As the 2025 World Classic & Equipped Bench Press World Championships comes to a close, I would like to thank the athletes who gave us so many exciting moments and such unforgettable lifting.
It was a huge event. 903 athletes lifted in the classic category and 514 in the equipped. Many hardy souls competed in both. This is an incredible 72% increase in participation over last year’s contest in Texas, and by far the biggest event of this kind that we have ever held. Many thanks and congratulations go to the organising committee and their army of volunteers for pulling off such a mammoth event!
We saw many world records broken and witnessed the biggest women’s bench press ever achieved in the IPF - Kate Sweatman’s incredible 240.5kg press. Many new world champions took to the top step of the podium for the first time, and many seasoned veterans added yet another notch to their belt. Athletes from 14 to 88 years old graced the platform, from 47 countries around the world, and put on an amazing display of strength.
Thank you to the coaches, referees and volunteers who worked so hard to make this a successful championship. Thanks also go to the meet director Per Øivind Fjeld, Technical Secretary Morten Novum and to the Norwegian Powerlifting Federation as a whole for their vision and dedication to the event. Your efforts were appreciated by all who attended.
Lastly, thank you to our presenting partners, SBD and Eleiko, and our destination partner, VisitMalta, whose support makes these championships possible.
Sigurjon Petursson
Interim President
On behalf of the Executive Committee
