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 look forward to seeing you in Tokyo!
I also want to thank the all the referees for coming and the effort you put in to ensure our lifters can compete in the highest standard of competition.
Many thanks to the organizer and his team for taking on this big challenge, I know it will be a wonderful event!
I thank my colleagues from the IPF Executive Committee who will be with me in Tokyo ensuring the competition runs smoothly in every way, many of whom will also referee the event.
Thanks in advance to our media team who will make sure we have engaging and high quality streaming that people from all over the world can enjoy online.
I wish you all safe travels and good luck with this momentous event!
Gaston Parage
IPF President
