The World Classic Bench Press Championships kicked off in Sun City, South Africa today, starting with the masters categories. The British team had a busy time in the morning session with five women competing.
We had two lifters in the M1s: Kate Clarke lifted in the 52kg class - both Kate and her daughter Violet are competing at their first international competition together - what a brilliant shared experience. And what a result! The Japanese lifter in class bombed out on elbow depth and Kate was right there waiting to capitalise. She looked to be having the time of her life as she hit three good lifts, matching her 65kg PB and taking her first world title. Emotion spilled over a little as the national anthem played for Kate as she stood on the top step of the podium and accepted her gold medal.
Emma Stott, veteran of, and medallist at, a couple of Commonwealth Championships, competed in the 57kg class. She went 3 for 3 and a perfectly judged third attempt of 65kg secured the bronze medal - her first at this level.
We also had two lifters in the Masters 2 category, both competing at World Bench for the first time. In the 57s, Joanne Holden was a little off the pace for medals but she put in three good lifts and matched her competition best on the international platform, finishing in 4th place overall. Rachel Spragg secured the silver medal in the 63kg class, also matching her current PB with 65kg.
Judith McGauley in the M4 52kg class sailed to a comfortable silver medal with 32.5kg but missed an easy press of 35kg when she jumped the press command.
The final session of the day was back over to the men and we had two benchers out on the platform, both in the 83kg class. Ben Richens was in the M1s and Stuart Peskett was in the M2s but they marched in lockstep through the first part of the session. Both opened with 130kg and took conservative jumps, making light work of 132.5kg on second attempt. Peskett missed his third of 135kg though where Richens pressed it fairly comfortably.
Good days work for both in their first outing at Worlds: Peskett finished in 8th place and Richens in 7th in their respectively classes. We will see Stuart again later in the week in the equipped championships so hopefully he can get a bit of R&R for a few days first.
Great results for Team GB on Day one. The rest of the masters lift tomorrow and it's a busy day for the British team!
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