European Open
Equipped Bench
Competition
Our best results across the board were a silver, and two bronze medals from our men’s team along with two silvers and a bronze from our ladies masters team!
We had a fantastic silver medal from Junior lifter Kris Franklin, in the under 83kg class!
Despite missing his 210kg opener, he pulled back strongly and took that weight for his second and attempt and finishing on 222.5kg, giving him 668.37 IPF points. We had a bronze come from Glyn Belsher in the Masters 3, under 93kg class, where he finished with 142.5kg!
Amanda Hughes in the M1 under 52kg class flew straight back from the Equipped Worlds to get a silver, pressing 75kg; Sarah Bouskill also got a silver in the M1 under 84kg+ class, pressing 130kg and Wendy Kirkland in the M1 under 72kg class took a bronze with a press of 115kg! Well done to all our amazing team
The final bronze medal came from Open, under 93kg lifter, pocket rocket Andy Champ of Champion Strength. We caught up with Andy to ask him a few questions about his experience!
Firstly, congratulations on your bronze medal in Finland, how are you feeling about getting on the podium?
I genuinely didn't expect to be anywhere near a podium position this year. My goal was to give the best account of myself and use the experience for the future. My aim was to finish strongly in 5th place. My opener was heavy, but I feel was a safe selection. No plan really after that.
Tony Cliffe feels that equipped powerlifting is beginning to have a renaissance in the UK and elsewhere, what do you think about it?
Definitely. Participation is definitely on the rise. And that, in its nature, increases the standards. It's a very expensive sport to get involved in. There are several clubs, including ours, that have accumulated a large stock of kit so to allow a gateway into the sport without it costing new lifters too much. We personally have introduced 4 or 5 new lifters into Equipped Powerlifting. With several clubs doing the same across the country that's a large injection of new lifters.
