coach of Moran Academy for Strength and Speed in Carmel, said he met the Simpsons in early 2021, with Sky coming to his academy specifically for power lifting.
“He picked up on it pretty quick,” said Moran. “From Day 1, you could tell he liked the idea of getting big and strong.” Moran said Sky was “already pretty strong,” but the focus was now on getting him strong for the sport of powerlifting.
Sky Simpson’s first competition was the Special Olympics Indiana Summer Games of 2021. He was a winner right off the bat, finishing first in the bench press, deadlift and total. Sky then competed in a couple more Summer Games before branching out and competing in more meets. Sky qualified for the World championships through a Power Lifting America competition.
When he’s not in the gym, Sky works at the Penn Station restaurant on Range Line Road in Carmel. “He’s the guy that washes all those pounds of potatoes,” said Stephen.
Penn Station conducts roundups for certain causes, and Sky hands out free cookies and greets people for he gets to work.
“Penn Station is a really good supporter for Down Syndrome,” said Stephen.
Moran said that Sky Simpson’s next meet will be in February in Indianapolis. The coach said he likes his athletes to compete “three or four times a year,” while training in the gym in the interim.
“Having him and Ben in the gym as well have created a pretty big culture change in the gym in general,” said Moran. The coach has enjoyed watching Sky learn the etiquette in the weight room as well as his continued expanding confidence.
“Now he’ll do box jumps and broad jumps,” said Moran. “He’s created the confidence and the body awareness to do pretty much anything we ask of him.”
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