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World Powerlifting Championships

On the final day of the Championships, the Club's Ben Banks was down to compete in the 125kg class. Ben was looking to improve on his 11th place, he achieved in the 110kg class at the World Championships in Canada in 2008. The competition was hosted in New Delhi, India, and was a tough place for the British athletes to compete in. With an early start, Ben and the coaches braved the Indian roads to venture to the venue for the 7am weigh-in (equivalent to 1:30am UK time).

After weighing in light at 114.5kg, Ben began to prepare for the squat, in field of 13 athletes in the weight class. Ben was opening with 300kg, his biggest opener to date, but with a strong warm up, everything looked on track. Stepping back confidently with weight, Ben lost his line slightly, putting a lot on his back, but was still able to drive the weight up smoothly for white lights. In the second round, Ben jumped to 317.5kg, to improve on his personal best of 315kg from the Europeans in Finland. This time Ben stayed upright as he descended, and then, after sticking in the middle, fought the weight back up to lock-out for a good lift. After a tough lift, Ben took a small step up to 322.5kg for his final attempt. But the weight proved too much on the day, and he was helped back into the rack by the spotters. After the squats, Ben was in 10th place, with two of his stronger disciplines to follow.

In the Bench Press, Ben opened with a comfortable 235kg, before jumping to 250kg to match his competition best from the British Championships back in June. Lowering the weight confidently, Ben lost tightness as he drove the bar off his chest, allowing the weight to drift away from him, he was unable to recover. Retaking 250kg for his third attempt, this time Ben held a good line as he pressed the weight straight to lock out for a successful final attempt. This lift also allowed Ben to move up one position in the class to 9th place.

In the final discipline, Ben pulled 310kg comfortably to secure his 9th place position, and then asked for 325kg to get a personal best total. This time lift was tougher, as the weight slowed towards the top, but Ben finished the lift all the same. For his final attempt, 332.5kg was called to the bar, this would be a personal best on the deadlift, and would leave Ben with a 900kg total, a big milestone. But unfortunately, the previous deadlift had taken its toll, and Ben was unable to make much of an impression on the weight, losing his balance before his knees. However, Ben's total of 892.5kg was enough to take 8th place, with the title going to Russian entrant, Igor Gagin, with an impressive total of 1,062.5kg.

After, the 125kg class, Ben was able to watch British 125+kg Champion, Dean Bowring, make nine comfortable lifts, to finish with a 410kg Squat, 290kg Bench Press and 355kg Deadlift, for a 1,055kg total, to match the Russian and win the title on bodyweight, to become Britain's first ever Super-Heavyweight World Champion.

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