Raw Men at Junior Worlds

 

Originally published on IPF social media on 15th August 2023

The 2023 World Juniors will be held in Cluj Napoca, Romania and is only a couple of weeks away now.  The first four days will be given over to equipped lifting and then we will have seven straight days of the best in raw junior powerlifting.  With 262 athletes nominated in the men's classic category, we can't possibly mention them all but here are some highlights to watch out for.

Last year's equipped world champion in the 53kg junior class, Andrei Georgescu of Romania, is taking the fight to the raw platform this year after winning the junior title at Euros last year so it will be interesting to see whether he can pull off a win at this level in both disciplines. 

Spain's Ivan Campano Diaz is nominated at the top of the 59kg class.   He placed fourth last year after an intense battle for podium places but he took the overall silver at the Open World Championships in Malta this year, walking away with the deadlift gold too so he is definitely the man to beat in this class.

We look to have running battles all the way through most of the classes with nominations tightly packed.  Yulong Li of Sweden is back to defend his junior world title in the 93s after disappointment at Euros.  He has a fast improving Shane Nutt to contend with though and do not discount GB's Nathan Gevao who is looking on form and ready to go.

Temur Samarkhadze of Georgia also competed in Malta in the open class and took the silver medal overall and the deadlift gold so he will be difficult to get past in the supers

Keep an eye on GB's Nonso Chinye in the sub-juniors.  He has the 105kg deadlift world record at 330kg but he's in the 120s for his last time in the sub-juniors.  Could he be targeting the world record in this class too?

We are promised a wealth of top class lifting at this event and you won't have to miss a minute of it.  Every session streamed live on our YouTube channel and our Facebook page.  Who are you most looking forward to cheering for?  Let us know in the comments.