15 IPF World Open Men's Bench Press Championship
Clevelend OH
02-05.12.2004

The U.S. Team Brings Home the Hardware! The 15th World Bench Press Championships is in the books and the home team capitalized on their advantage with the Women winning the Gold Team Medal and the Men the Silver. Dr. Larry Miller and Ed and Frank King, who did an excellent job organizing the championships, hosted the meet. What particularly stood out was the spotting and loading crew, the table help, and the spacious venue. There was a large crowd in attendance for every session starting from Friday's morning lifting to a packed house for the Men's Super heavyweight class on Sunday afternoon. IPF President Norbert Wallauch, Treasurer Gaston Parage, and Regional Representatives Susumu Yoshida and Larry Maile were in attendance. The first session included the Women's 44 and 48 kg. classes, as well as the 52 and 56 categories. The first two classes were won by the favorites. In the 44's, with returning champion, Russia's Svetlana Teslava absent, Poland's Justina Kozdryk won handily with a 98.0 kg. world record. She was credited with a 7.5 kg. lead over Silver Medalist Olga Golubeva of Russia and Bronze medallist Eva Svantakova of Slovakia. The 48 kg. class was won by a 25 kilo margin by returning champion Yukako Fukushima, of Japan. She increased her existing world record to an unbelievable 120 kg. Marcela Bagolova, of the Czech republic took the Silver with 95 kg., and Finlands Mervi Serkia finished third with 90 kg. The U.S. lifter, Maura Shuttleworth placed 9th in her first Worlds appearance. The next two classes included the very competitive 52 kg. class, with former world champions and world record holders Anna Olsson of Sweden and Irina Krylova, Russia battling for the Gold. It was Krylova's day on the strength of her world record 125 kg. third attempt. Olsson, the lighter lifter tried to improve her 120 total by 5 kg. for the bodyweight win on her last lift but was unsuccessful. Kaori Nagaya-Shirakawa of Japan took the bronze with 105 kg. The 56 kg. class was won by returning World Champion and World Record Holder Tamara Althaus. She came into the competition with the world record of 138 kg. and succeeded in improving it by a .5 kg. increment. This was only one aspect of a very successful weekend for Tamara, though. She met her father for the first time, and both were beside themselves with her win. The U.S.A.'s Jill Darling took home the Silver on her opener of 117.5 kg. lift. After locking up second, she took a shot at the win with a 140 kg. attempt but lost it out of the groove. Hanna Rantala of Finland took the Bronze Medal with a 110 kg. effort. Friday's second session included the Men's 52, 56, and 60 classes. In the 52 category, Japan's Naoya Ikeda started a trend that would culminate with Japan winning the Men's team title. His 165 kg. effort, done on his opener, bested Krystof Wrona, of Poland by 12.5 kg. The U.S.A.'s Hung Pham took the bronze with a 145 kg. effort. Japan's ageless wonder, Hiro Isagawa won the 56 kg. class with a 182.5 kg. effort defeating the Netherlands' Parmian Tagy. Tagy moved down from the 60 kg. class where he placed second last year expecting a win. He didn't account for Isagawa, who set the World Record on a fourth attempt of 185.5 kg. Krysztof Owisiany, Poland took the bronze with a 160 kg. effort. The U.S.A.'s Peter Wong was unable to get an attempt in with what looked like equipment problems. He gamely tried for a 160 effort on his third attempt to take home a medal, but it was not to be. The 60 kg. class was won decisively by Russia's Aryat Zakiev, who finished with 202.5 kg. Silver was won by Stfan Koslosky, of Slovakia 45 kg. back. The U.S.A.'s Steve Petrencak kept the Bronze medal in Ohio with a 155 kg. effort. He attempted to jump into second place on his third attempt with a personal record 160 kg., but couldn't finish it. The final session on Friday included the Men's 67.5 class, as well as the 75 kg. division. Perenial World Champion, Alexey Sivokon, of Kazakstan coasted to an easy victory in the 67.5 class. He finished with an easy 210 kg. push, which appeared well within his limits. Alexey is the most successful active IPF lifter, and knows just what is necessary to win. His competitors must feel a sense of inevitability facing him given his track record of overcoming the competition. Sweden's Niklas Jonsson took a big jump to 207.5 in hopes that Sivokon would miss his third, but had to settle for 195 kg. opening weight and the Silver medal. Pawel Pracownik, of Poland took three attempts to get his opener of 195 kg. in, but ended up with the Bronze since he was heavier than Jonsson. The U.S.A.'s Trey Collins placed a close 4th with 190 kg. in his first World Competition. Trey remarked that he had survived his first time out, and at this level your first time is about surviving. He will be back now that he knows the drill and is sure to medal in coming years. The Saturday morning session was the U.S.A. show. Our twin threats, Jennifer Robertson and Jennifer Thompson lead off at 60 kg. Jen and Jen provide their own competition, pushing each other to excellent performances. This day, though, was a repeat of Bench Nationals, with Robertson coming out on top by 2.5 kg. margin with 135 kg. Jen Thompson took home the Silver, followed up by Natalia Igosheva, of Russia. This session was our first session to hear the National Anthem, but this class was not the only one to get the U.S. crowd on its feet. Priscilla Ribic, at 67.5 kg. completed the impossible repeat: winning the Open (three lift) World Championships and the Bench Press World Championships in the same year. She is the first America to have reached this milestone. Priscilla's lifting was flawless, ending 15 kg. ahead of her competition at 145 kg. Her fourth attempt increased the World Record to 150.5 kg. Priscilla now holds the Open Bench Press and Deadlift records. Russians Svetlana Korobeynikova and Maria Volkova took the Silver and Bronze, respectively. This session was closed out by World Record Holder Christy Newman nailing down her first World title with a 145 kg. effort. Her world standard of 160 did not fall on her fourth attempt to increment it by .5 kg. Monica Biernacka of Poland placed second with a 135 kg. effort. Mariann Ovari, of Hungary, who failed to make the lower class took the bronze with 130 kg. The 75 kg. class favorite was Daiki Kodama, of Japan. Kodama was the standing World Record holder but looked like even staying in the meet was questionable after missing his first two attempts. Daiki's form is his hallmark, and he pushes the envelope of the rules with a HUGE arch and extreme leg position. His first two attempts were lost on form problems, but he came back to get a 250 kg. effort and the win on his third attempt. He increased his previously held world record to 265 kg. on a fourth attempt. Russia's Knyazev took the Silver with 240 kg., and the Ukraine's Roman Zuzuk the Bronze with 215 kg. The U.S.A.'s Mike Hara, suffering a shoulder injury, was unable to lock out any of his attempts. Saturday's second session included the 82.5 and 90 kg. classes. The favorite in the 82.5 class had to be Jan Wegiera of Poland. Wegiera came into the meet with the World Record, which he increased to 260 kg. on a fourth attempt. His third attempt of 255 kg. was enough to best Yuji Watanabe, who with two misses, increased his third attempt to 252.5 kg. for the Silver. Volodymyr Naroloskyy of Ukraine finished third with 237.5 kg. barely getting on the medals podium by 2.5 kg. over Sergey Nochnoy of Russia. The U.S.A.'s Lance Kirchner was unable to get in his opening weight of 232.5 kg. The 90 kg. class promised to be a dogfight between Russia's Alexey Vorobyev, last year's champion, and the U.S.A.'s Joe McAuliffe, the 2002 Champion. This day was to be the Russian's as he came out ahead by 2.5 over McAuliffe by 2.5 kg. at 260.5 kg. Third place was taken by Jan Bast, of Germany with a 257.5 effort. This class very likely the most exciting of the competition with the 6 places being separated by 15 kg. It doesn't get any closer than that. The final Saturday session was the Men's 100 and 110 classes. The U.S.A. faired well, with medals in both classes. In the 100's, Laslo Kupcsik, of Hungary set a world record of 285.5 kg. to take the Gold. Jarmo Sohlman, of Finland won the Silver with his 265 kg. opener. Jarmo tried for the longshot win: Kupcsik would have had to miss his third and Jarmo make his at 282.5 kg. for the win. But Laslo came through while the 285 for Jarmo stalled. The U.S.A.'s Ralph Young repeated his opener of 260 kg., making it on his second to lock up the Bronze medal. He missed his attempt at 270 kg. for the Silver on his third. The 110's marked the World's debut of Kevin Mayer, of the U.S.A. Kevin proved to be the exception to the rule that first timers don't generally make the top of the podium. Kevin made two of three attempts securing a 10 kg. win (280 kg.) over Shinichi Kosone of Japan. Oleg Kushnarev of Russia finished third with 267.5 kg. Sunday's morning session was the women's 82.5 kg. and above categories. The U.S.A. didn't have an entrant in the 82.5's which were won by Tatyana Kudryavtseva, of Kazakhstan with a 172.5 kg. World Record. Tatyana is a rarity among bench press specialists in that she is also is the World Champion in three lifts. Second place went to Timea Zavodsky of Hungary, who entered this competition with a 180 kg. nomination lift. She fell 10 kg. short and had to settle for the Silver medal. Nikoletta Nanasi scored 8 points for Hungary with 127.5 kg. The 90's were won handily by the Netherlands' Ilja Strik. She moved from the 82.5 ,g., weighing just over the class limit to take the Gold medal with 150 kg. Austria's ageless champion, Rosemarie Beer took the Silver with 125 kg. The U.S.A.'s Kim Newman, in her World's debut took the Bronze medal. The Women's Unlimited Class looked to be a walkover for Deborah Ferrell, returning for her 7th Bench Press Worlds. Unfortunately, shirt problems on her opener and the judges not seeing it her way left her in the Silver medal position. Deborah has the Open and Master's World record and strength to spare. She looks to be a force in this class very likely as long as she chooses to compete. The Gold went to Irina Naskripnyak of Russia with 175 kg. The Bronze went to Ganna Gannenko, of the Ukraine. Her opener of 165 looked to be the easiest of the class, but she was unable to improve on it to move up in the placings. The final session looked, after the nominations to be the province of Laszlo Meszaros of Hungary, and it proved to be after the dust settled. Laszlo opened with 320 kg., the World Record, passed his second leaving second place finisher Scott Lade of the U.S. A. wondering where he should go. Scott finished with a 302.5 kg. lift for a 2.5 kg. edge over Ove Lehto of Finland. These three medallists left the crowd at least 37.5 kg. behind proving they deserved the hardware. The Superheavyweight class looked to be exciting with many time World Champion Daisuke Midote of Japan going up against up and coming powerlifter, Kenneth Sandvik, of Finland. Sandvik is remarkable because he lifts the weight out of the rack himself. This day, he lifted off, and pressed a World Record of 322.5 kg. Dariusz Mirowski, who moved up from the 125 class, and who had the highest nomination total placed second with 320 kg. Had he made his third attempt of 330 kg. he would have take the Gold and the World Record but it stalled at lockout. Midote took the Bronze medal with his 310 kg. opener. The U.S.A.'s Lance Karabel placed a credible 6th place. This was his first World Champion, and his training numbers suggest that he is the next big thing in the Unlimited Class. This class was decimated by bombouts (four) of lifters who could have been in medal contention. That exemplifies why the pressure of the World Championships is a magnitude above any other competition. The Team standings were as follows: In the Women's Division, the U.S.A. took the Team Gold with 63 points. Russia placed a close second with 58, 10 points ahead of Japan. This is the first Open World Team title for the U.S.A. since our affiliation with the IPF in 1997. The Men's Team took the Silver Medal with 54 points. Japan, the masters of technique took the Gold Medal with 54 points. Poland placed third, four points behind. The competition concluded with the banquet, an IPF tradition. The competition was closed by IPF President Norbert Wallauch, and the ceremonies were capped off by dancing and a hula hoop competition among some of the heavier competitors. It was a great time. Let's do it again next year in Stockholm!

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