WORLD POWERLIFTING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Now this year's world championship in Delhi, India is successfully accomplished. And it has truly been an impressive championship seen with European eyes. Where the old nations once again proved their sovereign power, determination and dedication. How the mighty Russian nation managed to cement its sovereign place as one of the world's absolutely best sporting nations with maximum score of 72 points in both the men and the women nation competition.

In the womens competition the Russians were followed Ukraine, Finland, Norway, Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Denmark, France, Poland, Czechia, Iceland and Austria.

Womens medals: Russia: 7 gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. Ukraine: 1 gold medal, 2 silver medals and 1 bronze medal. Finland: 2 silver and 1 bronze medal. Norway: 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. Netherlands: 1 silver medal. France: 1 bronze medal.

New World and Continale Records: Galina Potselueva Rusia 67.5 kg class World Open Record (Tree Lift) Bench press 164 kg Galina Karpova Rusia 90+ kg class World Open Record Squat 320 kg and World Open Record 745 kg Total Hildeborg Hugdal Norway 90+ kg class World Open Record (Tree Lift) Bench press 201.5 kg Andrii Krymov Ukraine 90 kg class World Open Record (Tree Lift) Bench press 286 kg

Best lifter on Wilks points: 1st place Irina Poletaeva Rusia 60 kg class 627,411 wilks points 2nd place Galina Potselueva Rusia 67.5 kg class 618,436 wilks points 2rd place Noviana Sari India 60 kg class 612,035 wilks points

In the mens competition Russia was followed by Ukraine, Poland, France, Czechia, Great Britain, Bulgaria, Finland, Norway, Kazakhstan, Iceland, Belarus, Netherlands, Slovakia, Germany, Belgium and Austria. Mens medals: Russia: 6 gold medals, 3 silver medals and 1 bronze medal. Ukraine: 1 gold medals, 5 silver medals and 3 bronze medals. Great Britain: 1 gold medal. Poland: 1 gold medal, 3 bronze medals. Czechia: 1 bronze medal.

New World and Continale Records: Sergey Fedosienko Rusia 56 kg class World Open Record 715 kg Total. Jaroslaw Olech Poland 75 kg class World Open Record Squat 365 kg and World Open Record 887.5 kg Total Alexey Sorokin Rusia 82.5 kg class European Open Record Squat 365 kg Andrii Krymov Ukraine 90 kg class World Open Record (Tree Lift) Bench press 286 kg

Best lifter on Wilks points: 1st place Sergey Fedosienko Rusia 56 kg class 663,277 wilks points 2nd place Jaroslaw Olech Poland 75 kg class 637,136 wilks points 3rd place Ivan Freydun Ukraine 100 kg class 626,070 wilks points

On behalf of The EPF I will like to thanks the Indian Powerlifting Federation, the city of Delhi the hosting club, Secretary General Subrata Dutta and his staff for a great event.

And finally on behalf of the EPF I congratulate all the participants in this World Championship 2009, and a special thanks to all the European medalists for bringing back so many medals and honor to Europe.

Thanks

EPF Media Officer

Anton

ELEIKO BENCH PRESS RACKS

Dear benchers and powerlifters,

Because of the high numbers of replace commands doing our latest championships in 2009, due to the fact, that the majority of our lifters are used to the well known ER-Racks, and therefor places themselves wrongly on the Eleiko bench, to avoid a different angel under the bare, than the one they are used to in training and previously on the platform.

Eliko are aware of the problem, and I have had a very positive and constructive dialog with Andreas Andrén the Export Sales Manager of ELEIKO, and he have ensured me, that they will solve the problem fast, with the placing of the bench. So that the Eleiko bench racks will be fully comparable to well know the ER bench racks, and also the numbers of adjustments holes in the two towers will be the same.

Media Officer

Anton Kraft

The 15th EUROPEAN OPEN BENCH PRESS MEN AND WOMEN CHAMPIONSHIPS 2009 from the 6th – 8th August IN FRYDEK-MISTEK, CZECH REPUBLIC is over.

The European men and women in Bench Press once again delivered and outstanding performance this time in Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic. Both the men and the women was victorious on the platform.

Ilka SCHWENGL from Austrian in 48 kg class made a European Master 1 record and a World master 1 record. Valentina NELYUBOVA from Russia in 67,5 kg class made a European Master 1 record. Marek MARKWAT from Poland in 90 kg class made a European Master 1 record. Vladimir VOLKOV from Russia in 110 kg class made a European Open record, a European Master 1 + 2 record, a World Open record and a World Master 1 +2 record.

For the women: Russia scored 57 points out of 72 points possible. 4 goldmedals and 1 silver medal..Second was Hungary with 53 points and third was Poland with 48 points. Justyna KOZDRYK from Poland won the best lifter award with 164.9 wilks points. The next 2 places all went to Russia, Valentina NELYUBOVA became second with 157,7 wilks points. And Larisa KOTKOVA became third with 154,7 wilks points. Holland's Ielja STRIK got a gold medal in the 90 kg class. And Hollands's Joanne SCHAEFER-WILLIAMS grabbed the gold medal in the 90 kg + followed by her countryman Brenda VAN DER MEULEN who got silver. Olga PANTINA won the gold medal in the 75 kg class followed by Natalya SAMARINA also from Russia. In the 82,5 kg class Eugenya SHABANOVA also from Russia won a gold medal, and the silver medal went to Dorota SZCZEPANIK from Poland Austria .Ilka SCHWENGL got the silver medal in the 48 kg class and the gold went to Justtyna KOZDRYK from Poland. In the 52 kg class the gold went to Krisztina from Hungry, the silver went to Susse from Denmark and the bronze went to Marcela SANDVIK from Finland. In the 60 kg there was only 3 lifters, and the gold went to Dana MATEJOVA from Slovakia, the silver went to Jadwiga from Poland and the bronze went to Anke from Germany.

In the mens class: Poland scored 60 points out of 72 points possible, 2 goldmedeals and 4 silver. Russia scored 59 points, 3 gold medals, 1 silver. Finland scored 58 points 2 gold medals, 2 silver and 2 bronze.

Vladimir Volkov from Russia won the best lifter award with 184.82 wilks points. The second place went to Frederik Smulter Finland with 182,45 wilks points, Jan Weigiera Poland third with 176,77 wilks points.

In the 56 kg. Class Pavlov Konstantin Russia won the gold, Dariusz Wszola Poland got silver and Stefan Slovakia got bronze. In the 60 kg. Class Jaroslaw Poland woo the gold, Miguel Spain got silver and the bronze went to Addenet Berenger France. In the 67,5 kg. Class Ravil Kazakov Russia won the gold, Raman Yeremashvili Belarus got silver and the bronze went to Ivan Chuprinko Ukraine. In the 75 kg. Class Alphonse Cucuzella France won the gold, Silver went to Jaroslaw Olech Poland and Antti Savolainen Finland received bronze. In the 82,5 kg. Class Cyril Pinguet France won the gold, silver vent to Daniel Kowalczyk Poland and Antti Liimatainen Finland got bronze. In the 90 kg. Class Jan Wegiera Poland won the gold, silver went to Vladimir Grishaev Russia and the bronze went to Fredrick Jader Sweden.

In the 100 kg. Class Stefan Jamroz Sweden won the gold, silver went to Toni Koskinen Finland and the bronze went to Tangelmayer Slovakia. In the 110 kg Class Vladimir Volkov won the gold, silver went to Artur Rejek Poland and the bronze went to Sami Pullinen Finland. In the 125 kg Class Pekka Heikkala Finland won the gold, silver went to Mariusz Hadrysiak Poland and the bronze went to Achim Kircher Germany. In the 125 + kg. Class Fredrik Smulter Finland won the gold, silver went to Kenneth Sandvik and bronze went to Alastait McColl Norway.

On behalf of The EPF I will like to thanks the Czech Republic Powerlifting Federation, the city of Frydek-Mistek the hosting club and the meet director Vladimir Mati, for a great event.

Media Officer

Anton Kraft

The 25th JUNIOR’S MEN AND 15th JUNIOR’S WOMEN EUROPEAN POWER LIFTING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2009 IN JÖNKÖPING, SWEDEN is over.

The Russian men and women delivered and outstanding performance in Jonköping, Sweden. Both the men and the women was victorious on the platform and scored a perfect score of 72 points.

Out of the 11 weight classes, the strong Russian nations men won eight of them. Second placed went to Estonia and Poland became third.

Vadym Dovganyuk from Estonia won the best lifter award with a total of 983 kg. The next 3 places all went to Russia Arthur Mashinsky became second. Mashinsky became third, Dmitry Inzarkin became fourth.

Finland's Arto Kettunen got a silver medal. And Sweden's Mathias Ivarsson grabbed bronze. Norway's Jörgen Hansen won a bronze medal. Sweden's Damir Trokic won a gold medal. Norway's Carl Yngvar Christensen won a bronze medal in the super heavyweight class.

The women from Sweden placed second in the overall competition, followed by Poland.

Russian Julia Medvedeva was the winner of the best lifter award with a total of 546kg. Her countrymen Olga Gemaletdinova (shw) and Marya Gulidova got second and third.

Sweden's Kristine Almroth took a silver medal, and so did Viktoria Gvostenovic also from Sweden. And Emma Bjorklund also from Sweeden got a bronze medal. The same did Norway's Sara Berget. Iceland's Thelma Olafsdottir also got bronze.

On behalf of The EPF I will like to thanks the Swedish Powerlifting Federation, the city of JÖNKÖPING the hosting club and the meetdirector Bjorn Stolphammar for a great event.

Media Officer

Anton Kraft

The Russians are back!

The suspension of the Russian Powerlifting Federation has come to an end, and they were back from the 31st of August 2008. They will be on probation to the 30th of June 2009.

The Russian Team is currently participating in the Sub-Junior & Junior World Championships in South Africa .

If just one of there lifters is found positive at Regional or International meetS or by the OCT-tests carried out by the IPF, they will then immediately be suspended.

The Russian Powerlifting Federation has enforced an Anti-Doping program including OCT-tests of their international lifters and they send the results from their Anti-Doping program to the IPF General Secretary.

On behalf of The EPF I welcome The Russians back.

Anton Kraft EPF Media Officer.

19th IPF WORLD BENCH PRESS CHAMPIONSHIPS Held in Prague, Czech Republic, June 25th to 29th, 2008

More then 200 powerlifters competed at the 19th IPF World Open Bench Press Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. The venue was at the Congress Hall in the Hotel Olympik Tristar in Prague.

The WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS:

The Women’s competition, the two lighter classes were dominated by Japanese lifters. Yukako Fukushima repeated her win from last year with the Gold medal in the 48kgclass. And Justyna Kozdryk of Poland comes in second with a European record of 125kg.

Kaori Nagaya from Japan took the title with a Masters One World record of 125kg. in the 52kg class The next three lifters all did 107.5kg, the Silver medal went to Alesia Shynkevich from Belorussia, who was the lightest.

Teale Adelmann from the USA won Gold in the 56kg class with three great lifts 1st 110 kg 2nd 112.5 kg 3rd 115 kg.

The first European winner was Tamara Althaus of Germany with a great lift of 150kg press, which also gave her the Best Lifter award.

Another European winner was Fiona Gundula von Bachhaus for Germany with an impressive lift of 145 kg in her second attempt the 67.5kg. Witch gave her the Gold medal.

Two Norwegians girls did battle for first place in the 75kg class, and the title went to Bente Arntsen with 135kg beating Inger Blikra, who did the same 135kg, but had a heavier bodyweight.

The 82.5kg class was an all European matter, and it was won by Edina Ulveczki from Hungary with 145kg. She beat the Czech lifter Hana Takacova because of lighter bodyweight.

The outstanding World Bench Press champion and World Powerlifting champion, Ielja Strik from Holland won the Gold medal with 172.5kg in her 2nd attempt , and she was close to lockout 183,5 kg in her attempt 3rd , witch would have been a new World record for her.

In the 90+kg clas it was World Powerlifting champion Hildeborg Hugdal from Norway who took the title with 175kg. Had a attempt at the World record of 191.5, but it was too heavy.

TEAM POINTS: 1st - Hungary with 47 points 2nd - USA with 43 points 3rd – Finland with 42 points

BEST LIFTER: Tamar Althaus from Germany

The MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS:

The World champion Anton Kraft from Denmark won the 56kg class with a World record of 192.5kg. In the 60kg class, Hisayuki Nakayama from Japan took the title with 207.5kg. His 3rd attempt was a World record attempt of 223.5kg, but the bare didn’t move.

The 67.5kg class was won by another great Japanese lifter, Toshiko Noda. He did 222.5kg, and he was close to press a World record 231kg

Marcus Schick from Germany did 242.5kg in the 75kg class, and was the winner of the class. Last years world champion Michael Hara from USA was close to win the class with a 3rd attempt of 245 kg, but failed to lock it out and finished 2nd.

Daiki Kodama World record holder from Japan won the 82.5kg class and the Best Lifter award with great lift of 272.5kg, and Jan Weigera from Poland finished 2nd with 262,5 kg.

World Masters Champion Dennis Cieri in the 90 kg class from USA took home their first gold medal to the stats with an impressive lift 270kg. Jan Bast from Germany become 2nd with a lift of 267.5kg

Timothy Anderson in the 100kg class from the USA also took home a gold medal to the stats, with a lift of 270kg. And Thomasz Kuc from Poland finished 2nd with a lift of 265kg.

Marcus Hirvonen from Sweden, World record holder in the 125kg class with 326.5kg dropped down to compete in the 110kg class of this Championship. He kept his strength and did a great lift of 285kg, and it gave him the gold medal. Krysztof Bozyczko from Poland become 2nd.

The world famous Roy Holte from Norway did some great lifts. He did 3 good attempts, and it gave him the title in the 125kg class by lifting 315 kg in his 3rd attempt title with 315kg. Scott Lade from USA took home the silver to the stats with a lift of 307, 5 kg. Janne Heittokangas from Finland also lifted 307.5kg, but was a little heavier and finished 3rd.

There was drama in the +125kg class. Ove Lehto from Finland was the winner with an impressive lift of 325kg in his 3rd attempt. Second was Johnny Wahlqvist from Sweden also lifting 325 kg, but he was heavier. World record holder Daisuke Midote from Japan got 3rd pace with a lift of 322,5kg

TEAM POSITIONS: 1st – Japan with 60 points 2nd - USA with 59 points 3rd – Poland with 49 points

BEST LIFTER: Daiki Odama from Japan

Full Championships results on the IPF Web site:- www.powerlifting-ipf.com

The audience in the well packed Congress Hall in Prague got 3 days of impressing bench press delivered by the top benchers in the IPF.

Some of these lifters will be competing again in August at the European Bench Press Championship 2008 in Bratislava. And the best of the benchers will meet again at The IPF Titan Pro Bench Bash 2009 in Columbus in Ohio USA at Arnold Sports Festival 2009. One of the biggest sports events in the world.

EPF MEDIA OFFICER ANTON KRAFT E-Mail anton@antonkraft.com

Now The European Bench-press Team is heading to the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus , Ohio USA - Sunday March 2nd

Ielja Strik, Gundula v.Bachhaus, Joanne Schaefer, Jan Bast, Markus Schick, Jan Wegiera, Anton Kraft, Frederick Svensson, Marcus Hirvonen and Johnny Wahlqvist will be competing in one of the largest strength events in the World in the professional Bench Press event.

About the Arnold EXPO

The Arnold EXPO is the largest health and fitness expo in the country with 650 booths showcasing healthy lifestyle products and methods to more than 150,000 fitness fans in three days of free entertainment and competition from top professional and amateur athletes.

The Arnold Sports Festival is "A Weekend of Sports and A Lifetime of Fitness" hosting 39 sporting events. More than 17,000 athletes and 150,000 sports fans watch three days of athletic competition that tests human capabilities in the widest variety of sports in one place for so many athletes than any other event in the world.

Anton Kraft, Media Officer, The European Powerlifting Federation

A PROUD MOMENT FOR EUROPEAN POWERLIFTING - 16 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 19 GOLD MEDALS!

The 37th Open Men's World Powerlifting Championships 2007 In Soelden Austria

The IPF Powerlifting World Championship 2007 which was held in Soelden, Austria. In women Russia won with a perfect 72 points. Chinese Taipei was 2nd with 52 points, and the Ukraine was 3rd with 52 points. The USA was 4th with 45 points. Netherlands placed 7th with 25 points and Denmark, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Puerto Rico, Ecuador was last with just 1 point.

Russian Irina Poletaeva in the 60 kg class did a IPF World Record in the bench press with 155 kg. Another great Russian lifter Svetlana Dedyula in the 82, 5 kg class benched 185 kg, and took an IPF World Record from Tatyana Kudryavtseva. The superstar Strik Ielja from the Nederland’s in the 90 kg class won the gold with a total of 580,35 kg

In men Russia dominated again, scoring another perfect 72 points. The USA was second with 50 points. The Ukraine was third with 47 points. Denmark was twenty seventh with just 3 points. Algeria was 28th with just 2 points. Belgium, Estonia, Australia, Morocco and United Arab Emirates were 29th and last with just 1 point.

The Russian Sergey Fedosienko totalled with 700 kg in the 56 kg class and sat an IPF World Record. Fedosienko destroyed his countryman Konstantin Pavlov's former record total. Poland's Jaroslaw Olech squatted an IPF World Record with 350 kg in the 75 kg class. The Russia's Andrey Belyaev did an IPF World Record in the squat with 380 kg in the 90 kg class. The Ukrainian Andriy Krymov also did an IPF World Record with a 285 kg in bench press in the 90 kg class And Brad Gillingham broke his own M1 IPF World Record with a total of 1052,5 kg in the 125 + kg class.

American superstar Wade Hooper got the first silver medal to the US with a total 2nd place in the 75 kg class. And Tony Cardella got the first US gold medal with a win at total of 1022, 5 in the 125 kg class. Great Britain's Henry Clive got the silver.

All in all a good completion with 8 gold medals to the European Women and 8 gold medals to the European men out of a total of 19 gold medals at this years Open Men's World Powerlifting Championships.

Anton Kraft, Media Officer, The European Powerlifting Federation

IPF STATEMENT TO ATHLETES, NATIONS AND THE MEDIA STATUS OF THE RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN POWERLIFTING FEDERATIONS

All in the sporting world are aware that the single greatest moral issue facing sport today is that of doping. Drugs in sport threaten to take away all meaning from sport, which has long represented the triumph of athletes maximizing their natural abilities. Artificial performance enhancers, to allow one cheating athlete to prevail over a hard-working competitor, destroy the beauty and value of sport as an ideal for all in society.

The International Powerlifting Federation, being the true governing body of a worldwide sport confronted with this problem, is unhesitatingly committed to contributing to the war on drugs in sport. To that end, the IPF has in recent years accelerated its drug-testing campaign. Both in competition and out-of-competition tests have been conducted, in the order of approx. 360 tests per year in the past few years and many positives have resulted. All positives have been acted on, with suspensions imposed and where necessary cases have been fought through appeal processes. Most importantly, the IPF has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code, has achieved the status of an Anti-Doping Organization with WADA and has faithfully followed the WADA Code in terms of testing, sanctioning and educational activities.

However the IPF has also chosen to go beyond the WADA Code in the fight against drugs, by instituting in the IPF regulatory statutes the capacity for the IPF, through its Executive Committee, to sanction and control Federations who’s athletes drug-testing records indicate a broader problem within that Federation. On that basis, in 2003 to 2005, the IPF identified problems with the Russia n and Ukraine Federations, in that those nations produced many positive in-competition results in that period. To assess those Federations further, the IPF Executive ordered and conducted unannounced testing at the 2005 to 2006 Russia n and Ukraine National Championships. The results were totally unacceptable; with many positives tests and the IPF Executive had no hesitation in imposing a two year suspension on the Russia n and Ukraine Powerlifting Federations.

Those federation-level suspensions were always intended by the IPF Executive to be constructive exercises. That is, the two federations were informed that during the period of suspension their activities were to be monitored and they were expected to establish national drug-testing systems that are WADA-compliant. The intention was that the suspensions would act as a powerful stimulus for the Russia n and Ukraine Federations to establish a lasting programme for doping control within their nations, rather than for a punishment to be imposed but the underlaying problem to remain.

To that end the IPF Executive regularly monitored and met with the heads of the Russia n and Ukraine Powerlifting Federations. The Executive was heartened to see documentation indicating advances in those nations, in terms of national testing programmes and positive results being acted on with suspensions. The Executive also took note of information from the governments of Russia and Ukraine , to the effect that the federations had been denied funding and support due to the suspensions and also risked de-recognition. At that point, in June 2007, the IPF Executive considered that the original goal of achieving national doping control programmes in Russia and Ukraine had been at least substantially achieved and that there was real risk of a destructive effect occurring, in terms of a possible collapse of the two federations.

The decision was thus made to not cancel the suspensions, but to alter them to suspended sentences and also to elongate the suspended sentence for a further year. Thus, if either the Russia n or Ukraine Federation has a single international positive test result between now and 31st December 2008 that federation will again be fully suspended through to that date. The IPF Executive is aware that the political situation in both countries is such that a further suspension may well effectively destroy the federation concerned and the Executive is prepared to accept such a consequence. Further, in addition to ongoing international in-competition testing, the IPF will conduct out-of-competition testing in Russia and Ukraine in 2007 and 2008, with the same draconian consequences for the federation flowing from any positive results in that testing.

Thus, in the case of Russia and Ukraine , the IPF Executive has taken the initiative by establishing federation-level sanctioning rules and powers, above and beyond even the requirements of the WADA Code and then rigorously pursuing two federations which had breached the standard expected by the IPF of its member nations. However, the intent has been to punish and then rehabilitate, rather than to destroy those federations and this process is ongoing. Russia and Ukraine remain under suspended sentence, with just one positive again triggering their suspension and possible destruction as federations. Close management of the Russia n and Ukraine Federations by the IPF Executive will continue through 2007 and 2008 and beyond. Equally any other nation which fails to meet the standards expected by the IPF and the sporting world will also be dealt with firmly by the IPF.

Robert Wilks on behalf of the IPF Executive Committee

Anton Kraft, Media Officer, The European Powerlifting Federation