Christian Ayandokun has been British champion in three weight classes now, from the 74kg class up to his current 93kg class and he is well known for making his lifts look effortless. At the World Championships this year, he faced the biggest and strongest 93kg class ever - 39 athletes all the way up to the ascendant Jonathan Cayco.
Christian got all three squats in and looked comfortable. He was a fair way down on his best though - he squatted 295kg at the British in March but finished on an easy looking 282.5kg in Malta. Was this just conservative pacing or was he dealing with something?
He went in harder on bench, opening with a strong looking 190kg that moved him up from 19th to 9th. 200kg for his second secured that landmark number and got him a 5kg PB but he was starting to look close to his limit. 202.5kg went all the way to the top but, unfortunately, there was a dip and the lift was failed for downward movement, cruellest of all rules.
Ninth place at sub-total with his best lift still to come is a strong position to be in. Christian opened light, as he tends to do, confident in his ability to make big jumps. 315kg for his first pull was always going to be super easy but he slipped back to 10th place at this point with other lifters opening heavier with a view to making smaller jumps.
340kg for his second moved as 340 should and he seemed well set up for a big final pull. Taking a 20kg jump to your final lift seems ambitious but Christian had pulled this weight before with an even bigger jump so we were confident he could manage it.
360kg went on the bar and it came off the floor so fast that surely it would go. But it stalled out at the knees and he couldn't finish the lift. Big jumps certainly preserve a lot of strength but, if you miss, you leave a lot of kilos behind and Christian finished 20kg below his best total. Still, eighth place in a stacked class is no mean feat and we know that he will come back stronger and hungrier next time. Hopefully one more season in the 93s before we see the clash of the British 105s get even more interesting.
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