Author: Jo Whiteley
The women outnumbered the men (very slightly) at the European Classic this year and we saw some intense battles and many records broken during a cold week in Estonia.
Italy’s Annalisa Motta had her best ever result in the 47kg class. She hit personal bests in every lift and took the gold medal with 377.5kg. Team mate Karin Angelini picked up the silver medal ahead of Georgia’s Mtvarisa Khardziani.
In the 52s, Pleun Dekkers had herself a day. She recovered the squat world record that Noémie Allabert had taken at Sheffield earlier this year with a smooth 173kg. That’s the 8th time that Pleun has broken this record and it put her in a great position. Although her bench was a little down, a deadlift PB of 172.5kg sealed the deal on her first European title.
Alison Huet moved up to second place and gold on bench with a nice 100kg, but she couldn’t hold off the rapidly improving Sarah Klein, who deadlifted 182.5kg to sneak past by 2.5kg for the silver medal.
The top spots in the 57s were fairly spread out with squat world record holder, Bobbie Butters, miles out in front at sub-total, having picked up both squat and bench gold medals. Sovannphaktra Pal of France established herself pretty well in second place but there was a real tussle for the bronze.
Britain’s Adejoke Adetayo and Mylene van der Spek of the Netherlands were pretty evenly matched throughout. Both struggled on squat, only getting their openers in but by the end of the first round of deadlifts, they were both on 420kg totals. Adejoke took bigger jumps though and took the bronze medal by just 2.5kg.
Chiara Bernardi reigned supreme in the 63s. She put up a massive squat PB with 197.5kg and established a lead that just kept on extending. She collected all four gold medals and even had a swing at the deadlift world record, but 231.5kg was not for moving off the floor.
Competition was close further back though. Belgium’s Sahyuri Lalime got squat silver with 175kg but couldn’t defend the position against big benchers Pantea Supanetz and Mathilde Rosset who won silver and bronze both in the bench press and then the overall.
In the 69s, Marte Kjenner was on top form but she was in a tough class. Britain’s Annie Nelson started off strong, joining the 200kg club and taking the squat gold and a British record into the bargain. Always a great bencher, Marte’s 120kg opener took her past Annie by dint of slightly lighter bodyweight and into the lead. Marte went on to break the European bench record not once, but twice, ending up with a massive 128kg. Annie kept on hitting though and was 6 for 6 and only 3kg behind Marte going into deadlift.
Junior French phenom, Clara Peyraud, pulled herself level with Annie with her 215kg opening deadlift, going past on bodyweight. Annie took the position back with 217.5kg for her second but, in the final round, Clara rocked out a junior world record deadlift of 237.5kg, incidentally extending the junior total world record to 540kg, to take the silver medal on bodyweight. Meanwhile Marte paced perfectly, staying just ahead and securing her second European title.
In the 76kg class, the three podium sitters all went nine for nine — brilliant standard of lifting. Ukraine’s Liudmyla Bychok took squat gold and then hung on in the lead through to the end of bench. Places behind her shifted constantly but the landscape changed completely once we got to deadlift. Turns out there were a bunch of deadlift specialists lurking in the ranks and they sprang into action immediately.
Sophia Ellis’ opening pull of 222.5kg rocketed her from 7th all the way to 2nd in one move, only 2.5kg behind the heavier Ukrainian. 235kg for Sophia’s 2nd got her out in front when Liudmyla missed. Sara Sanchez of Spain and Lea Schreiner of Germany were also making up ground rapidly and were closing on the podium places. Liudmyla missed her third as well and could not defend when Sara pulled 227.5kg for the overall silver, only 5kg ahead of Lea.
With the competition in the bag, Sophia was free to chip her own European deadlift record and she pulled a beautiful 245.5kg, complete with hair flip and a big smile at the top.
The 84kg class was intense! Britain’s Ziana Azariah made a statement from the start, hitting a big personal best (and a British record) squat of 220kg. The favourite in class, Kristín Þórhallsdóttir of Iceland, missed her second squat on commands – not something we expected to see – and had to retake it, leaving her with the squat silver, 5kg behind Ziana and 15kg ahead of the other Brit in class, Temi Nuga.
Ziana lost ground on bench after missing her opener – on commands! In the end, she hit 107.5kg to the others’ 117.5kg. This put Kristín into the lead for the first time, 5kg ahead. Not for long though. The Brits went in big on deadlift, and Ziana’s 230kg put her a long way in front, with Temi’s 222.5kg nudging her into 2nd place. Kristín closed the gap to Temi completely with her second but stayed in 3rd on bodyweight.
When Kristín missed her third, the places were decided and Ziana made use of the opportunity to take back the European deadlift record with a monster 253.5kg. It looked so easy, you have to wonder what she’s actually capable of. A 20kg+ total PB and your first international title is a pretty good day’s work.
Sonita Muluh put in a regal performance in the supers, absolutely smoking a 275kg squat and making it clear that she was capable of so much more. She matched her best bench with 142.5kg and took the best lifter award with a perfectly judged 257.5kg deadlift on her second attempt. Although she was coasting a little, she finished on an incredible 675kg – only 13kg off her best ever total.
Sweden’s Matilda Hjälle had a great scrap with team mate Anna-Lena Bellqvist for the other podium places. Anna-Lena had a much bigger squat but Matilda had a much bigger bench and, at sub-total, Matilda was 10kg ahead. Anna-Lena opened 15kg heavier and moved up to second but her opener was her only successful deadlift and Matilda just kept going, getting all three in and taking the deadlift silver with 220kg, as well as the overall.
Sonita Muluh took the best lifter award, Chiara Bernardi was only just behind and Marte Kjenner won third place.
In the team competition, Great Britain made it a one-two punch, winning the men’s and women’s competitions for the first time ever. Italy was 2nd and France was 3rd.
That wraps up the Euros from a wintry Tartu, Estonia. It won’t be long until the next one, so many of those hardy souls will be straight back into prep for Euros 2024. Can’t wait to see it.
