Day 9 opened with the lightweight open men and a star studded cast.
In the 59kg class, Vladimir Balynets of ROC took a commanding lead and was secure enough in first place to take a run at the world record with 176kg. This record belonged to Abdulkarim Karaman (KAZ) who was lifting in the same flight but in a higher weight class and was waiting in the wings watching the attempt. Unfortunately, it didn't quite go but it looked as though it would be on the cards soon. Frederik Myrvang of Norway had to defend hard against Yasushi Ogasawara of Japan to take the silver.
The 66s were dominated by Eddie Berglund who looked strong but ran a very smart competition and did just enough to stay ahead of Karaman. Philip Ziemer of Germany put in solid lifts to take the bronze, just missing his third on commands.
In the 74kg class, the bench legend that is Daiki Kodama of Japan was in a close re-match with Ukraine’s Ivan Chuprynko. In the equipped competition last week, Kodama won out so Chuprynko really upped the pressure today in the classic contest. Chuprynko smoked his 202.5kg opener but Kodama’s 205kg response was uncharacteristically slow. The Ukrainian asked for an ambitious 215kg for his second which forced the heavier Kodama to select 217.5kg, a weight that he has pressed before but he couldn’t get off his chest today. Chuprynko nailed his second and put 220kg on for his third and waited to see what the master would do. Kodama’s third moved no further than his second, handing the gold medal to Chuprynko who came out wreathed in smiles to take a bow but did not attempt the 220kg loaded onto the bar.
This broke Kodama’s streak of world championship wins going back as far as the 2012 competition with many more world titles before that, all the way back to 2002. He gave us a masterclass in sportsmanship though, with all three members of the Japanese team coaching each other and submitting each other’s attempts in this flight and he held Chuprynko’s arm up high in triumph on the podium in a gesture that embodies the spirit of powerlifting.
Although Ivan Chuprynko is no stranger to the top step of the podium, this is the first time he has beaten Kodama and it felt like a very special moment for him as he leads the race for the open best lifter award.
30th October 2021
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