Brits go to Malta - Part Two

This year, we have two Scottish women lifting in the 69kg class at the IPF World Classic in Malta.  They had a really tight battle at the British Championships in March, with Tasmin Campbell coming out on top by a scant half a kilo.

Annie Nelson won the British in the 63kg class in 2022, and competed in that class at worlds too. However, straight after worlds she went into bulk mode and committed to the 69kg class.  This move definitely suited her, adding 20kg to her total almost immediately and she took the bronze medal at the Euros in November.

She bested Tasmin that day, who had had a rough time on squat but the pendulum swung back at the British.  Annie broke the British squat record but Tasmin was unstoppable and she broke the British bench, deadlift and total records, doing exactly what she needed to do to secure back to back British title wins.

They are nominated in 10th and 11th (including 1 reserve) but this is a tightly packed field and there is only 8 or 9 kilos in it all the way up to 4th place.  Some real opportunities here to make up ground and move up the placings.

Jurins Kengamu in the 83s will be lifting in Prime Time on the same day - Thursday 15th June.  Jurins recently put in a historic performance at the British Championships, breaking the British squat record at 310.5kg and the total record with an incredible 820.5kg.  This gave him the highest recorded GL points score amongst British Powerlifting men. It also puts him "only" 20.5kg away from Russ Orhii's world record total and, it has to be said, Jurins kind of strolled through a lot of the British so I think we can be sure of more to come. 

He faces Delaney Wallace, hot off the back of a sensational performance at Sheffield where he hit 835kg and only narrowly missed taking the total WR himself.  The two of them are well matched so this promises to be an exciting session.

The next day, again in Prime Time, Christian Ayandokun is flying the flag for the British team in the 93kg class.   Well known for his consistency and his ability to make everything look easy, Christian is nominated in 6th place.  The depth of competition just at the top end of this weight class is frankly ridiculous so there's a lot of work to do here.  Deadlifters always have the edge though and it would be great to see him make up a few places with a monster pull.

Good luck guys!  We will be watching!