The M3 British Men's team out in Budapest for the European Classic Masters was small but perfectly formed.
The most mis-spelled man in British Powerlifting, Allen Ottolangui, lifted in the 74kg class. A friendly and familiar face in the warm up room and the bar, Allen is no stranger to the platform either with many international titles under his belt. While the man in front was some way ahead of the pack, even from the first lift, it could not have been a tighter battle for the podium or a more exciting finish for the rest of the field.
Allen looked good on squat, nailing his first two but missing his last on depth. Still, 175kg was enough for the squat silver and put Allen in a good place heading into the rest of the competition. Not a huge bench fan, he started to lose ground a little on this lift, slipping back to fifth place.
However, once deadlifts got underway, he started to make headway again. The Icelandic lifter missed his opener and Allen closed the gap to third place with an easy looking 170kg. A big jump to 185kg for his second and he was suddenly back in the game, only 2.5kg separating him from the Slovakian and Finnish lifters with Birkirsson from Iceland still to make a successful pull.
Final round and Birkirsson was out first for 180kg with nothing on the board. He held onto the bar this time and jumped ahead to 4th place. Mihok of Slovakia next for 185kg to cement second place but he rolled the bar away from himself and couldn't get it moving. With everything still to play for, Allen came out onto the platform and set up with his familiar deadlift style, narrow stance, toes pointed out, and 190kg on the bar. It was slow but it went all the way and, when the Finn missed his third, Allen closed his hand around both the deadlift and the overall silver medals. In the end, only 5kg separated 2nd - 5th place - it could not have been more closely fought.
Our only other M3 on the men's team was Grant Sugarman, sweet by name, sweet by nature. He was in a similar position in the 83kg class as the man in front was some distance ahead throughout. There's only so much you can do when you are up against a man in the process of adding nearly 30kg to the total world record.
Grant followed exactly in Allen's footsteps on squat, 165kg, 175kg but missed 180kg on depth. Still, he collected his first medal of the day - bronze on squat. Grant opened his bench at 110kg - not super easy but certainly not in any doubt - but 115kg just would not go. He snagged the bench bronze anyway and moved up to overall second place.
Grant pulled ahead with his 220kg deadlift opener, giving himself room to manoeuvre. 230kg for his second really made sure he could not be challenged and he claimed the deadlift and overall silver medals, matching his best performance to date at this level and also matching his team-mate.
Great lifting chaps!
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