Three time world champion, Kelsey McCarthy led the 69kg class from the start, hitting a massive 245kg for the squat gold. This pulled her clear of Matilda Vilmar and Cathrin Silberzahn who both squatted 232.5kg with Vilmar taking the silver medal on bodyweight.
Vilmar closed the gap a little with 175kg for the bench gold to McCarthy's 170kg. Silberzahn was coming under pressure from Jenny Johansen though and starting to lose touch with the two front runners. Johansen opened 20kg heavier on deadlift and the two of them stepped in and out of the bronze medal position as they moved through deadlifts but it was Silberzahn who claimed it in the end.
Meanwhile up at the front, McCarthy and Vilmar were duking it out. McCarthy had a 17.5kg lead so Vilmar really needed McCarthy to miss in order to move up but McCarthy did not miss and so secured her 4th world title.
1 Kelsey McCarthy USA - 627.5kg
2 Matilda Vilmar SWE - 620kg
3 Cathrin Silberzahn GER - 580kg
Later that day, the 105kg class gave us a showdown to remember. Nicki Lentz dominated on squat, hitting 417.5kg for the gold. Reigning world champion, Sergii Bilyi took the squat silver and the bench bronze - enough to put him in the lead at sub-total.
However, Ian Bell was waiting for his moment and he leapt into second place with his opening deadlift, making 357.5kg look like an empty bar. Still, he was 30kg behind Bilyi - a huge gap to close. But when Bilyi missed his second attempt, the door of opportunity swung a little wider for Bell.
Tension mounted as Bilyi missed his third too. Bell called for 388.5kg to be loaded to the bar and the crowd hit fever pitch as he calmly approached the platform.
After disappointment last year, could this be the redemption arc Bell was looking for? He set up and pulled, locking it out solidly and holding at the top. Three white lights shone out and Ian Bell took his first world title, reclaiming the deadlift world record into the bargain. An emotional finish to Day 4
1 Ian Bell USA - 1046kg
2 Sergii Bilyi UKR - 1045kg
3 Asgeir Hoel NOR - 1000kg
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