European Classic Masters 2023 - Day 2 preview

 

Day 2 of the European Classic Masters in Budapest, Hungary is given over to the M2 women with a few M3 men later in the day.

The first session starts at 8am GMT and this will be the M2 lightweight women.

First up, in the 57kg class, we have Northern Ireland lifter, Karen Burns.  She was European champion in 2020, breaking the deadlift world record that same day – wouldn’t it be great to see her take that record back home again?  Karen is nominated in third place but only a handful of kilos behind second so we are expecting this to come down to a deadlift battle at the end.

We have two Brits in the 63kg class.  Sharon Holmes, fresh from her bronze medal winning performance at worlds, has international newbie Jacqui North to keep her company.   No quarter will be given though as these two look to be quite closely matched and will be battling each other as well as the rest of the field for podium places.

The afternoon session will start at 1pm GMT and we have another closely matched pair of Brits, this time in the 69s.  Terrie Redmore is nominated less than 5kg ahead of tiny bench queen, Bev Rodgers.  Terrie took the bench gold at her first international at world masters in October but Bev is a former World Champion bencher and will be looking to maximise her advantage in this lift in her return to classic powerlifting.

In the 76kg class it’s Mel Allen who has FINALLY got around to making her debut on the international scene.  Mel has the biggest M2 bench in British Powerlifting outside the super heavyweight class so hopefully this will bolster her total in what promises to be an exciting scrap with the current world champion.

The evening session kicks off at 5pm GMT and we have a mixed group with the M2 ladies heavyweight classes lifting back to back with the lightweight M3 men.

In the 84kg class, no surprises that Georgina Hazell is nominated a fair way out in front.  With back to back world championship titles, Georgina has never been defeated on the international stage and, realistically, this European title is hers to lose.

In the supers, we have returning North Ireland lifter, Libby Blair.  She's been out for a while with injuries and here she is, fighting at the front!  It's going to be a tough race but she is armed with that huge deadlift so she could well be bringing her first international title home.

The first of our M3 men to lift is the familiar face of Allen Ottolangui in the 74kg class.  He has been lifting and coaching for decades - he sent me out to the platform at my first and at my last international competition and there's no better person to have in your corner.  He's been masters world champion both classic and equipped but he's going to have his work cut out making the podium at this one with some fierce competitors ahead of him and he will have to leverage his squat advantage as hard as he can.

A long day's lifting today and the M2 women's team are facing strong challenges from Sweden and Ireland but the last time we sent classic M2s to the Euros, they brought back the team gold.  We will be cheering ladies - bring it home again!