The second day of the Open championships in Vasteras and the eighth day of the European Classic Open, Junior and Sub-Junior Powerlifting Championships, Västerås, Sweden 2021. The day dawned warmer than it has been and it certainly hotted up once we got under way this morning at the Malarengi Arena. The day´s action started with the Open Men -59 and -66 kg weight classes. The 59 kg squat section started the day well with a new World Masters 1 record by Evgenii Mukhomedianov (RUS) with a 212.5 kg lift. He got the gold, of course. Silver went to Antoine Garcia (FRA) with 205 kg and bronze to Dariusz Wszola (POL).
The -59 kg bench competition was won by Dariusz Wszola (POL), silver was Aleksander Petrov (BUL) and bronze Evgenii Mukhomedianov (RUS). And finally, deadlift, with Julien Gutierrez (FRA) winning through with 232.5 kg, Evgenii Mukjomedianov on silver with 230 kg and Antoine Garcia with 227.5 kg.
And the competition moved swiftly on to witness the -66 kg men perform to their absolute best ability. In the squat section, Ilya Marichev (RUS) set a new European Junior record with 250 kg. Panagiotis Tarinidis (FRA) also achieved 250 kg but at a slightly heavier bodyweight and Eddie Berglund (SWE) got the bronze with 245 kg. In bench, Eddie Berglund pushed through for the gold with 202.5 kg followed this time by Tarinidis with 170 kg, some way behind Berglund, and in the bronze position was Gheorghe Moise (ROU), again, quite a way behind, with 147.5 kg. Finally deadlifts and this time we saw Ilia Marachev (RUS) set another record, this time a World Junior record, with his 287.5 kg deadlift. Close on his heels came Tarinidis with 280 kg and Oleksii Titov (UKR) brought up the rear with 260 kg.
The 74 kg and 83 kg weight classes were split into two groups within each weight group, due to the extremely high number of nominations. First we saw Group B 74 kg men and squat gold was won by Robin Petersson (SWE) with a 255 kg squat. Elias de Buck (BEL) got the silver with 230 and Jose Villarubia Tordesillas (ESP) the bronze with 225 kg. In the bench section de Buck won the gold medal with 172.5 kg, Remco Sanders (NED) silver with 157.5 kg and finally, Robin Petersson lifted 155 kg for the bronze. Deadlift medals, gold to Sanders with 282.5 kg, silver to Petersson with 270 kg and bronze to de Buck, also with 270 kg.
And we moved straight on the the 83 kg group B weight class, the lifting this morning keeping a fast pace with the number of lifters making the schedule very tight. We joined the bench section, as Teemu Hallfers (FIN) won gold with 182.5 kg, Stefano Montano (ITA) silver with 172.5 kg and Urban Mur (SLO) bronze with 170 kg. Finally, in deadlifts, gold went to Jaime Cortes Heredia (ESP) with 300, setting the bar high for the A Group, silver to Mur with 267.5 and bronze to Stefano Motano with 260.
A short break and straight into the -74 kg and -83 kg Group A which is where most, but not all, of the medals were won. In the -74 kg squat we saw Denis Fastelli (ITA) win the gold with 260 kg, only 5 kg above Robin Petersson´s 255 kg squat in the earlier Group B. Matti Christenson (DEN) won bronze with 257.5 kg and then we saw Robin Petersson win the bronze with his Group B squat of 255 kg. Then straight in to the -83 kg squats with Jurins Kengamu (GBR) winning the gold with a 290 kg squat, followed by Emilio Cotti Cometti (ITA) with 280 kg and by Johannes Kristensen with 250 kg.
In the bench section the -74 kg class was won by Matti Christensen (DEN) with a 190 kg lift. Joshua Wright (GER) took the silver with 177.5 kg and Alexander Eriksson (SWE), the bronze with 175 kg. And the pace continued with the -83 kg men taking their turn with bench. This time Jack Solderberg (SWE) won the gold, again with 190 kg. Konstantin Dunin (RUS) won silver the 187.5 and Teemu Hallfors (FIN) won the bronze with 182.5.
And finally, the deadlifts. The -74 kg men took the stage first, with Paul Rembauville (FRA) winning deadlift gold with his 317.5 kg lift, Anatoli Goriochok (RUS) silver with 302.5 kg and Alexander Eriksson (SWE) 300 kg. The -74 kg weight class totals showed Alexander Eriksson (SWE) the clear winner with 725 kg, Paul Rembauville (FRA) with 717.5 and Joshua Wright (GER) with 715 kg. Finishing the afternoon were the -83 kg men in the Group A deadlifts. Pierre Renaud (FRA) won gold with 338.5 kg, Yanis Bouchou (FRA), silver with 338 kg and Emilio Cotti Cometti (ITA) with 337.5. This was one of the closest finishes in a very long time with so many lifters competing for the title. Totals for the -83 kg men, and Yanis Bouchou (FRA) won gold with 783 kg, with Emilio Cotti Cometti (ITA) very close behind with 780 kgs and even closer behind him was Jurins Kengamu (GBR) with 775.5 kg.
This was an absolutely gripping, fast-paced and somewhat hard to follow afternoon of world class powerlifting at its very best!
To follow, 69 kg Women and this report will be published tomorrow, Saturday. Don’t forget to tune in to the live feed tomorrow morning at 1000 for the 76 kg women and then, in the afternoon, the Men´s 93 kg and 105 kg weight classes!
