Dear lifters and officials,

An all-time record number of lifters: 1088 will compete in the combined Classic and Equipped Bench Press World Championship in Tokyo. By combining equipped bench press and classic bench press into one event, we have listened to our lifters and we are giving them the opportunity to compete in both formats at the world level in one fantastic event.  The popularity of both lifting formats is clear with 309 male equipped lifters and 350 male classic lifters now nominated for the event. It is wonderful to see that we have 187 female equipped lifters and 242 female classic lifters participating. 

With this huge number of nominations at a world bench press championship, it is obvious that there must be co-operation from each and every national federation to send their internationally qualified referees so that we can ensure the highest standards are maintained for our lifters. 

I wish all the lifters going to Tokyo the very best and the achievement of your goals and I...