Contest Write-up and Photos

34th IPF Men's World Championships
November 9 - 14
Capetown, South Africa

Meet Director: Allan Ferguson

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The 34th IPF Men's World Championships was held in the Good Hope Center in Cape Town, South Africa. The weather was good (it is summer there), the people were friendly, and it was great to see old friends again. Alan Ferguson, the IPF Board Member from South Africa, who arranged for everyone to be welcomed in and greeted again on departure, hosted the meet. Cape Town is a gorgeous city of 2 million people on the extreme southern tip of Africa. It has striking views of the ocean to the south and the mountains to the north. The waterfront was spectacular and many members of the U.S. contingent took harbor cruises or visited Robben Island, site of the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela for 27 years. It was eye opening to say the least.

The competition kicked off with the IPF congress, which proceeded apace. Many adjustments to the IPF Constitution were put in place to assure compliance with the WADA Code. This underscores the IPF's commitment to doping control that was reflected in the 51 drug tests done through the WADA lab in South Africa. IPF Treasurer Gaston Parage was elected into the IPF Hall of Fame in recognition of his years of service to international powerlifting and meet bids were awarded for future years.

The competition was lead off by the 52 kg. class. While there were some notable absences, such as Poland's Andrey Stanazcek, the quality of competition could not be questioned. Russia's Sergey Fedosienko dominated the class with a 665 kg. total and the highest Wilks' points in the competition. His 665 kg. total was a new world record, and appeared to be done easily. Look for Sergey to continue to increase this record in coming years. Second place went to Great Britain's Pat Constantine, with a solid 545 kg. total, followed by Yuan-Chi Yu of Chinese Taipei.

The 56 kg. category was the province of Russia's Constantine Pavlov who won his 10th IPF World Championships. Last year, he had some stiff competition from countryman Ravil Kazakov, but had smooth sailing this year with Kazakov moving up to the 60 kg. class. His 655 kg. total was only 5 kg. short of his world total record. The Silver medal went to Lu Shih-Wu, of Chinese Taipei. Over the past several years, the Taiwanese lifters have lost a step in their dominance of the deadlift. Lu's effort showed that they are back in their previous form. He totaled 617.5 kg. and took the gold deadlift medal with a 252.5 kg. Hiro Isagawa, from Japan who is a Master 2 (over 50 years of age) took the Bronze medal. He attempted a 188.5 kg. bench for the world record, but didn't get it this time. The U.S.A.'s Ervin Gainer, who just missed making the 52 kg. class placed 6th of a pretty tough day of nerves and feeling sick.

The 60 kg. class was probably the class of the meet with the first three competitors exceeding the previous world record total. Ravil Kazakov (Russia) had a huge lead at the subtotal, but his relatively weaker deadlift left the door open for Darimin Bin Sutrisno (Indonesia), the former record holder, and Tsung-Ting Hsieh (Taiwan). Sutrisno's balanced lifting brought him to within 7.5 kg. of Kazakov's 740 kg. total. Hsieh called for 290 kg. in the deadlift for the win, but missed on a foot slip settling for 722.5. 290 is well within Hsieh's range, and no competitor should rest no matter how big their lead at the subtotal is. When everything goes right, he can reel them in. Caleb Williams, of Beaver, Pennsylvania placed fourth. Caleb missed his opening attempt in the squat and this seemed to put him slightly off for the rest of the competition. He is well within medal range with a little more world platform experience and a few more completed attempts. Look for Caleb to battle these other lifters next year in the World Games.

The U.S. had Greg Simmons, a journeyman lifter in the 67.5 kg. class. Greg has worked for years to make the Open World Team and this was his year. In his last year before reaching the Master age division, Greg showed the longevity that a drug free athlete has with a respectable 6th place finish. The category was won, as expected by Poland's Jaroslaw Olech, who held the world records in the squat and total coming in to this meet. Jaroslaw showed the form that allowed him to exceed the total of the great Alexey Sivokon, of Kazakstan by equaling his squat and total records and beating the competition by 77.5 kg. Lung-Hsing Huang of Chinese Taipei took the Silver, and Sweden's Amit Selberg, who is growing into the 67.5 kg. class took the Bronze.

South Africa marked the return of Wade Hooper to the Gold Medal podium. His last World Championship win was in the 67.5 kg. class a number of years ago, and with time to grow into the 75's, Wade proved to be unbeatable. He started it off with 335 kg. squat, which is just shy of his world record effort, and 230 kg. in the bench press. This gave Wade an unreachable subtotal. His second deadlift of 270 kg. sealed the win with an 835 kg. total. Dmitriy Dornikov, of Russia was 15 kg. back, and Oleksandr Borysov took the Bronze with 815 kg.

The U.S. did not have an entrant in the 82.5 kg. class, but it was exciting nonetheless. Ukraine's Olexandr Kutcher bested many time World Champion Victor Furashkin of Russia 890 kg. to 867.5. Poland's bench press world record holder, Jan Wegiera took the Bronze with an 860 kg. effort.

The 90 kg. class included some surprises. Ukraine's Ivan Shlyakhta won this category on bodyweight with a 355 kg. total. He and Russian, Andrey Tarasenko both totaled 972.5 kg., but the final pull decided it. Aleksey Zvarykin of Russia Bronzed, and added valuable points to the Russia team total.

The U.S. had two lifters in the 100 kg. class: Char Gahagan and Nick Tylutki. Char and Nick have gone head to head over the past several years, with Char winning the past two nationals and Nick placing higher in last year's World Championships. This day was Char's with a 915 kg. total and the Bronze medal. Nick had to settle for 6th place this time around but the competition between these two men will continue to push U.S. placings up as they battle over the coming years. Ukraine's Ivan Freydun, who edged Russia's Maxim Barkhatov 1,022.5 to 1,012.5 kg, won this class. Barkhatov pushed his final deadlift attempt to 382.5 kg. for the win, but was unable to complete it.

The 110 kg. class has been the domain of Russia's Nikolay Suslov every year that he has been healthy. This year, he was healthy as shown by his 32.5 kg. win over fellow Russian Yuriy Federenko 1,032.5 kg. to 1,000. Ukrainian Roman Voroshylin won the Bronze after failing his third attempt deadlift of 390 kg. for the win. The U.S.A.'s Tony Harris placed a well deserved 4th with a 945 kg. total. Tony, in his debut as a Master I, set the World Standard in the deadlift with a 347.5 kg. second attempt. This was Tony's first year healthy in many years without injury, he is a force at not only the master level but in the open divisions as well.

Returning Champion Arvai Istvan of Hungary came into the competition with an almost unbelievable 1,100 kg. total. He almost matched it in front of international judges winning the gold 22.5 kg. ahead of Ukraine's Vitaliy Papazov 1,085 kg. to 1,055. Papazov had a solid daybut a missed squat and two missed deadlifts gave the gold to the Hungarian. In a surprise, Yevgen Yarymbash took the bronze over favored Jorgen Ljunberg of Sweden. Jorgen missed 4 attempts which, if passed would have moved him onto the podium. Houston, Texas own Tony Cardella placed 6th on a little bit of a rough day. Tony has battled against European Champion Clive Henry of Great Britain over the last several contests and another attempt would have lifted him above Henry in the final standings. Next time, Tony.

The Men's Unlimited class looked to be a walkover for the U.S.A.'s Brian Siders. Brian has twice exceeded Billy Kazmaier's world record total, and today would be no different. His 1,147.5 kgs. on 6 attempts give the world a hint of what is to come. He attempted Shane Hammon's world record squat on his third, losing his balance. He shattered James Henderson's world record bench press on his opener, moving it up to 337.5 kg. on his second. With an equipment change, he attempted an unbelievable 360 kg. on his final attempt. It exploded to arms length, but he lost the lift when his butt came off the bench. This will go next time and easily. Brian passed his final deadlift attempt, having won going away. The Silver medal went to Finland's Kenneth Tallquist, who totaled 1,055 kg. Volodymyr Muravlyov, Ukraine, was 15 kg. behind for the Bronze. Veteran Brad Gillingham placed 5th, suffering some stomach upset that took him slightly off his game. Despite a tough day, Brad showed that as he edges close to the Master age division, he remains a medal contender in the Open division and will for some years to come.

The Team competition continued the domination of the Big Three powerlifting nations. Russia placed first with 66 points, Ukraine second with 61, and the U.S. taking the Team Bronze with 52 points. It was a great start for first time Men's Team coach Johnny Graham, who brought his expertise from the many time Master's World Champion teams to the Open platform.

Next year's competition will be in the home of powerlifting, the U.S.A. We look for Robert Keller to put on a great meet and to beat the best in the world in front of the home crowd.

Larry Maile

Contest Photos