The sub-junior men have been making waves over in Poland at the Euros.
Current 66kg Sub-Junior World Champion, Alessandro Pastorello (ITA) was on fire! He broke the SJ squat world record on his opening lift. A risky move, especially as it was the only one he got in. It worked out for him though and gave him healthy lead. He wasn’t daunted either – he extended his own SJ deadlift world record, only recently set in Turkiye, with his 246.5kg opener, taking the total world record into the bargain. 256kg for his second was all she wrote but it was plenty to extend both records again and take the European title.
Italy shone in the 74s too with Alessandro Barbero smoking 272.5kg for a new SJ world record and his first international title.
Thomas McCarthy (IRL) and Damian Rusek (POL) entertained the crowd with a phenomenal deadlift battle, the world record changing hands three times. Rusek took a leap of faith after missing his 275kg deadlift opener – he asked for a world record attempt of 287.5kg for his second with nothing on the board. This was a gutsy move from a lifter new to international competition but the fail was a technical one and clearly strength wasn’t an issue. He took the record but McCarthy was on fire and took it for himself with a comfortable 288kg on his final pull. Rusek’s coaches made good use of
attempt changes to ensure Rusek was out last – he pulled a tough 289kg to retake the record but McCarthy took the title.
Malik Bernoussi Triolet of France has been unstoppable this year. Sub-junior world champion, he took the best lifter award in Turkiye and, coming into this competition, he held the world record in squat, bench and total. Although he missed a world record attempt on squat, he picked up momentum as he went through the competition. He moved his bench world record on to a massive 210kg and then scooped up the missing jewel in his crown, the deadlift world record with 310.5kg
This gave him a world record total with 800.5kg and the distinction of being the first sub-junior in the IPF to break 800kg. Triolet takes the Best Lifter trophy once again.
World Champion, Oliver Susa (HUN) brawled with Austria’s Hamza Demir from end to end in the 105s. Susa pulled back Demir’s early lead with two world record benches – 211kg and 214kg – and everything came down to final deadlifts. Susa was ahead but only by 9kg and he missed his final attempt, leaving the way clear. Demir took an easy looking 320kg to snatch the European title by a single kilo.
Incoming European SJ Champion, Axel Isberg (SWE) took his first world record today with a 308kg squat in the 120kg class. He followed it up with the deadlift (320kg) and total (790.5kg) records too to add to his back to back wins. Another great showing from the home team to take the sub-junior men’s team award as well as the women’s. This is by far the biggest cohort of sub-juniors we have seen and standards continue to improve. A rising tide lifts all boats and this tide is rising fast.