2007 Men’s and Women’s World Championships
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The second annual Men’s and Women’s World Championships have now concluded. Just like
many in the past this one was just as memorable as previous world championships. In a setting
like no other that I have seen in powerlifting, Soelden, Austria was a picturesque town set in the
valley of mountains and glaciers. It was not only hosting the powerlifting world championships
but the ski and snowboard world cup too. This year was a year of changes from last year. The
Russian and Ukranian teams were back, new IPF officials had been elected and some key
technical rules had been changed. What it didn’t change was that it was another great
championships. An easy to get around town, and a nice venue with a well oiled platform crew
that kept things moving right along. Although, it was somewhat quiet during most of the
championships the bar was moving, the chalk and powder was flying and the weights were
moving.
Some highlights of the championships were held out for the very end of the meet. Tony Cardella taking the gold medal was a highlight for the whole USA Team. After a week of competing it was nice to hear our anthem. Also, watching our “Big Guy” Brad Gillingham pull for his silver medal had to be one of the most memorable pulls for Brad. It was well deserved! With this being the first worlds with the new weight class changes our smaller lifters had to adapt to their new weight class. Womens 48 kg Class Starting the women off was, Cheryl Anderson in her new 48 kg. Class. With this being her second world championships she knew what to expect. Having that experience Cheryl came out making her first two squats giving her 120 kg. Bumping her up 10 more kilograms for her third attempt would have put her at 130 kg. Although unable to make her third attempt, Cheryl then came out movtivated to bench going 3 for 3 and hitting 80 kg. She finished up her day going 7 for 9 and smoking a 140 kg. deadlift. This had Cheryl finishing 7th in a totally dominated class from lifter Chen Wei Ling from Chinese Taipei. When Chen finished up her squats with an amazing 197.5 kg., this just opened up the gap for her and she finished her lifting with a show stopping performance of 457.5 kg.! Cheryl will no doubt in the future be able to get more situated in her new weight class and the tough competition. Mens 56 kg Class Starting the men off in the 56 kg. class Ervin Gainer showed why he is a veteran of the world championships motoring through 9 attempts with white lights! Maybe it helped that he didn’t have to suck off the few extra pounds this year. After hitting a 220 kg. squat and a 142.5 kg. bench, he then went into the deadlift where Ervin seems to excel and really show his true colors by taking the bronze medal weight of 230 kg. Ervin ended his day with taking 6th place with a 597.5 kg total. No doubt that he will get more comfortable in this class. This was the first class where the Russians showed they were back in attack with Sergey Fedosienko ending the day with a world record total of 700 kg.for the Gold. Womens 52 kg Class The 2003 World Champion and veteran women’s world team member, Siouxz Hartwig-Gary, took the platform and was ready to have a good day on the platform. With barely missing her 3rd attempt squat she ended her squats with 162.5 kg. With trying to adjust to some shirt problems Siouxz only managed to get her opener bench of 97.5 kg. In the future look for her to master the shirt and hammer out a great bench press. Being such a technical lifter Siouxz no doubt shook off her other lifts and was looking to come out and control her deadlift. She did that and more with hitting all three of her attempts and nearly missing a PR for herself with 165 kg. In a large class and tight class of 15, Siouxz did very well by placing 5th overall with 425 kg. And top honors going to Kateryna Klymenko of Ukraine with 462.5 kg. with only 40 kg seperating 1st through 5th! Mens 60 kg Class Doc Holloway headed up a controversial mens 60 kg. class. He started off having a great day in the squat by hitting all three and ending with 257.5 kg to give him the bronze medal in the individual lift. He then moved onto the bench were some technical problems were fixed after missing his first attempt and making it on a third. He ended in the bench with 155kg. Moving into the deadlift where Doc seems to be known as a puller he was looking to make up some ground. Opening at 255 kg. He missed it on his first two attempts and just when everyone thought he had made the lift on a third, where the judges gave him white lights, the jury then stripped the lift away from him. They must have seen something they didn’t like! After a very controversial call this ended the competition with Hsieh Tsung Ting of Chinese Taipei with the gold medal and a total of 722.5 kg. Womens 56 kg Class With this being Ashley Matherne’s first open world championships in the 56 kg. class, you would think she would show some signs of being nervous. But being the veteran junior lifter that she is, she managed to put on a tough showing. After getting all the nerves out on the squat where she only got her opener of 145 kg., she game out to the bench press ready to do business. Making all 3 attempts in the bench where she placed 4th in the individual lift. After that big motivation she went into the deadlift confident, making all three of those too ending at 155 kg. Finishing her first world championships with a 10th place finish. Look for Ashley in the future. With a heavy Russian filled class, where the well known Inna Filimonova took first with 527.5 kg. to her fellow Russian competitor Anna Ryzkova with 512.5 kg. Mens 67.5 kg Class With TJ Hoerner’s return to the IPF in the 67.5 kg. class there had to be some nerves after taking about 5 years off of the IPF platform. He didn’t show it on his opening squat attempt making an easy 272.5 kg. After nearly missing 292.5 kg. on his second and third attempts. TJ’s first attempt squat still gave him the bronze medal in the lift. He finished the bench press with two good attempts and 150 kg. Going into the deadlift with a little technical bobble he came back on a second attempt to complete it and hitting a 265 kg. On a third attempt. TJ finished 6th in a class where Russian lifter Ravil Kazakov took top honors with a large gap at 777.5 kg. Overall, TJ had to be pleased with his finish. Womens 60 kg Class In the women’s 60 kg. Class, second time world team member, Jennifer Perry showed a solid showing in this class. She is a very technically sound lifter and is great at hitting the majority of her attempts. She never seems to crumble in the pressure of the big meets and is getting stronger with every showing. Jen hit an easy 175 kg. squat nearly missing her third attempt at 182.5 kg. Moving into the bench press she hit all three attempts and had more to spare with 107.5 kg. The deadlift went well also were she hit 182.5 kg., and went for a bronze medal on her third with 192.5 kg., but didn’t have it quite that day. Look for this and much more to fall for Jen in the future as she is vastly improving. Irina Poletaeva of Russia won this class with 542.5 kg. And a world record bench press of 155 kg. Mens 75 kg Class The men’s 75 kg. class was a highly contested weight class were the USA was represented by multiple time world champion and world record holder, Wade Hooper. Starting off in his discipline of the squat (where Wade seems to be well known), Wade hit his first two and nearly missing a third attempt ending at 342.5 kg. And a silver medal. While Jaroslaw Olech of Poland missed his second attempt and a world record of 350 kg., just to come back on a third attempt and make it. This was Wade’s world record so I am sure we will see him come back in the near future to reclaim his record. Only being behind 7.5 kg. After the squat, Wade came into the bench press ready to do some work. He seemed to use this to his advantage were he went 3 for 3 and earning a gold medal with 235 kg. And the first gold seen by the US team and some armor! Olech ended his day with a forth place finish in the bench of 200 kg. Going into the deadlift Wade was ahead by 27.5 kg. But had some technical difficulties in this lift and only made his opener with 252.5 kg. Finishing his day with an overall silver medal and a 830 kg. Olech finished his deadlift with 310 kg. and an 860 kg. Total. Wade had the teams first overall medal and is a true champion of the sport. Womens 67.5 kg Class After multi-time world champion Priscilla Ribic made weight easily in the 67.5 kg. class we new the battle was going to be on. She had a very stacked class of one Russian and two Ukranian lifters and 18 total competitors in this class. The largest of the women’s competition! She made two easy attempts in the squat ending at 235 kg. and taking a silver medal in the lift. While Russian lifter Galina Potsleuva beat Ribic’s world record squat with 252.5 kg., I am sure that will add fuel to Priscilla’s fire! After coming back from an injury in the bench press Priscilla was excited to be able to put up a good number. Unfortunately, like we have all had, she had some technical problems hearing the press command from the head judge. We all know, no one can give a command like LJM. Priscilla made her second attempt at 125 kg. in the bench, while Galina Potsleuva hit 152.5 kg. and Ukranian Larysa Solovyova hit a new world record of 162.5 kg. Priscilla then moved into the deadlift were she holds every record imaginable and is known to lift a house. After stroking a smooth opener of 230 kg. she moved up to 240 kg. but had some technical problems, and then took 247.5 which is well within her capabilities to push her into 2nd place but it wasn’t meant to be on this day. She finished with the silver medal in the deadlift, and took home the women’s first overall medal of bronze with a 590 kg. total. Larysa Solovyova of Ukraine finished with 605 kg. and the silver medal and Galina Potsleuva of Russia finished with 620 kg. And the gold medal. Priscilla being the true champion she is will come back to dominate this class once again. Mens 82.5 kg Class In the men’s 82.5 kg. Class was represented by Dave Ricks a man that needs no introduction in powerlifting because he has attended so many world championships. Dave put on a very solid performance in this class and really showed that being the oldest in this class doesn’t stop you from being strong. Dave hit his opener squat of 305 kg. and bumped up to 317.5 kg, barely missing it, and came back on a third to really handle the weight. Russian lifter Sergey Bogdanov took silver in this lift with 330 kg., and Kazakstan’s Davranbek Turakhanov took gold with 332.5 kg. Moving onto the bench press, Dave missed his opener and decided there just wasn’t enough weight on the bar so he moved up to 207.5 kg. and easy made his attempt and then ended with 215 kg. Going into the deadlift things were bound to get interesting as things were very tight at subtotal. Dave hit his opener of 300 kg. and bumped up to 320 kg. After missing it, Dave stuck with the weight on a third to gut it out for a bronze medal finish and a total of 852.5 kg, while the Russian and Kazakstan lifters battled it out for gold. The Kazakstan lifter secured the gold medal with a tying total and a win on body weight with a deadlift of 322.5 kilos, and a total of 872.5 kg. Also look for Dave’s pose-down on the main stage at the banquet to follow! Womens 75 kg Class In the women’s 75 kg class was another experienced lifter, Disa Hatfield. With scaring us half to death in her first two attempts, Disa came back like the experienced lifter we know her as and finally hit depth on her third attempt squat and easily came up with 195 kg. Apparently, she just didn’t have enough on the bar because she progressively went up in weight even after missing them. We knew you had it Disa! Moving onto Disa’s favorite lift, the bench press, she was ready to show what she is made of. Her first attempt of 135 kg. seemed to move very smooth and she went up to 142.5 kg. And missed it due to a technicality so she stayed the same and came and smoked it for the silver medal in the lift. She has much more left here.. Even though the deadlift is her least favorite lift, she showed a solid performance by making all three attempts, ending at 190 kg. to give her fourth place overall with a total of 527.5 kg. A very good performance even with Russian lifter Yulia Zaugalova (women’s overall best lifter) in this class. Yulia didn’t have the 613 lb. squat that was posted on the internet early this year, but she did squat 260 kilos. A bench press of 155 kg. and a deadlift of 225 kg. gave a total of 655 kg. and 635.45 wilkes points. Definately not something to look past! Mens 90 kg Class Even though there were no US team lifters in the 90 kg. class we still had a show put on by the rest of the lifters of this weight class. Andrey Belyaev of Russia left no mistake on who was the top lifter. He had very little competition for him that day. Andrey finished his squat day with a world record of 380 kg. Silver medal in this lift was Luciano Duarte of Brazil with 335 kg. Then being like many of the Russian team Andrey motored through three good benches with a silver medal lift of 257.5 kg. Only to move onto the deadlift where he had a little trouble but overall this didn’t affect his total very much nor his gold medal placing. Andrey finished the deadlift with 340 kg. and a world record total of 977.5 kg. The silver medal was almost 100 kg. behind him, with 880 kg. from Daniele Ghirardi of Italy. Womens 82.5 kg Class In the women’s 82.5 kg. class the US team was represented by 2006 world champion, Liane Blyn. This was Liane’s first year to experience the Russian lifters and her class was stacked with a well known lifter, Svetlana Dedyula (multi-time world champ). Liane was up to the task. She came up with a bronze medal squat on her second attempt of 220 kg. barely missing 230 kg. Dedyula finished her squat with 250 kg. After getting the glitches out on her bench press, where the judges thought Liane was hitting too low, she came out on a second and hit 130 kg. She had much more on this lift but just has to get the technical aspects down. She has a very strong bench press! In the mean time, Dedyula was performing her world record bench of 185 kg. An amazing lift! Liane could feel the pressure going into the deadlift trying to get on the medal stand. She knew exactly how to get there and that was by pulling her way there. Liane hit and easy opener of 200 kg. To bump up to 212.5 kg. Just to nearly miss the lift and give her team a scare. Liane being the true champ she is, came out and pulled her way to the bronze medal in the lift and the bronze medal overall with a 562.5 kg. Total. Dedyula finished up her day with a 220 kg. pull and a 655 kg. total for the gold. Mens 100 kg Class Moving to the men’s 100 kg. class, representing the US Team was 2006 silver medalist, Jason Beck. Jason is a real talent and force to be reckoned with in this class. His class went from being a talented class in the nominations to being stacked. Andrey Tarasenko and Konstantin Lebedko both of Russia were in this class, along with Ukranian lifter Sergiy Pevnev. Jason had his work cut out for him. He was up to the challenge! He started off in the squat hitting his first two attempts and ending with a bronze medal of 365 kg. While Tarasenko took top honors with 385 kg. He was sitting well after the squat. Moving into the bench press, Beck has been waiting to show what he can really do in this lift. Again, making his first two attempts and ending with a gold medal of 270 kg. Beck even had more in the tank! Tarasenko ended his bench press with 265 kg. At sub-total Beck was sitting really well. He then went into the deadlift which is where all the final results happen. As it had happened all day, Jason hit his first two attempts with 320 kg. This is where Beck needed to have his final deadlift of 327.5 for the bronze medal. Unfortunately, he missed his last deadlift and the Ukranian lifter Pevnev took bronze by 5 kg. Beck ended with 955 kg. placing fourth, Pevnev with 960 kg. taking bronze, Lebedko took silver with 977.5, and Tarasenko took gold with 997.5 kg. Look for Beck to come back more determined than EVER! He is an amazingly strong lifter with much more in his future. Womens 90 kg Class In the women’s 90 kg. class is youngster but very experienced, Bonica Brown. Bonica has been on 4 open world teams at the young age of 19 years old! Bonica always goes after her attempts like it is very light weight for her, and makes it look easy. She did the same this year. Bonica ended her squats with a fourth place of 220 kg. 2006 world champion Ielja Strik of the Netherlands ended her squats with 255 kg. Going into the bench Bonica once again moved the weight perfectly and smashed a weight of 137.5 kg. Strik is the world record holder in the bench press and it showed when moving 175 kg. for her gold medal lift. Finishing up the competition with the deadlift, Bonica took an very easy fourth place with a 225 kg. deadlift and a total of 582.5 kg. A 9 for 9 day! Bonica has not even tapped into her potential. Strik finished up her day with 232.5 kg. in the deadlift to give her a solid victory with 662.5 kg. over Russian lifter Valeria Shcheglova with 632.5 kg. for the silver medal. Mens 110 kg Class In the men’s 110 kg. class the US Team had 2 experienced lifters, Tony Harris and Mike Mastrean. Tony has been on many world teams and held this class down for a long time. Tony showed his experience on the IPF platform by going out it the squat after missing his first attempt and making sure he hit depth on his second with 365 kg. Tony moved up to 843 lbs. On his 3rd but like his opener the judges said no. Mike, being a very talented squat machine was unable to show those skills missing his depth on all three. I am sure Mike will dial it in for the next meet! Mike came off of his training cycle with some progress made in the bench, and it showed when he stayed in the meet to place 4 in the th bench with a lift of 262.5. Maxim Barkhatov of Russia took the gold with 395 kg. in the squat. Tony again had somewhat of a rough day in the bench only getting his opener of 217.5 kg. I think we all know how those days are! While Maxim again took top honors with a weight of 275 kg. Moving into Tony’s forte, the deadlift, he got his opener of 330 kg. going 3 for 9 and still finishing in 6th place with a 912.5 kg. Tony will be come back to finish the way he wants! Maxim finished his deadlift with 380 kg. and a Gold medal finish of 1050 kg. Womens 90+ kg Class The women’s 90 + kg. class was represented by myself, Jessica O’Donnell. After placing silver in the last two world championships, I was looking to come out blazing at this world championships. Unfortunately, my favorite lift proved to be the biggest problem. I easily hit my first attempt squat of 250 kg. Then, going up to 265 kg. on a second attempt, the weight proved to be easy but my depth was not there. Repeating it on a third attempt I managed to do the same. This gave Russian lifter Irina Lugovaya the gap after getting all three of her squats and ending with the gold medal in the lift of 265 kilos, giving me the silver squat. I was still in it so I moved into the bench knowing I needed all my lifts. I did that hitting 3 good benches and a silver medal lift of 170 kg. This is also Irina’s best lift and she ended with 180 kg. Going into subtotal behind I knew that I might still have a very small chance so I prepared to deadlift. I ripped up my first two attempts with ease to give me 232.5 kg. The coaches waited to see whether Irina would pull her last attempt deadlift of 235 kg. which she did. I had nothing to lose at that point and they set the bar at 260 kg. (Only 3.5 kg. short of the world record) and I pulled it to about the top of my knees and I just didn’t have that kind of weight that day. I t was fun to try though. Irina ended with the gold medal total of 680 kg. I finished with the silver medal total of 652.5 kg. Joanne Schaefer of the Netherlands, a very talented lifter finished with 617.5 kg. for the bronze overall. Mens 125 kg Class They save the best for last! In the men’s 125 kg. class was the spectacular performance of Tony Cardella. This was Tony’s 7th world championships and he has been making steady and strong progress to his placing and total every year. This year was no different for him. The only difference this year provided is that there is no room to improve next year because he has went straight to the top! Tony started off the squat ready to do some damage. He hit all three of his squats and in my opinion had room for much more but played it just right ending with 390 kg. and the bronze medal in this lift. Clive Henry of Great Britian finished his squats with 425 kg. and a gold medal. According to Tony, he has been having some problems in the bench. None of us could tell! He hit his first two attempts at 265 kg. And going for a third of 272.5 kg. Just missing it. Asbjorn Randen of Norway took top honors in the lift of 280 kg. Now it came to the deadlift, with Tony outpulling his competitors by a good margin to give him the win overall. He ripped up 367.5 kg. FOR THE WIN! The whole USA team was proud, but no one could have been more proud at that moment than Tony. Oh EXCEPT for Christy! He put on a wonderful performance and a very well deserved GOLD MEDAL. You can see his mind focusing just as hard as he is working to make those attempts. Congratulations Tony! Mens 125 + kg Class The final weight class, the men’s 125+ kg. class couldn’t have ended the meet any better, with Brad Gillingham representing the US! For me Brad has encompassed drug-free powerlifting for a long time. This year he showed at no matter what age you compete, that you can still do it at the very top. Starting off in the squat he nailed his first attempt of 367.5 kg. After missing his second attempt he then bumped up 2.5 kg. to give him 385 kg. which played out to be a good strategy in the end. Vladimir Bondarenko of Russia concluded his squats with 435 kg, while Ove Lehto of Finland hit 390 kg. Brad knew he would have to make some good attempts in order to pull his way to placing well. He hit his first two attempts ending at 277.5 kg. While Vladimir finished at 280 kg. and Ove with the bronze medal of 317.5 kilos, it came down to the deadlift where Brad knew that he could make up some serious ground. He pulled his first two deadlifts with ease giving him 377.5 kg. This gave Brad and Lehto of Finland a battle to the end. Ove hit his final deadlift of 342.5 kg. pushing Brad into taking 390 kg. For the silver medal. He ripped it up and locked it out with “Gillingham authority” and claimed his gold medal deadlift and his overall SILVER MEDAL! Everyone was one their feet with excitement and he earned his placing. Brad ended the day with a 1052.5 kg total and a masters 1 world record, with Ove Lehto right behind him with the bronze medal of 1050 kg. Bondarenko of Russia finished his day with 1092.5 kg. total for the gold. The USA Women’s team finished 4 th overall and the USA Men’s team finished second to Russia! I want to commend the whole US team and the coaching staff and sponsors behind them. Everyone works very hard for one common goal. Without head coaches Larry Maile and Sherman Ledford none of these lifters could have competed at a high level. There are a handful of other coaches to thank as well! To all of them, thank you! Overall, the 28th annual women’s and men’s world championships were well ran and had a lot of excitement for everyone. It was held in a beautiful place and brought everyone from around the world to Soelden, Austria. In conclusion, all of these lifters work everyday to get stronger and lift to their best abilities. I want to applaud each and everyone of you for working so hard to make this sport better. There is not much recognition in this sport and all of the USA Team deserves a CONGRATULATIONS for their efforts. |
Contest Photos
Thanks to Jessica and Cheryl Anderson (1) for photos         
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