Author Jo Whiteley
Sheffield – The Women
The long wait is nearly over. Years in the making, Sheffield is finally upon us! Legends of the IPF are converging on England’s Steel City to do battle for the biggest prize fund ever offered in powerlifting.
24 athletes will compete against world records and each other to claim their share of the £365,000 that SBD has put on offer. The big prize is £25,000 for first place and the women’s prize is exactly the same as the men’s. However, the athletes are not competing on total or formula – they will place on the percentage of the total world record that they achieve in their class. But that’s not all. There is a £5,000 bounty on world records in squat, bench, and deadlift. That means that two people could go home £40,000 richer for the night’s work.
Each athlete has already proved their worth to get the invite. On the women’s side, every total world record holder will be lifting together in a single flight. This is like an entire world championship compressed into an evening’s entertainment in Sheffield’s historic City Hall.
At the lightweight end of the field, we have Tiffany Chapon. She burst onto the international scene in Halmstad at the 2021 world championships and took the 47kg class by storm. In South Africa this year she broke Wei-Ling Chen’s long-standing total record, not once, but three times, taking the Best Lifter award into the bargain. Is she going to regret having pushed the total record up by so much? Of course, when you are in a tight battle for the world championship title, it’s a tough line to walk. The squat world record is hers too, and she is looking good to bag what could be the first cash of the competition.
Noémie Allabert is the 52kg total world record holder at 438kg. She doesn’t currently hold any of the single lift records as she is usually batting it back and forth with Pleun Dekkers – is this going to be her opportunity to hold the squat record for more than a couple of minutes? Her deadlift has been moving particularly well on the Road to Sheffield – she definitely has capacity to extend her own total WR – but by how much?
The 57kg will be very interesting. Joy Nnamani has been the world champion in this class since 2018 (and in the 52kg class before that!). She has the highest formula of any lifter in British Powerlifting and holds the deadlift world record. Until recently, she had the total world record too, but another French junior looking to make history broke it by half a kilo at the Euros in November – Jade Jacob. Jade is getting close to the squat world record in training and is even approaching Joy’s deadlift numbers. Big squatter, Evie Corrigan, is also in the mix in what promises to be an exciting skirmish in amongst the bigger battle.
Lya Bavoil is ranked no 1 in classic women’s powerlifting in the IPF, having hit 122.26 GL points the last time she came to the UK. She not only holds the 63kg squat, deadlift, and total world records, but she also has the 69kg squat and total records – an incredible achievement. But this begs the question – which class will she choose? This isn’t about formula, where you would want to keep your bodyweight down, and we have an odd situation here where the squat and total world records are lower in the 69s than in the 63s. An easy choice? Maybe, but she would have to fend off the 69kg back-to-back world champion, Chandler Babb. Chandler has a massive deadlift, which is a great ace to have up your sleeve, and she will push hard to claim that record for herself.
The 76kg class might well be the most anticipated head to head (to head) fight in the IPF this year. Agata Sitko has been dominating equipped lifting ever since she burst onto the scene post covid and not doing too badly in classic either! In South Africa last year, she pushed Jessica Buettner so hard, Jess had to bust out the biggest raw deadlift in IPF women’s history, just to match her on bodyweight – a finish that no one will forget in a hurry.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a new challenger was biding her time. Karlina Tongotea took the opportunity of the Commonwealth Championships coming to town to absolutely devastate the 76kg squat and total world records. And with 255kg, she’s not miles behind Jess Buettner’s iconic 261.5kg deadlift either. Can Canada’s pride hold them all off? She has already proved that she will load up whatever it takes to win. All the world records are in danger in this weight class as these three push each other to the very limits.
In the 84kg class, Amanda Lawrence is up against her own records, and she has set a very high bar indeed. She has the world records in squat, deadlift, and total, all of which were set at the 2021 World Championships. Can she improve on any of them? Judging by the way training is going, you better believe she can. Incredible numbers are moving with ease, and she is looking strong and confident in training.
Bonica Brown in the 84+kg is in the same position. She has spent years pushing those world records up into the stratosphere. She nudged the squat world record up to 273.5kg at Worlds last year, but the total record has been untouchable since Calgary 2018. She will have to exceed the record by more kilos than the lightweight lifters for the same percentage result and 671.5kg gives her a mountain to climb.
So, who will take the overall gold and the £25,000 prize money? There are no easy classes here, no easy wins. It’s hard to bet against Lya Bavoil – she had her redemption at the UK Arnold and seems to have capacity for more. Jade Jacob is still a junior, and we know how fast juniors improve. The 76s are just crazy – at the start of last year, the total WR was 563kg. Now it’s 600. Who knows where it will be next month?
However this plays out, we are promised one of the most exciting night’s lifting that the world has ever seen. Records will fall, and history will be made, at Sheffield 2023.