Yearly Archives

16 Articles
News

World Para Powerlifting to Use Panasonic’s Power Assist Suit

Posted by Marie Curtis on
World Para Powerlifting to Use Panasonic’s Power Assist Suit

World Para Powerlifting has announced that power assist suits created by technology giants Panasonic, a Worldwide Paralympic Partner, will be used at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and during World Para Powerlifting events.

Support staff will use the suits at powerlifting competitions to help them attach and remove weights from barbells. The decision to deploy them follows that Panasonic has become a Official Supplier of WPPO, agreed in September between WPPO and Panasonic.

About World Para Powerlifting

World Para Powerlifting, under the governance of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), is the International Federation for the sport and is based in Bonn, Germany.

Para powerlifting is open to male and female athletes with eight eligible physical impairments. Major competitions include the Paralympic Games, biennial World Championships, regional Championships and annual World Cups.

As you can see, the Para powerlifting competitions can witness athletes lifting more than 3 times their own body weight.

To help the athletes stay focused, it is the support  staff  that will need to lift multiple weights for over 180 contestants at the World Para Powerlifting events and at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Assistants will need to carry an absolute minimum of 8,650kg of weight being lifted across male and female competitions.

Panasonic is proud to support the Paralympic Games

Panasonic Corporation has been an Official Worldwide Partner of the IPC since 2014.

Panasonic is committed to provide accessible products and services to various people including those with disabilities and the elderly and continue to support the Paralympic Movement. Promotion by the Paralympic Games enables the realisation of a more peaceful world through sport and corresponds to Panasonic’s philosophy of ‘A Better Life, A Better World.’

Panasonic Corporation is a leader in the development of diverse electronics technologies in the consumer electronics, automotive, housing, and B2B sectors.

The company has expanded globally and presently operates 582 subsidiaries and 87 associated companies worldwide.

News

Japanese weightlifter set a new world record on the bench press

Posted by Marie Curtis on
Japanese weightlifter set a new world record on the bench press

Daiki Kodama, a Japanese powerlifter weighing just 11 stone, lifted 225 kilograms on the bench press and set a new world record for his weight class.

The amount he lifted is three times over his bodyweight, and as a result, he was assisted by his teammates who acted as spotters due to the elevated risk of injury.

The Japanese powerlifter competes in the International Powerlifting Federation. IPF competitions are drug-tested, and supportive equipment is kept to a minimum, however, in Kodama’s case, he could use wrist straps and a singlet.

The 40-year-old was the previous record-holder too when he set a 211.5kg deadlift, while he also has a best squat record of 170kg.

This new world record will add to the 2017 world record set by Kodama at the Asian Powerlifting & Bench Press Expo, where he benched 210.5kg in the Open 83kg class.

A study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research showed that bench pressing like Kodama did (with the assistance of spotters) boosts how much a person can lift.

Either way, without spotters, the risk of injury would have been significantly higher, due to the big amount the 11 stone athlete was lifting. Last month, for example, a French weightlifter broke her arm in two places at the European Weightlifting Championship.

31-year-old Gaelle Nayo Ketchanke was attempting to lift her career personal best 110kg in the women’s 76kg category in Batumi, Georgia. She failed to complete her lift the first two times, and on her third attempt her left arm buckled and gave away. She was rushed to the hospital for surgery but incredibly still walked away with the bronze medal.

And let’s not forget the Russian powerlifter who broke his leg in three places while trying to squat 250kg recently. The perils of weightlifting can be extremely severe!

News

15-year-old Byrne creates world powerlifting history

Posted by Marie Curtis on
15-year-old Byrne creates world powerlifting history

WOODBROOK GLEN native Megan Byrne made history last month when she became the youngest-ever female athlete to win a world title in powerlifting at the age of just 15.

The transition year student came first in the T1 (14-15-year-old) category at the World Drug-Free Powerlifting Championships in Halle, Germany in late October. The full powerlift category in which Megan competes consists of three separate disciplines: squat, benchpress and deadlift.

Byrne was part of a 17-strong Irish team that travelled to the championships and what makes her story all the more remarkable, is that she only started out weightlifting a year ago.

She took up the sport as a means of keeping feet but, under the tutelage of her father and coach Reg, has flourished in her short time competing. She was crowned national full power champion in Belfast earlier this year, which earned her a spot on the Irish team that competed at world level.

Megan recently released a book entitled Healthy Eating Without Training, and she’s also a talented singer with a number of performances available online.

Reg runs the Angels Boxing Club at St Benildus College in Stillorgan, where the European Drug Free Championships will take place next April.

He’s also the vice-president of the Irish Drug-Free Powerlifting Association, which is affiliated with the World Anti-Doping Association, WADA.

Megan has already qualified for the European Championships, and the next worlds, by virtue of her performance in Germany, and will continue to defend her national title in 2020.

The hope is that drug-free powerlifting will become an Olympic event in the not-too-distant future, however at the moment there exists no kind of funding to help athletes compete.

Reg says, “It is definitely in contention to be an Olympic sport. In three or four years time, if it becomes an Olympic sport, hell yeah she’ll be in contention to represent her country.

“She eats, sleeps and drinks her powerlifting and her singing. Any young kid starting out in sport, whether it be football or rugby, they always strive to be at the top.”

News

Kāpiti club produces three world champions

Posted by Marie Curtis on
Kāpiti club produces three world champions

Weightlifting is the glory sport, the Olympic sport where all you have to do is lift one weight above your head. The heaviest one you can. Powerlifting is its forgotten cousin.

Requiring not one, but three lifts – the squat, bench press and deadlift totals are added together to find a powerlifting champion.

Despite its lesser-known status, the Kāpiti Powerlifting Club is churning out success with three members attending the World Powerlifting Championships in Calgary, Canada, earlier this month, coming away as world champions.

Attending was Alison Fitzmaurice who won gold in the masters 50-55 100+kg women’s and won silver in the open class 100+kg, Graeme Boyce who won gold in the M4 55-59 105+kg, and Riria Ropata who won gold in open division 100+kg category.

Riria also won the best overall female lifter in 109+kg category and biggest squat, bench and deadlift lift.

Attending their third international competition together all three world champions credited Kāpiti Powerlifting Club at 318 Fitness in Paraparaumu with inspiring them in the sport.

“We are blessed to train in a great environment with a community who backs you all the way,” Alison said.

“318 is more of a family than a gym and we are very grateful for that. We are also lucky to have a lot of friends and family who help us fundraise to get to our events as this sport is totally self-funded.

“I am a two-times Oceania champion but this was far more nerve-racking. I was hoping to win as if you don’t want to win there’s no point competing.

“I feel ecstatic and blessed about the win. I do it for the camaraderie and buzz but also to try and be healthy.”

“It’s a great, very supportive community,” Riria said.

“I enjoy the training, it always pushes me and I’m always setting new goals.”

Lifting 212kg in the squat, 103kg in the bench press and 220kg in the deadlift, Riria won gold for the highest score and also lifted the most in each lift, winning best squat, best bench press, and best deadlift.

“It’s still sinking in, this is my first international win.

“Powerlifting is not an Olympic sport so this is it, the world championships.

“It’s awesome that I managed to come away with the win, with the title.”

Originally going to the competition in a coach/manager role, Graeme decided to enter, winning gold in the masters 55-59 age group category.

“I returned to the sport in 2013 after a long break and was happy with the win as I have been injured most of this year.

“It was a pretty good showing all-round.”

“Our local community board has been fantastic in always helping us with community grants and I just want to thank the Paraparaumu/Raumati community board for their belief in us,” Alison said.

“We have three world champions now in our club and that is a very big thing that we are very proud of.”

News

University of Kentucky Resident, Powerlifter Uses Her Strength as a Force for Good

Posted by Marie Curtis on
University of Kentucky Resident, Powerlifter Uses Her Strength as a Force for Good

University of Kentucky radiology resident Dr. Leanna Lin uses her strength for good causes.

This Saturday, Lin has organized an event called Deadlifts Against Domestic Violence, a powerlifting-style deadlift competition hosted by The Moco Gym in Mount Sterling, Ky. All the money received with sales and registration fees will benefit GreenHouse17, an advocacy agency committed to ending intimate partner abuse in families and the community.

For the uninitiated, the deadlift is one of three powerlifting exercises. To complete a deadlift, participants must pull the “dead weight” of a loaded barbell from the floor. 

“I got the idea for this from my coach; he organized a full powerlifting meet to benefit research for childhood cancer, and it happened to be my first powerlifting meet,” Lin said. “I thought it was a great way to not only benefit a good cause but also introduce people to powerlifting as a sport.”

Lin met her coach and inspiration during her year interning in Buffalo, New York. Although she has been lifting weights since high school, during the last year of medical school, she found a deeper interest in strength training. Though she was initially more interested in bodybuilding, after competing in her coach’s charity event, she switched her focus over to powerlifting – though the skills didn’t come easily at first.

“I used to not enjoy it very much,” Lin said. “But now that I’m much better at it, I really enjoy how strong it makes me feel.”

This is the second time Lin has hosted a charity event. Two years ago, she raised $400 to benefit the Markey Cancer Foundation for breast cancer research. This year, she wanted to do something different, and when a friend suggested GreenHouse17, she decided to give another foundation the main focus. Her main goal is to bring people together to support a good cause through a fun and exciting environment, but her long-term goal is to focus more on scholarship-type fundraisers.

“I think powerlifting is a very empowering and individual sport,” Lin said. “Many people can surprise themselves with how strong they can become with specific training. I hope maybe in the future I can help elevate powerlifting as a sport that grants scholarships to talented individuals.”

Deadlifts Against Domestic Violence takes place this Saturday, Oct. 12, at the Moco Gym, 275 Evans Ave., Mt. Sterling. Late registration and weigh-in begin at 11 a.m.; lifting begins at 12:30 p.m. Registration for competitors is $15 for pre-registering, $20 on-site. All proceeds will be directly donated to GreenHouse17. For more information, visit the Deadlifts Against Domestic Violence registration page.

News

The 2019 USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals Competition, General Information

Posted by Marie Curtis on
The 2019 USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals Competition, General Information

The 2019 USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals starts in a few days. This shows you how to catch all the action from this four-day-long event.

The 2019 Raw Nationals is going to include some of the strongest powerlifters from all around the world. The action starts on October 16th and goes until October 20th. In addition, it takes place in Lombard, Illinois, and is streamed live on the internet.

How To Watch 2019 USAPL Raw Nationals

The last year’s Raw Nationals was streamed on the YouTube Channel of the USA Powerlifting. Therefore, it is expected that this year will be the same thing. Moreover, it will be streamed live on USA Powerlifting’s website.

The link to catch the action is here: USAPowerlifting.com/live

Schedule of the Raw Nationals

The Raw Nationals will take place four days, with a variety of men and women competing on each day. And this is a breakdown of the lifting schedule for each day.

October 16, 2019

Men’s 53kg, 59kg, 66kg, 74kg

October 17, 2019

Men’s 83kg

Women’ 43, 47, 52

October 18, 2019

Women’s 57kg, 63kg

Men’s 93kg

October 19, 2019

Men’s 105kg

Women’s 72kg, 84kg

October 20, 2019

Men’s 120kg, 120+kg

Women’s 84+kg

The 2019 USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals will feature some of the top talents from around the world. With so many competitors who take part in, it is so difficult to keep track of which ones are the most promising. These are some such athletes and some brief highlights.

Marisa Inda (52kg, Competing October 17th)

Inda has put in some serious work at the gym. She has hit a new PR with her deadlifts, reaching 402lb. Therefore, it is to be expected that Inda will be looking for some huge numbers on Thursday.

Meghan Scanlon (63kg, October 18th)

At the IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships, Scanlon was almost able to walk away with the first place. While in the end, she fell short, she set 2 new world records in her class. Therefore, she is sure to look to avenge which defeat at the upcoming competition.

Sarah Brenner (+84kg, October 20th)

Earlier this year, Brenner set a new world record of all time in the +84kg division, with a 568lb deadlift. Therefore, she will be looking to do more of the same at the Raw Nationals.

News

Powerlifter Arathi Arun lifts India to glory with 5 gold medals

Posted by Marie Curtis on
Powerlifter Arathi Arun lifts India to glory with 5 gold medals

Asian Powerlifting Championship gold medallist Arthi Arun has been on a golden run and recently made her nation proud by winning 5 gold medals in the 72 kg-M1 category at the Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships 2019 in Canada. She has just bagged four gold medals in the Commonwealth Powerlifting event, and one in the Bench Press Championships which took place from September 15 to 21.

The Indian powerlifter told Asian News International that she was the only woman that has joined both Asian platform and Commonwealth Powerlifting Championship. She said, “It is very proud for me. After winning, I expected a lot of support and appreciation; however, I was not given much support and was not appreciated”. She also said that she expected support in light of her achievements.

The five medals are from the 72 kg category. They started on September 15 and finished on September 21 with 28 Indian powerlifters having taken part in.

Arun added that she had mailed Center and State governments and requested a reward as well as some appreciation.Then they replied to her saying that they would look into the matter but up to now nobody has replied to her.

“Therefore, that’s a letting down, as a sportsperson, at the end of the day when coming back to your motherland, you expect appreciation, you expect everyone to love you and respect you for what you have done for the nation,” Arun added.

However, the Chennai-based powerlifter maintains that she will not stop and is now going to take part in the World Championships. She will take part in the World Championship which is going to come in South Africa but if she is supported by the government, that will be an added bonus to her and she will highly appreciate it.

News

The 2019 Weightlifting World Championships: North Korea’s Om breaks two 55kg world records

Posted by Marie Curtis on
The 2019 Weightlifting World Championships: North Korea’s Om breaks two 55kg world records

Om Yun Chol of North Korea broke the men’s 55kg clean and jerk and total world records as retaining his 3 gold medals on the opening day of the 2019 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Pattaya.

The 2012 London Olympic Champion bettered Om’s own clean and jerk mark of 162kg with success at 166kg, which gave him a world record-breaking of 294kg.

Before lifting 166kg, he managed 155kg but failed at 163kg.

He won the snatch with a lift of 128kg, which gave him an 8kg lead going into the clean and jerk.

Now he is a five-time overall world champion with 12 gold medals to his name on the global stage.

Igor Son of Kazakhstan was overall silver medalist with 266kg, having finished fourth in the clean and jerk with 146kg and third in the snatch with 120kg.

Mansour Abdulrahim M Al Saleem of Saudi Arabia rounded off the podium with 265kg following his bronze medal in the clean and jerk with 147kg and the sixth-place finish in the snatch with 118kg.

 Nguyen Tran Anh Tuan of Vietnam was the snatch silver medalist with 120kg, meanwhile, Hafez Ghashghaei of Iran lifted 149kg in the clean and jerk and finished runner up.

In the women’s 45kg competition, Turkey’s European champion Şaziye Erdoğan triumphed overall with 169kg after having won the snatch with 77kg and come second in the clean and jerk on 92kg.

Ludia M. Montero Ramos of Cuba finished 2kg behind Erdoğan in the silver-medal position and ranked fourth in the clean and jerk with 91kg and second in the snatch with 76kg.

Lisa Setiawati of Indonesia had to settle for third place overall with 165kg, in spite of winning the clean and jerk with 95kg. She could only manage to rank seventh in the snatch, lifting 70kg.

Vietnam had bronze medalists in both the snatch and clean and jerk.

Khong My Phuong, Vietnam’s junior world champion, posted 74kg in the snatch and Asian champion Vuong Thi Huyen registered 91kg in the clean and jerk.

News

63-year-old woman breaks own world record at an international powerlifting meet

Posted by Marie Curtis on
63-year-old woman breaks own world record at an international powerlifting meet

At about 7:30 a.m. daily, Jeanine Watt wakes up to have a protein shake. Then she will spend an hour checking Facebook or playing on the computer before heading to work in the morning and the gym in the evening.

It might seem like the daily schedule of a student who is trying to balance work and school, but Jeanine Watt is 63 years old.

In June, Watt competed in the nationals for the Canadian Powerlifting Federation in Waterloo, where she set 2 world records for her bench press and deadlift.

In August, she defended those records herself at the Amateur World Powerlifting Congress in Orlando, Florida, the US. Although her deadlift record was surpassed by another competitor, Watt managed to break her own bench press record.

When being asked who she was outside of the gym, she would describe herself as someone who hadn’t decided what she wanted to do when she grew up.

“I have a biology degree. Then I went to become the union steward for the service employees at the hospital. After that I went to law school,” Watt said.

“I’ve worked as a stand-up comic. I opened for Elvira Kurt once, which was my big dream. And then, I was a hypnotist for a while.”

Recreationally, the 63-year-old used to play softball; however, that came to an end as her team disbanded about 3 years ago.

Watt says she also loves going to hardware stores to see the looks on employees’ faces when they watch her carry heavy items around the store by herself.

Watt, who signed up as a True Fitness gym member in March 2018, said: “I wanted to get in shape; therefore I decided to try some sports.”

Later that year, before signing up for the Canadian Senior Games in August, she tried mud runs and boating.

“The only thing I figured that I could get there with is running. I found out it was a bad idea … The track didn’t suit for me as I’m not built like a track athlete.”

I’m 63 years old now and I intend to break the bench press and deadlift record for 100-year-olds.”, Watt said.

However, she didn’t leave the Canadian Senior Games empty-handed as on the very first day she ever long-jumped, she won a bronze medal.

News

Two world records for China at Tokyo Olympic 2020 weightlifting test event

Posted by Marie Curtis on
Two world records for China at Tokyo Olympic 2020 weightlifting test event

Elite weightlifters of China enjoyed mixed fortunes at the Ready Steady Tokyo Olympic test event taking place at Tokyo International Forum, with two breaking world records while others missed so many lifts.

There was also a career-best performance by Masanori Miyamoto from Japan as well as a visit from the former Prime Minister of Japan Yoshiro Mori, who is President of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee.

Weightlifting is the first sport to take test event to involve the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is organizing the competition with the partnership of the Japan Weightlifting Association and the support of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).

Chinese weightlifter Chen Lijun, who had held three world records in the 67kg, had a day to forget since he bombed out in the snatch and lost his world record in that lift to his teammate Huang Minhao.

Huang, 26 years old, made 155-173 for a career-best 328kg, while Chen Lijun came out for 2 clean and jerks to show what may have been, lifting 170-180 and then skipping the third attempt.

The other world record of the day, also in the snatch, belonged to Hou Zhihui in the women’s 49kg after she had made all 3 snatch attempts to finish on 95kg and beaten her own world record by 1kg. However, she missed 2 clean and jerks and totaled 205kg, better than her teammate Jang Huihua by only 1kg.

The most improved performance by a lifter of Japan came from Miyamoto, the second to Shi Zhiyong in the men’s 73kg.

In the IWF World Championships of last year, gold medallist Shi finished 29kg clear of 12th-placed Miyamoto. It was much closer at the Forum since Shi missed 3 attempts to finish on 345kg.

Miyamoto upgraded his national record and personal best by 10kg in order to finish on 341kg, only 4kg behind Shi.

Li Dayin, 21 years old, made the biggest lift of the day with a 202kg clean and jerk and then finished well clear of world champion Lyu Xiaojun in the 81kg.