This past weekend was the IPF world powerlifting championships for the full meet open classes. It is an annual event that is very well run and gives opportunity for athletes and countries around the world to come together and compete for the top spot.
It was certainly a great weekend for the USA taking home the overall win in both the mens and women division.
The men's division was very close with USA just edging out Russia by 3 points. In the 59kg division the USA had a competitor place 6th, Myers Quentin. There was US presence lacking in the middle divisions but in the 93kg Layne Norton, who broke the squat record with a 666 squat, and Ls McClain took 2nd and 4th respectively. In the 105kg division Nicholas Tylutki represented with a 2nd place finish. Michael Tuchscherer and Jared Martin took 4th and 5th respectively in the 120kg division. Finally in the heavyweight division we saw the USA dominate the top two spots. Blaine Sumner took second only narrowly missing his fellow countrymen. Ray Williams had a great performance with a world record a 936 raw squat and a world record 2201 raw total.
The women's division brought the overall win to the USA by a notable margin. Suzanne Hartwig-Gary began the US roster by taking 4th in the 52kg division. Lodrina Cherne and Alyssa Haveson took 7th and 8th respectively in the 57kg division. Jennifer Thompson won the 63kg division overall with a world record of 309 in the bench. Kim Walford had a dominant performance winning the class by over 130lbs and breaking the world record deadlift with a 530 pull. Bonica Lough won the heavyweight class overall breaking the world record bench of 320 and broke the world record total as well with 1354.
Ray Williams 936 squat
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgu7LFpQmgQ]
Kim Walford's 530 deadlift
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjwOiD4MBdk]
It's an incredible opportunity to be able to participate in a world class event like this. A special congratulations to all of the Americans who competed this weekend and helped bring both class wins to the USA!