Robert Keller and a staff of dozen's of volunteers pulled together the Men's World Championships in Miami this November despite the best efforts of Hurricane Rita to disrupt the show. But with true American persistence, the meet came together, and came together well. It is safe to say it was a flawless performance by the meet production staff, and the lifters benefited from it by producing a number of World records, and some epic battles.
The meet was held in the J.L. Knight Center, and 5,000 seat auditorium that plays host to major theatrical and artistic productions. The staff is used to unusual requests, including lighting, seating, and in our case, building a stage to withstand the stresses of tons of weight crashing down. The screens were large and easy to read, allowing the public to follow the competition, and the stage was elevated such that there wasn't a bad seat in the house.
52 kg. class:
After a few computer glitches, the staff got the meet off to a great start with the 52 kg. class. There were only four entrants, with some of the big guns being absent. The competitors gave it their best, though, with three competitors completing the competition. Unfortunately, the U.S.A.'s athlete, perennial contender, Ervin Gainer was unable to complete a deadlift. That opened the door for Russia's Alexey Romanov who took the gold with a comfortable margin. Chin Chiang Hsu, Taiwan took the silver, 55 kg. back, and Ilhomiddin Buriyev, of Uzbekistan winning the bronze.
56 kg. class:
The 56 kg. class is the province of nine time world champion, Konstantin Pavlov. Konstantin had some formidable competition in the form of the USA's Damarrio (Doc) Holloway, and Japan's ageless Hiroyuki Isagawa. Pavlov lead by a significant margin after the squat (25 kg. over Holloway, and 37.5 kg. over Isagawa). He extended his lead significantly during in the bench, edging Hiro by 5 kg., and Doc by 37.5 kg. This gave Pavlov an insurmountable lead despite being a bit behind in terms of deadlift strength. Ably coached by his coach, Igor Derevyanko, he made comfortable deadlift attempts, not angling for a medal in that event, but working for the gold in the total. When the dust finally settled, Pavlov had recorded his TENTH world championship title, and golds in the squat and bench press as well. This class was remarkable in that there were five lifters who totaled over 600 kilos. This reflects the depth that you find in an IPF World Championships, even in the lighter classes.
60 kg. class:
The 60 kg. class promised to be one the most exciting of the competition. Two of last year's last year's medallists were returning, Darimin bin Sutrisno and Tsung-Ting Hsieh, and both of these fine athletes exceeded the world record in 2004. Add to that mix, former world champion Mikhail Andryukhin, and it promised to be a class not to be missed. This year, former Junior and Open World Champion, and world record holder, Sutrisno was a head and shoulders above the competition, breaking the world total record with an unbelievable 742.5 kg. This total would have medalled in the category above. If you haven't seen Sutrisno lift, he reflects the perfect balance of strength. He won the gold in the squat, bench press and deadlift. Andryukhin totaled 707.5 kg. and Hsieh 680 kg. The USA's Hennis Washington placed fourth with a new American record.
67.5 kg. class:
Perenial Champion of Champion, Jaroslaw Olech returned to defend his title at 67.5 kg. title. A reported knee injury and recent surgery promised to take some off his world record squat. He also faced Russia's Ravil Kazakov, who moved up from the 60 kg. class over the past year. Kazakov was fantastic at 60, with a huge squat and deadlift. He promised even more in the next class up. And delivered, with a 325 kg. squat (short of Jaroslaw's world record), and opening, and ending with a new world bench press record. Jaroslaw squatted conservatively, at least for him, ending with 310 kg. and carrying a 15 kg. deficit into the squat. By the subtotal, this margin had grown to 55 kg., which seemed like an insurmountable gulf. But Jaroslaw was not to be denied, and pulled exactly 55 kg. more, tying in absolute weight lifted, and winning the Gold by virtue of lighter bodyweight. In all of this excitement, Amit Selbert, of Sweden took the bronze over France's Hassan El Beghitti. Hassan made it interesting, out pulling Amit by 60 kg., but it was not enough.
75 kg. class:
The 75 class also promised to be a barn burner, with returning world champion Wade Hooper going head to head with former 75 kg. champion, and last year's 82.5 kg. champion Victor Furazhkin. While these two gold medallists looked to be well ahead of the rest of the class, the next three lifters appeared to be approximately evenly matched as well, promising a fight for the bronze. Wade was intending on a big squat based on training coming in, and had the world record (his own) in his sights. It was not to be, however, and he finished with a 5 kg. lead going into the bench. Wade is a world record performer in the bench as well and finished in that range with a 230 kg. effort. Furazhkin finished 5 behind in the bench as well giving Hooper a 10 kg. subtotal lead. When it came down to the deadlift, Wade came up short, 275 to Victor's 320. Furazhkin won the gold with 865, and a world record total. Wade finished with an 835 kg. total, while Selberg took the Jacek Spychala moved into the bronze medal position on his final deadlift with a 760 kg. total, edging out Yusuke Fukuda (Japan, 757.5 kg.) and Sami Nieminen (Finland, 755 kg.). It was a great battle, and had the crowd on the edge of their seats.
82.5 kg. class:
With the absence of Furazhkin, the 82.5 class seemed to be walk in the park for last year's silver medallist, Jan Wegiera of Poland. Jan is the world record holder in the bench press, and capitalized on his strong press to push his total up. Sergey Bogdonov, from Russia was not intimidated. He hung in to pull the needed 307.5 kg. deadlift (to Wegiera's 305 kg.) to tie in the total, and win by lighter bodyweight. This started an early celebration in the Russian camp, as it had important implications for the eventual outcome for all the top teams. The U.S.A.'s David Ricks, 5 time world champion and retired Navy Commander took the bronze. He demonstrated the humility and style that has characterized his long and distinguished career, saying that he was just glad to be there competing on the world stage.
90 kg. class:
The 90 kg. class has been dominated by Russia's Andrey Tarasenko for nearly as long as anyone can remember. He has been a force to reckon with since the 1998 Jr. World Championships in Hungary. The top three in this category, Tarasekno, Michal Wilk (Poland), and Sergiy Romanenko (also from Russia) all looked to be good for comfortable 900+ totals, and all three delivered. Tarasenko finished with 950 kg., Wilk and Romanenko 925. Wilk won on bodyweight, watching his competitors final pull at 320 kg., and pulled 5 kg. more for the win. The U.S.A. did not have an entrant in this category.
100 kg. class:
Ivan Freydun came into this competition as the reigning World Champion, and looked solid and confident. He passed on the last men's European Championships, and by virtue of drug testing, Anibal Coimbra of Luxembourg won the European Championships. These two almost flawless technicians were to meet the U.S.A.'s Jason Beck. Jason has been on an upward track since his return from military duty in Iraq. He has won the last two U.S. championships, and rarely misses an attempt. Freydun posted the highest squat in the competition, followed up by a world record in the bench press. He broke U.S.A. lifter Tony Succarotte's (bench) record. Tony tried 292.5 to retake it on his final attempt but missed it, retiring from the competition. Ivan finished with a world record in the total as well (1,037.5 kg.), and the gold medal. Beck out pulled Coimbra 347.5 kg. to 345 to edge ahead by the same margin for the silver.
110 class:
The 110 class was a repeat of several earlier categories, with Russia coming out in the top two spots. Defending World Champion, Nikolay Suslov totaled 1,060 kg., with a 282.5 kg. world bench record enroute. The surprise was Russia's Yuriy Fedorenko coming within 10 kg. of the win. His 1,050 kg. total would be enough to win most years, but just short this year. The Ukraine's Roman Voroshylin took the bronze on a very tough day for him. It is unusual to see so many missed attempts out of this veteran lifter. The U.S.A.'s Anthony "Tony" Harris took fourth. He has suffered a number of injuries over the past few years, but seems to come back stronger each time, with greater determination and is even more relaxed and poised. The U.S.A.'s Ryan Goldin finished in 8th place. Ryan gamely jumped in as one of the alternates when another lifter was unable to attend, and came in in shape and gave it his best effort. Ryan usually lifts in the next weight class up, and the weight loss hampered him a little.
125 kg. class:
Four lifters in the 125 class exceeded 1,000 kg. It was only a few years ago that this class was won with a total under that threshold. The winner, Ukraine's Yevgen Yarymbash totaled just under 1,100 with a 1,092.5 kg. He set world records in both the bench press (325 kg.) and total. He narrowly edged out Russia's Andrey Malanichev by 7.5 kg. Andrey is another of the Jr. Class of 1998, having won the Jr's in Hungary. He has had a long and successful career, being in medals contention every time he out. He does not appear to have bad meets. Poland's Dariusz Mirowski took the bronze medal after taking three attempts to get a bench passed. He pulled 370 kg. in the deadlift to close the gap between himself and Sweden's Jorgen Ljundberg, who lead until the deadlift. Tony Cardella, from Texas totaled 960 kg. to take 8th place. Tony has had a difficult year, but as a seasoned veteran, will pick back up over the next few months and be back over the "thousand" mark again in his next competition.
+125 kg. class:
With the absence of defending champion and world record holder Brian Siders, Vladimir Bondarenko had a clear shot at the gold…. And he delivered an 1,105 kg. effort that wowed the crowd. His 445 kg. squat was deep and easy, and only 12.5 kg. below American Shane Hammon's world record that has stood 10 years since 1995. With Vladimir's potential, he will reel in this standard in very short order. Japan's Diasuke Midote took the silver medal with a personal best of 1,060 kg. He set the world record in the bench press with 350 kg., and showed great power in the deadlift to hold off Finland's Jari Martikainen and Kenneth Sandvik. They both totaled 1,030 kg. but Martikainen's final pull put him ahead as he was the lighter lifter. It was great to see these very strong men tease each other throughout the competition, and then congratulate each other at the end. This is the spirit of powerlifting. The U.S.A.'s Randall Harris exceeded the 1,000 mark in his first Open World Championships. He is very strong, and with some attention to technical issues, will move onto the medals podium short order.
Team Competition:
The team competition was a foregone conclusion, with Russia scoring a perfect 72 points. Several factors contributed to the silver medal performance of Poland. They were assisted by the two U.S. disqualifications, which cost an estimated three points. Poland also had some outstanding performances by their less experienced competitors who were coached to perfection and had their share of good fortune. The Ukraine, limited to only five athletes due to last year's problems in doping, finished three points out of the medals.
One of the high points of this competition was the participation: athletes from 33 nations contested for world titles, including many from the western hemisphere. Lower transportation costs by virtue of shorter distance allowed our North and South American friends to participate at a greater level.
Next year, the Men's Worlds will be held in Stavanger, Norway, along with the Women's Worlds. It looks to be a great show, with the host nation working hard already to assure that arrangements are made. We will see you next year in Stavanger.
Contest Photos
