2006 IPF Junior World Powerlifting Championships
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The 24th Annual IPF JR World's was held in Sofia, Bulgaria and was the first international competition that were minus the perennial favorites Russia & Ukraine. This year we had a great team of nine women and 10 men representing the United States. Our teams converged at the Newark Airport on the way to Sofia via Frankfurt.
Sofia has a history that goes back thousands of years. Through the centuries, many peoples have inhabited it and added to its rich and diverse history. Today there are many archaeological sites in Sofia, that display the city's diverse history. Rapidly the city's image changed from an Oriental, to a European. Today many streets, buildings, parks, and even whole neighborhoods preserve the architectural style from the turn of the century. Between 1879 and 1939, the population of Sofia grew from 20 000 to 300 000, while today 1 250 000 people live in Sofia. Since ancient times the city was famous for the abundance of cold and thermal mineral water springs in and around it. The water is still available today and is praised for its numerous qualities We arrived Sunday afternoon, tired from the long journey our bodies had not adjusted to the time difference. We were greeted at the airport, and most of the staff at the hotel spoke English. The Hotel Vitosha was very nice with great service and friendly staff. After checking into the hotel a few chose to wander around and explore our new surroundings. On Monday, a few lifters walked over to the venue to get in their final light workouts, explored a bit more and the coaching staff attended the Technical Meeting at night. Our lifters did enjoy some down time by exploring the City Centre for sightseeing and souvenir shopping. Greg Jones & I were fortunate to meet a local who wanted to practice his English speaking on us. Kiril (aka Karl) was very hospitable showing us around including taking us to a neighborhood restaurant for an authentic Bulgarian dish. Kiril had many stories including his 4 years in a labor camp for being an outspoken anti-Communist back in the 70's. His wife is a school teacher that makes about $10 a day! When we asked if Bulgarians lives were better after the fall of Communism he stated, "yes, from the standpoint of having more freedoms" but "no, with regard to their standard of living". Bulgaria is expected to join the European Union in January of 2007 which hopefully will be a financial boost to the Bulgarian people. Now onto the meet highlights. -44kg class* Unchallenged for the Gold was Yukari Yamakami of Japan with a total of 220-Kg .There was no USA lifter in this class. -48kg class* The 105's saw Tomoe Nishikawa of Japan win in a tight battle with a total of 347.5-Kg over Anastasiya Kolisnikova from Kazakhstan. There was no USA lifter in this class. -52kg class* The Gold Medal overall went to Naho Machida of Japan with a total of 335-Kg. The 114's saw the USA's first lifter, Brandi Smith do her thing. Brandi is a freshman at LA Tech and came into this meet with a knee injury which hurt her chances at an overall medal. She finished 4th overall but benched and pulled nicely to earn bronzes in the individual lift medals. -56kg class* In the 123's it was Eleonora Makhpirova of Kazakhstan with a dominating 52.5-Kg win over her next opponent and a total of 442.5-Kg . Eleonara easily went on to win the best lifter award amassing 528 Wilks points. She nearly missed a WR squat of 191kg! Natalie Miller-Woods was the US representative for this class and lifted nicely to place 6th. This was her final year of junior eligibility(the only one of the US women's team) and was great having her lift. Natalie was coached by her husband James who made the trip to help Coach Magendie with his athletes. -60kg class* This class, the 132's saw USA lifter Jenna Farek of LSU make her debut. Jenna finished 2nd in a close battle with Katarin Gerjakova from Slovakia. Jenna pulled 157.5 kg for a sliver & totaled 400kg to an overall silver medal. We will see more of Jenna in the future. -67.5kg class* In the 148's, we had USA Team Captain Alyssa Hitchcock. Alyssa came in with the most US int'l experience and it showed. She totaled 452.5kg to out distance her competition by 47.5kg! Alyssa finished with 481 Wilks Points to finish 3rd in the Champion of Champions awards. She took home gold medals in all categories. 2nd was Lucia Christensen from Sweden and 3rd was Yuka Kuroyanagi from the strong Japanese team. -75kg class * The 165's the US had LSU's Pamela Bartz who drank enough water to make the weight limit and represented the lifting in her first IPF World Championship. She lifted nicely going 7 for 9 and finishing 4th. Pam earned a bronze in the squat 165kg and silver in the bench 97.5kg. Pavla Kladivova from the Czech Republic finished 1st with a 447.5kg total. -82.5kg class* In the 181's we had Monica Millet who stood on the overall medal stand in 3rd place with a 452.5 kg total. It was a tight battle for the first three girls that eventually was won by Canada's Lene Rae Marion with a 470kg total. Monica earned individual bronzes in the squat(167.5kg) & bench(95kg) while easily taking gold in the deadlift(190)kg! -90kg class* Uzbekistan's Yuliya Stesenko won her first Junior World title by dominating with gold sweeps across the board. Her 527.5-kg total gave her a 60kg victory. LSU's Leigh Arnold won bronze's in all three lifts and total. Leigh went 190-92.5-185 for a 467.5kg total. Bulgarian's Maria Pileva pulled 202.5kg on her last attempt to tie Leigh and win the silver on a lighter bodyweight. -90+kg class* Norway's Hildeborg Hugdal finally won her 1st Junior title after being the runner-up the past two years. Her performance included a junior world record bench press of 185.5kg and 2nd best lifter with 508 Wilk's points. The US had two women compete in this class, Amber Heard(207.5-105-192.5)who finished 2nd and Tamara Walter(182.5-97.5-160) coming in third. Both ladies are only 19 year's old so we will see them battling for years to come. ************************************************* MEN'S TEAM REPORT COMING SOON ************************************************* The USA Women's Team, short one lifter, with only 9 this year, finished well. Their 54 points gave USA Women a 2nd place finishes overall. First place went to Japan with 60 points. Poland was 3rd with 28 points. Eight of the women's team are still eligible for next year's team, so it could be packed with experience. The coaching staff was proud on how the women represented our country. The Junior team was second in both men & women. We had three deserving World Champs in Alyssa Hitchcock, Mike Haffenbrack & Michael Tuchsherer. Alyssa and Mike both demonstrated what it means to be a leader(Team Captains). We are all very proud of our lifters. We had a very young junior team(only 4 lifters in their final year) and they stepped up to the challenge. Our junior team will continue to grow with their experience and future additions of our talented subjuniors. I personally want to thank Jon Magendie; Greg Jones; James Woods; Mike Godawa & especially Jim Hart who worked harder than us all! Jim helped coached both teams plus refereed every single day! He even videotaped the entire meet. Finally, I want to thanks all of our direct or indirect sponsors for this event. Inzer Advanced Designs, House of Pain, Titan Support Systems, Quest Nutrition & Via Van Bloom Travel. Coach Greg Simmons |
Contest Photos
Thanks to Greg Simmons   
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