The 47kg class lifted on day one of the 2023 Classic Worlds and we had close battles from the off.
Two-time world champion, France's Tiffany Chapon, pushed out in front from the very first lift. Her second attempt of 157.5kg looked like she had capacity for more. However, 160kg ground to a halt halfway up and she could not complete it. This was still enough for the squat gold and a 15kg lead though.
Further back though, there was a real tussle for squat medals. Newcomer Jessica Espinal of USA and Ana Lores Fernandez both squatted 142.5kg at exactly the same bodyweight. This means that the silver medal was awarded to the first lifter to achieve the lift ie the athlete with the lowest lot number, in this case, Espinal. Vicky Kijumnuayporn of Australia ALSO squatted 142.5 but lost out on a medal on 350g of bodyweight. When competition is close, sometimes those are the breaks.
We had drama further back though. Former world champion and deadlift world record holder, Heather Connor of USA, took 132.5kg right to the bottom of the squat and could not get up again. She fell to the floor and the spotters took the bar. She limped away, clearly injured. Exactly the same thing happened on her second attempt and the tiny deadlift queen looked to be in peril.
On her final squat attempt, she managed to stand the weight up but the two side referees turned down the lift on depth. With the heart and demeanour of a champion, Connor nodded her assent and shook each referees hand as she left the platform. But wait! The jury overturned and the packed crowd roared their approval. Connor was still in the game.
Chapon re-took the bench world record that Nataliia Cheremenko of Ukraine had broken at the Euros with 99.5kg for her second lift and the French team in the audience went crazy. An attempt at 100.5kg just wasn't there Chapon had still extended her lead to nearly 20kg. Espinal picked up a silver medal in bench with 95kg and moved up to second place overall. Kijumnuayporn benched a creditable 90kg for the bench bronze and this moved her up to third at sub-total.
Deadlifts swung around and, at a point in the competition where the field is usually spreading out, this one compressed. Chapon started to lose ground a little as the deadlifters came out to play. Connor had dropped her opener from 190kg to 182.5kg and, to the delight of the crowd, absolutely smoked it. This was enough to match Kijumnuayporn and Canada's Aurelie Nguyen at 390kg with Espinal only 10kg ahead and Chapon another 17kg further on.
On second deadlifts, both front runners took 7.5kg jumps and the other three took 10kg increases. This tightened the pack up even more but didn't change any placings. Connor's second pull at 192.5kg extended her own world record by an incredible 7.5kg and looked like she had more to give. She had the lightest bodyweight of the three so was sitting in third and looking hard to pass.
Into the final round and Chapon was out first. 172.5kg to extend the total world record was a little too heavy but it didn't look like she would be challenged for the win.
Kijumnuayporn next for the same weight to get onto the deadlift and overall podium but it didn't pass her knees and she finished in fifth. Espinal broke the junior deadlift world record with 175kg. Nguyen next with 185kg - this would have matched the world record mere moments earlier but Connor had put it out of reach. However, it did get Nguyen up to third place with only Connor left to pull.
Connor needed 200kg to match Nguyen and go past on bodyweight so she loaded up another world record attempt. She called for the support of the crowd as she set up to pull and received a wall of noise in return. It was tough and uneven but it went all the way to lockout and she screamed her victory at the top of the lift. Bronze medal and a record that will surely stand for an age.
Tiffany Chapon FRA 424.5kg
Jessica Espinal USA 412.5kg
Heather Connor USA 407.5kg
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