A painful injury, a break from the action didn’t discourage Jill Joiner-Wong from trying again.

Auburn’s undaunted, world-class powerlifter took baby steps in the weight room, gradually regaining her strength and confidence to return to the competitive stage.

“Initially, I was like, ‘Maybe I’m done, maybe this isn’t what I should be doing,’ ” the 42-year-old Joiner-Wong said of injuring her back early last year. “The injury was bad enough to where I couldn’t reach down to pick up my keys or tie my own shoes.

“I was depressed,” she admitted. “I wasn’t sure I was ever going to compete again.”

But Joiner-Wong – after listening to her coaches, family and friends – followed a lengthy rest and rehab routine to avoid surgery. The time off not only did the body good, but also reignited her burning desire to perform well before the judges.

What ensued was an extraordinary year of personal-best lifts and consistent podium finishes for the 5-foot-4 1/2, 148-pound Joiner-Wong, the holder of four American drug-free and “raw” records in her masters age division (40-45).

Raw powerlifters compete without the support of special equipment or gear, such as squat suits or knee wraps.

Joiner-Wong now is preparing for greater things in 2012, beginning in March when she competes in the third-annual Arnold (Schwarzenegger) USA Powerlifting Championships at Columbus, Ohio. She is one of only 75 women to qualify for the prestigious raw games.

Despite little time to recover, she might compete at the USA Powerlifting Women’s Nationals in Boise, Idaho in May.

Is the best yet to come?

“Well, yes,” said a smiling Joiner-Wong, a certified trainer at the Auburn Valley Y, a wife, mother of two, community volunteer and motivational speaker to area youth. “You can compete in this sport well into your 40s and 50s.”

Joiner-Wong, under coach Mark Noesen, is considered a late-bloomer to the sport. But she has proven to be a quick study and a consistent top performer at regional and national meets since she first took up the sport in 2007.

“It’s never too late to start in this sport,” Noesen said. “The thing with Jill is that once we have a plan, she executes it. She doesn’t leave anything on the table. She puts forth that effort and gets the results because she does the work.”

Taste of international competition

In her first encounter with international competition, Joiner-Wong finished fifth at the women’s IPF World Masters Powerlifting Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic in 2009.

She toiled through an up-and-down 2010, which included “bombing out” – a result of misfiring on three squat attempts – at the May nationals in Cleveland.

Nevertheless, she overcame the struggles, not to mention back and shoulder injuries, to regain her top form last year.

At last June’s YMCA Seattle Summer Classic, she emerged by posting personal bests in the below-parallel squat at 270 pounds and pause-and-go bench press at 165.25 pounds, an American masters record. She finished the meet by pulling 292 pounds from the floor in the dead lift, another American record.

She was the meet’s Best Female Masters Raw Lifter.

“I had goals. I surprised myself,” she said of her return to the stage. “What an honor. I was pleasantly surprised to be awarded. It was my first time of being given the award.”

Two months later, Joiner set three more American records at the USAPL Raw Nationals in Scranton, Pa. She set new standards for the squat (281.1 pounds), deadlift (308.5 pounds) and three-lift total (749.35 pounds).

She won her class and was third in the open field.

“That was big for her,” Noesen said. “For her to really do well in Scranton, she was able to put Cleveland behind her.

“Competing at a national event, with a lot of people watching, can be really nerve-wracking.”

Joiner-Wong capped a solid year by setting American raw records in the squat (286.5), deadlift (319.5) and total (765.75) at the Fife Holiday Classic on Dec. 3. The performance qualified her for nationals in Boise.

“People asked me, ‘Are you surprised?'” Joiner-Wong said. “Well, I didn’t come here to lose. I came here to do well. I wasn’t surprised. I did what I set out to do.”

The sport has rewarded Joiner-Wong in many ways. It also has enabled her to become a Valley Y program spokesperson in reaching out to youth, including Auburn middle school students.

“I have been motivated in my own abilities to simply put, be a positive role model for children,” she added.

And that comes from strength, inner or otherwise.

“I’m stronger now than I used to be,” she said of her career. “The best has yet come. I have not peaked in this sport, not yet and hopefully not for a long time to come.”

INSERT PHOT0: Jill Joiner-Wong came up golden at last year’s nationals in Scranton, Pa.