Marshall began training in 1978. and Mark Chasnov. Marshall's first competition was the qualifying meet for the 1979
Empire State Games in White Plains, New York. In 1985, Marshall lifted in the
clean-and-jerk lift. Marshall competed for the
United States against a surprisingly strong team from
China. She was described as the "top American finisher" in the pound weight class. She said: She married Peter Marshall in 1987. In 1989, she won the women's heavyweight division by lifting a total of . She won silver medals in international competitions—
Jakarta (1988),
Manchester (1989) and
Sarajevo (1990). In 1989, Marshall won the women's heavyweight division lifting a total of . She was viewed by officials of women's weightlifting as a representative for the sport, and Mary Ann Rinehart described her as a "fantastic spokesperson" who "represents the true meaning of the amateur athlete." She is an eight‑time United States Weightlifting Federation (USWF) champion and New York State record holder for the United States Powerlifting Federation (USPF). She is the first woman in history to
snatch over 200 pounds. A
snatch is the other Olympic event in which a barbell is raised from a platform to locked arms overhead in a smooth continuous movement, pulled as high as possible, typically to mid chest height. Marshall holds the IWF World Record for the snatch lift at . By 1991, she had won a total of one world championship (1987), 63 American records, and 8 world records. She appeared on
The Oprah Winfrey Show, the
Joan Rivers Show,
ESPN,
CNN, and various other prime time news and sports broadcasts. Marshall began studying to be a
chiropractor at
Northeast College of Health Sciences based on her successful experiences as a patient. She also was described as having bench-pressed , and made a "475 pound [215 kg] dead lift". ==References ==