Our two 66s battled for supremacy, as expected. Bernie McGurk is the current equipped world champion and Greig Murray is the classic world champ. These two have met on the battlefield many times and they always entertain.
Bernie pushed out strong on squat, opening on 170kg to Greig's 155kg. His plan hit a bump though when he missed 180kg on depth for his second and had to retake. Although he nailed it on his final attempt and took squat gold, Greig had quietly been putting kilos on the board and he got the squat silver, only 7.5kg behind.
Bench was never Bernie's favourite though and Greig snuck past with his 115kg opener. Greig looked really solid here too, getting all three benches in and finishing on 122.5kg for the bench silver. This put Greig 5kg ahead going into deadlift with Bernie under pressure from the French lifter, Besnard, only 2.5kg back.
Onto deadlifts and strategy was crucial here. Greig was the lighter lifter and had the higher lot number meaning that Greig could go out second for the same weight and take the advantage. Both selected 222.5kg for their openers. But disaster! Bernie, out first, lost his balance at the top - the curse of the sumo deadlifter. Greig was out straight after and absolutely smoked it.
This must have been a tough choice for the coaches - go up with nothing on the board or lose touch by repeating the weight? Bernie is a fighter for sure and and he chose to keep fighting. He went up to 230kg and Greig matched him, both moving the weight easily. The Frenchman missed his second, meaning that Bernie could focus on the challenge for first rather than defending second place.
With everything on the line, Bernie took a big jump to 245kg - it was a bit of a grinder but he pulled it and moved into first place. Greig barrelled out onto the platform immediately afterwards and made short work of the same weight to take the deadlift gold and the overall title in a brilliant 9 for 9 performance.
In the 74kg class, the tiny Welsh dragon, Phil Richard, had things pretty much his own way throughout. Veteran of many international competitions, Phil is more usually to be found lifting equipped but decided to moonlight in the classic this time. He opened up a massive 22.5kg lead with his 217.5kg squat, extending his own British record too. Another gold medal on bench with 140kg gave him a lead of more than 30kg, surely insurmountable. And so it proved. A 225kg pull gave him the deadlift silver, the British total record and the overall title to add to his collection.
George Millar from Northern Ireland is another lifter who competes both classic and equipped. He made good inroads with 205kg for the squat bronze but he lost a lot of ground on bench and was in 6th place going into deadlifts in a really tightly packed field. George opened with a smooth 230kg and this moved him up to 4th straight away, only a single kilo behind 3rd place. 245kg for his second went well and when the Austrian lifter in third missed his final deadlift, George asked for 252.5kg to move onto the overall podium. Unfortunately, it was a little too much and he had to settle for the deadlift bronze and 4th place.
Robert Rodney lifted in a competitive 93kg class. The Hungarian in class, Fekete, was untouchable in every lift and too far ahead to catch so this quickly became the fight for the remaining podium places in a very tight field. Robert squatted 212.5kg and benched 132.5kg for a 345kg sub-total, putting him in fifth place going into deadlift. However, deadlift is his super power and after smoking his 250kg opener, Robert shot up to third. 270kg on the bar next and this matched the Irish lifter, Yelverton, on total and moved past him on bodyweight. Silver on deadlift and silver overall for Chiselled Ice.
In the 105kg class, newcomer Chris Lynn had a decent day. His 245kg squat netted him the silver medal but he was up against strong and experienced competitors and his position eroded as the competition progressed. He lost grip with 275kg on his second deadlift and finished in 5th position.
Two lifters in the 120kg class - Derek Forsyth and Dave Charnock. Derek struggled on squat, only getting his opener but he came back strong and nailed 177.5kg on bench press for the bench gold. 285kg got him the deadlift bronze too and he finished in a creditable 4th place overall. Dave had a decent day, going 8 for 9 and finishing 8th with a 612.5kg total. A little down from his best but international lifting is all about doing what you can do on the day.
With two European champions and two silver medals, the M2 men won the team award. Great work guys!
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