We finished off Day 3 of the World Open Powerlifting Championships in Stavanger with the 83kg men and this went down to the wire!
USVI’s Paul Douglas made an early impression opening with 360kg but he couldn’t get 370kg to depth on his second and did not stand up with it on his third. Ukraine’s Mykola Barannik attempted to come past with 365kg but it was turned down on depth.
Barranik and ROC’s Evgenii Vasiukov traded blows on bench with Vasiukov coming out on top with 370kg which Barannik couldn’t manage despite two attempts at the weight. Andrei Nicolae Irimie of Romania took the bench press bronze with 257.5kg from the B group, despite only having got a bench in on his third attempt.
At sub-total, Barannik led the pack with Vasiukov trailing by 2.5kg and Douglas a fair distance behind. We saw a quick reversal however, when Douglas streaked into the lead with a massive 315kg opening deadlift. All three contenders made their second deadlift which left Douglas and Vasiukov on 915kg and Barannik on 912.5kg. It could hardly have been closer!
The tension built in the third round of deadlifts: Barannik came out first for 300kg but locked his knees early and the weight swung out in front of him meaning that he could not improve on bronze. Vasiukov came out next for 305kg but couldn’t break it from the floor. Douglas came out for 335kg, already world champion – he couldn’t get it past his knees but he didn’t have to – his first world title in the bag.
