In the belly of the steel beast

I was lucky enough to be asked to commentate at the Sheffield Powerlifting Championships 2023, the inaugural invitational competition hosted and organised by SBD.  SBD has dreamed of this event for years and it almost came to fruition in 2020 but covid stopped play. Undeterred, SBD tucked away the dream and nurtured it like a tender shoot until the world came back out of the darkness and started to travel once more.

As part of the media team at the event, I have early access to the venue and, as I sit here in the darkened auditorium it feels like the eye of the storm.  The heavy logistics all happened yesterday in anticipation of the heavy lifting today, but there is a real sense of the powerlifting world turning their attention to a small provincial city in northern England.  5 hours to curtain up and, all over the country, powerlifters are getting into cars, boarding trains and the lines of power begin to twist and converge on the Steel City.

24 powerlifters from all over the world are finalising their preparations ahead of the biggest powerlifting event the UK has ever seen and the biggest potential prize fund in global history. Expressions are turning serious but these are elite athletes and they all learned to deal with their nerves long ago. 

As the final tests conclude, lights flash, music blasts out and we take a collective breath.   Sheffield 2023 is ready to go.