In 1997, Svend "The Viking" Karlsen was in Las Vegas and while nothing was burned to the ground, some cars got rolled - all part of the World's Strongest Man contest, which the Nordic strongman has since won.


Nice Viking fun: rolling a car in the desert. World's Strongest Man winner Svend Karlsen is relocating to Las Vegas in November, so if you need him for seminars, appearances, TV commercials, etc., now is the time to book him. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo (Primm, Nevada).
 

The Las Vegas bug must have bitten, because Svend and his family are moving to Las Vegas in November, and Svend told IronMind®, "I'm very excited to share this news with the strength world - I will bring my family of three into the desert - Las Vegas - this November. We are looking forward to it very much. We love the American way of focusing on health, strength and sport. I have always felt welcome in the States - this is perfect!"

The Viking says, "I will promote strongman as well as I can, and I hope I will meet a lot of strongman fans out there."

Svend "The Viking" Karlsen, World's Strongest Man winner, is available for seminars, exhibitions and TV commercials; please conact him through his website. 

With former World's Strongest Man winners Janne Virtanen (Finland) and Mariusz Pudzianowski (Poland) heading the field, the World's Strongest Man Super Series strongman contest at Muscle Beach (Venice, California) on June 18th is guaranteed to be a marquee event.


Janne "The Flying Finn" Virtanen is one of two World's Strongest Man winners who will be competing at Muscle Beach on June 18th. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo (Vantaa, Finland).

The field will be vying for US$25,000 in prize money and a step toward an invitation to the 2005 World's Strongest Man contest.

The events are:

1. 12-inch log: for maximum weight
2. Farmer's walk: 175 kg per hand for maximum distance in 60 seconds
3. Stone loading: six stones, ranging from 140 kg to the never-been-loaded-in-a-series 190-kg Tombstone
4. Yoke: 900 pounds, for time
5. Giant Fishing Pole: maximum weight
6. Medley: tire flip, barrel and sandbag loading, power stairs

Here's your chance to see a couple of World's Strongest Man winners burn up the boardwalk at Muscle Beach, so mark your calendar for June 18 and plan to be there.

Congratulations to Ben Edwards who has just been certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper.

Although certification on this world-famous gripper is always meritorious, we feel that Ben Edwards demonstrated such an uncommon level of hand strength that it should be known that he didn't merely close a No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper according to the rules, but he did it with each hand, he used a 2004 No. 3 gripper for his certification, and after he had closed the gripper for his official attempt, starting from the required credit card gap, he laid the gripper on a table, picked it up, and then closed it with no set at all - again, with each hand.

No ifs, ands or buts - just a display of the tremendous horsepower in Ben's hands.

Recognizing his accomplishment, IronMind® is proud to add Ben Edwards' name to the official list of guys certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper.

Congratulations, Ben!

Brad Johnson has taken bodyweight exercises to new heights and if you are a grip guy, you will really be interested in what Brad has served up this month.

Brad introduces "Anvil Horn Pull-ups" his latest column - hang tough and give them a try!

Click on this link to Brad Johnson's Extreme Bodyweight Training page, or follow the Training Articles link on the IronMind® home page.

 

Busan, Korea - +105-kg competitors Dimitris Papageridis (Greece) and David Kadanets (Russia) were both perfect in the snatches, only Papageridis ended his string at 182 kg to edge Kadanets by one kg.


A happy camper, Dmitris Papageridis (Greece) won the +105-kg title at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships today. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Papageridis hit two clean and jerks, 211 and 215, for the gold medal in the total, Kadanets made his opener, 210, missed the jerk on his second attempt, 215, and then ran out of time on his third attempt, 218. Tzetvetan Dimitrov (Bulgaria) got the bronze in the total with 170/206.

Earlier in the day, Igor Lukin (Russia) won the 105-kg title with 180/215. Aleh Loban (Belarus) got the silver medal in the total with 175/206, and his teammate Valery Sizianok took home the bronze with 178/202.

Russia won the women's team classification with 543 points, followed by Korea at 399 and Japan at 385. China won the men's team classification with 538 points, followed by Korea at 501 and Russia at 491 points.

Busan, Korea - Looking at the start list, the 94-kg category at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships, several guys appeared capable of winning - one of the duels was expected to be between Andrey Demanov (Russia) and Arsen Kasabiev (Georgia), and that's just how things started.


Arsen Kasabiev (Georgia) starts 165 kg on it journey to arms' length overhead - this was his second snatch. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

In the snatch, Kasabiev took 160 kg for his opener, and made a smooth lift; Demanov responded with 161 for his first attempt. Kasabiev moved to 165 for his second attempt and had to make quite an adjustment in the bottom to save the lift, which he did; Demanov followed with 166 (notice the pattern?), for another success.

For his third attempt, Kasabiev took 167 and made a very nice lift, so, as you guessed, Demanov, who was heavier, took 168, for a successful lift and the gold medal in the snatch. Roman Russyanovskiy (Kazakhstan) edged out Eduardo Guadamud (Ecuador) on body weight for the bronze medal in the snatch with 162 kg.

If we mentioned that Kasabiev opened with a good 203-kg clean and jerk, what do think Demanov did? He opened with 204 (right?), only he missed the jerk and that's when the battlefield suddenly tilted.

Demanov elected to go up, so Nikolads Kourtidis (Greece) followed with a very workmanlike success with 205 kg. Things were about to get worse for Demanov, because he missed the jerk on 205 not once, but twice. Kasabiev already had won the gold medal in the total, but he must have also wanted the gold medal in the jerk, because he took 208 for a good lift on his second attempt.

Not content to stop at this point, Kasabiev called for 217 on his third attempt and while he racked the weight, he couldn't stand up with it.

Russyanovskiy continued to turn small differences into big differences, winning the bronze in the clean and jerk on body weight and the bronze in the total by one kg.

Busan, Korea - The provisional 2006 International Weightlifting Federation calendar was released yesterday.

Some of the highlights for 2006 include:

European Championships, April 26 - May 7, Wladislawowo, Poland
Junior World Championships, May 21 - 27, Hangchow, China
University World Games, June 30 - July 2, Izmir Turkey
Senior World Championships, November (exact date to be determined), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Asian Games, December 1 - 15, Doha, Qatar

Busan, Korea - In the snatch, was the big news that there were two Chinese lifters in the 85-kg class and neither medaled, or was it that the one Libyan lifter (Mohamed Eshtiwi) did, or maybe it was that the gold medal was won on the last snatch in the contest, when Vadzim Straltsuov (Belarus) ripped up 168 kg to beat Ilya Ilin (Kazakhstan), who had just made a tremendous lift with the same weight one attempt earlier?
 
Ilya Ilin (Kazahstan) already had a great contest, but for the final attempt of the 85-kg class, he called for 206 kg, which he nailed for new junior world records in the clean and jerk, and in the total. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Take your choice because there was a lot going on in this class, but when the dust settled, Ilya Ilin had made a name for himself at these Junior World Weightlifting Championships.

Ilin had opened with a very solid 197-kg clean and jerk, which he lifted like he was a high-speed freight elevator, but even that didn't fully tip his hand. By his second attempt, the message was getting out, though, because after a pile of missed jerks at 200 and 201 kg, Ilin came out and blew up 202 like nobody's business.

Roman Khamatchine (Russia) made a very gutsy lift with the same weight, in bid for the gold medal in the jerk, since he was lighter than Ilin, and the bronze in the total. Khamatchine had a tough time standing up with the weight, but once up, he made a good jerk. Straltsuov had put a 195-kg clean and jerk on top of his gold medal snatch, for the silver medal in the total.

This would not have been a half-bad way to end this class, but there was more to come because Ilin, the youngest guy in the category, called for 206 - for an assault on the junior world records in the clean and jerk and in the total, and he destroyed the weight.

Remember this guy's name: Ilya Ilin has Beijing written all over him.

Svend "Viking Power" Karlsen proved unbeatable in today's IFSA Norway's Strongest Man competition.

The popular former World's Strongest Man winner produced a runaway victory in his homeland, winning all six events under the expert eye of head referee and strongman Hall of Famer, Magnus Ver Magnusson.

Busan, Korea - On paper, it looked like the men's 77-kg category at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships would come down to a battle between Lu Changliang (China) and Taner Sagir (Turkey), and it did.

 
Taner Sagir had to chase this 161-kg snatch a bit to hang onto to it, but in the end, he seemed ready to lift whatever he needed to sweep the gold medals at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

And if you just looked at the final results, you'd think the battle was close, but it wasn't - Sagir seemed ready to lift whatever he needed to win all three gold medals, and that's just what he did.

Lu snatched 152 for his opener and Sagir did 156 for his first attempt. Lu made another good lift with 158, and Sagir followed with an easy 160. Not folding, Lu then made 161 on his third attempt, and Sagir, being the lighter man, went into the lead when he made the same weight - easily enough, but he had to chase the barbell a bit to hang onto the lift.

Lu opened with 182 in the clean and jerk, for a good lift, and then made another nice lift with 189. Sagir then took 190, which he made very easily, and when Chu missed the jerk on 196, Sagir called it a night. Mikalai Charniak (Belarus) got the bronze medal in the total via 151/182.

Busan, Korea - If you want to get a pair of the new Uesaka collars and a full set of the new small plates that fit on them, you'd better start saving now or have a rich uncle.


Left to right, the new small Uesaka plates: 2.0, 1.5, 1.0 and 0.5 kg. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

A pair of the collars and a pair of each of small new plates (2.0, 1.5, 1.0 and 0.5 kg) are on sale here for US$460. If that gives you sticker shock, that's the introductory price, only good at the Junior Worlds, and after the meet, the full retail price is US$800.

So, let's say you're a hardworking coach at a local recreation center or weightlifting club where you're lucky to have enough bars, 20-kg bumpers and squat racks to go around: A few sets of these plates cost the same as a full 182.5-kg Eleiko set or a Uesaka set without these new plates!

I usually say that what Jim Schmitz doesn't know about the sport of weightlifting probably isn't worth knowing, and this month Jim takes on how the sometimes not-so-gentle art of lowering and dropping weights.

If you've never done a snatch or a clean and jerk, you might be confused about why weightlifters drop weights, and maybe you've never had a chance to learn the proper way to lower the bar.

If you want to hear what a bona fide expert has to say on these subjects, follow this link to read the latest from Jim Schmitz. Or, follow the Training Articles link on the IronMind® homepage.

Busan, Korea - Sa Jae-Hyuk (Korea) gave his fans plenty to be happy about at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships tonight.

 
Sa Jae-Hyuk drives himself under the 179-kg jerk that gave him the gold medals in the both the clean and jerk, and the total. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Yao Yuewei (China) won the snatch, with 151 kg, but Mete Binay (Turkey) was right on his heels with 150 and he was lighter. Sa sat in third place with 145.

Yao lost a lot of ground in the clean and jerk when he opened with a good lift at 165, but missed the jerk twice on 170.

Mehmed Fikretov (Bulgaria) was in twelfth place after the snatches, having only made his opener of 130 kg, but talk about a guy who could move through the field: He cleaned and jerked 168, 172 and then 177 to get the silver medal in the jerk and ended up fourth in the total. And talk about unorthodox: Fikretov actually jumps forward on his cleans, jerks from an extremely arched, full-chest position, plus he power jerks with a very wide hand spacing - and it all obviously works for him.

Binay opened with 170 in the clean and jerk, for a smooth clean and a good jerk. He made 173 on his second attempt, but had to chase the jerk a bit to save it, and when he tried to do the same thing with 175 on his third, he wasn't successful.

After making 172 on his opener, Sa had sat it out until everyone else was done, and then he called for the 179 kg he needed to bag the told medals in both the jerk and the total. There was no doubt about this lift - he hit it out of the park, and feeling strong, he called for 188 on his third, in an effort to break the junior world record in the clean and jerk, but after a solid clean, he missed the jerk over his head.

This was a great night for our Korean hosts, who are putting on a tremendous Junior World Championships.

Busan, Korea - The new one-kilo rule in weightlifting has inspired more than just comments about how it would affect competition strategy: It inspired Uesaka to take a radical approach in designing the new small plates - they screw onto the outside of the collar.

 
The new small plates screw on the outside of the re-designed Uesaka collar, making them easier to see. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

The new plates (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 kg) have new colors now, too, paralleling the colors of their big brothers, so they follow the color pattern of the 5-, 10-, 15- and 20-kg plates.

Sam Coffa, Chairman of the IWF Technical Committee, told IronMind® that the new collar has been accepted by the IWF. The new 1.5-kg plate has also received IWF approval, "although it's not compulsory," Coffa explained, since the same weight could be loaded by using a traditional-style 1.0 and a 0.5 kg plate.

The smallest of these plates, weighing 0.5 kg, was very hard to see when it was inside the collar, Uesaka observed, so they created a system for putting it on the outside of the collar.

Tadamasa Uesaka told IronMind® that his company has patented their design, and this means that if other barbell companies would like to use this system, they will have to pay Uesaka a fee.

Busan, Korea - The Chinese Weightlifting team won the men's 62-kg class at the Junior World Championships today, just as they had won the 56-kg class last night, but don't think it was easy.

 
Jin Jiangtao, in a do-or-die situation, had to hit this 128-kg snatch, and he did. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

With a pile of misses on the board already, Jin Jiantao (China) might have started after everyone else was done, but he was in synch with his predecessors as it took him three tries to hit 128 kg.

Florin Veliciu (Romania) landed the silver medal in the snatch after traveling a very different route: He was the only lifter in either the A or the B session to make all three snatches (115, 120, 123). Alexandru Dudoglo (Moldavia) reminded everyone why Smortchov is now a verb in weightlifting - he lifted in the B session, but his 122-kg snatch was good enough for the bronze medal.

He finished the snatches in eighth place, but someone might have forgotten to tell So Ho-Cheoi (Korea) that this meant he was done for the evening. As it turned out, his gold medal clean and jerk of 157 kg put him in silver medal position in the total, with one attempt left - the last attempt of the class.

Jin had missed 147 on his first attempt, but he came back to make it and then he hit 150 on his third attempt, leaving him with a 278-kg total. Jin was lighter, so Seo, sitting with 277, called for the 159 kg that would give him the gold medal in the total, and while he pulled it in, he couldn't stand up with it.

Also showing the power of uncorking a big clean and jerk at the right moment, Katsuhiko Uechi (Japan) got the bronze in the total via 115/157.

Busan, Korea - If you had any doubts about the just-implemented 1-kg rule giving a new way to sort things out on the platform, all you had to do was check the snatch results from the first A session at the Junior World Weightlifiting Championshps today: The top five lifts in the 56-kg men's snatch competition were 123, 122, 121, 120 and 119 kg!

 
Cen Biao goes under 156-kg, on his way to winning the 56-kg category at the Junior World Weightlifting Championships today. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Based on this class, it was also clear that the 1-kg rule wasn't going to just automatically open the door for a lot of micro increases - instead, it was going to be used to drive a wedge between competitors by, for example, opening one kilo above the guy you're trying to beat.

Hoanganh Tuan (Vietnam), who won the snatch, opened with 118 kg, Jadi Setiadi (Indonesia), who ended up with the silver medal in the snatch, opened with 117, and the bronze medalist in the snatch, Lee John-Hoon (Korea), opened with 116. Of course, there were misses that affected the final outcome, but you could see right away the potential for jockeying for a winning position right out of the gate.

Of the top three lifters in the snatch, Lee opened first, missing 116, and then the came back to make it on his second attempt. Setiadi opened with a good 117, and Hoanganh made 118 on his first attempt. If you've never seen Hoanganh lift before, don't doze when he comes up the steps because he's over the bar and launching it before you can blink.

Lee made 121 on his third attempt. Setiadi hit 122 on his second, and Hoanganh had no difficulty getting 123 overhead on his third, but he was turned down, and came back for a two-to-one success on his third attempt. Setiadi went for all the marbles with 125, but the bar sailed up and over his head.

In the jerk, Lee and Hoanganh both made 145 on their openers, and both missed 150 on their second attempts, the weight that Cen Biao (China) had opened with for an easy success. Chen had snatched 120 kg, for fourth place, so he was within striking range of the leaders.

Lee came back to make 151, Hoanganh hit 153, but then Cen made 156 to beat Hoanganh on body weight in both the jerk and the total, with Lee getting his second and third bronze medals of the day.

John Brookfield and Reverend Jon Bruney broke the world record in one-mile pull with a harness this past weekend.

John Brookfield reported that this pull took place in Manning, South Carolina on Saturday, May 14, during a community outreach weekend which included a Relay for Life event (where people run/walk to raise money for cancer).

John Brookfield and Rev. Jon Bruney pulled a semi truck weighing over 20,000 lb. exactly one mile in 1 hour 13 minutes, which John said is a world record. It was hot - about 90 degrees and very humid. The course, through the downtown area, was 50% flat and 50% slightly uphill so it was a "very hard pull" according to John, but "we used the harnesses the whole way and never broke out the ropes."

Artanas Abrutis took first place at the World Strongman Cup event in Wexford on Sunday.

Abrutis finished with 58.5 points, followed by Tarma Mitts, at 53 points, and Glenn Ross, at 52 points.

This past weekend's London Invitational Strongwoman contest was won by Aneta Florczyk. 

 
Aneta Florczyk on the Cage Deadlift, one of the events she won on her way to the overall victory at the London Invitational Strongwoman contest. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Colin Anderson. 

Contest organizer Colin Anderson said, "We believe that Aneta's result on the log lift, 100 kg, is the first time this weight has been achieved by a woman in competition. We have checked previous results and been unable to find a bigger lift. Do you, or any of your readers, know differently?"

Aneta Florczyk is a former World's Strongest Woman winner.

Final overall places and points were:

1. Aneta Florczyk 23 points
2. Anna Rosen 19
3. Gemma Taylor 16
4. Anki Oberg 11.5
5. Hanne Bingle 4.5

We don't know of a heavier log lift by a woman in competition, but if anyone else does, please let let us know: sales@ironmind.com.

The USAA National Pro-Am Armwrestling Championships didn't just award titles and prizes yesterday in Crystal Bay: the first invitations to compete at the 2006 Arnold were also extended.

 
Bill Brzenk (right) beats Simon Berriochoa (left), on his way to the winning the overall championships. Both Simon and Bill had won their respective classes, and both qualified for the 2006 Arnold. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Men's pro right hand winners were:

0-154, Simon Berriochoa
155-176, Mike McGraw
177-198, Bill Brzenk
199-242, John Brzenk
243+, Tim Bresnan

2006 Arnold qualifiers on the men's side were:

0-154: Simon Berriochoa, Jeremy Plaster, Chris Phillips
155-176: Mike McGraw, Chris Chandler, Simon Berriochoa
177-198: Bill Brzenk, John Brzenk, Kenny Hughes
199-242: John Brzenk, Matt Girdner, Chuck Kendricks
243+: Tim Bresnan, John Brzenk, Brian Brandon

Tamara Mitts won the women's right hand 0-143, Judy Dodd was second and Jennifer Hoffer was third; and all three qualified for the 2006 Arnold.

For full contest details, as well as news about the 2006 Arnold armwrestling competition, please be sure to check the official USAA website.

IFSA Strongman CEO Jussi Laurimaa has confirmed that IFSA will, in fact, be sanctioning the upcoming Strongwoman World Championships.

Talking about strongwoman, Laurimaa said the, "sport has struggled to find the right commercial format, but nevertheless forms an important part of the strongman fabric. As the custodian of the strongman sport globally, it falls onto IFSA strongman to maintain the cohesiveness of the sport by supporting all its integral parts, including the women's sport. Therefore, it is only natural that we award and sanction the IFSA Strongwoman World Champion title as well. Given that the inaugural event is staged by the two most senior members of our leadership team, Dr. Douglas Edmunds and David Webster, OBE, it will in no doubt be a big success."

As reported earlier by IronMind®, these IFSA Strongwoman World Championships are scheduled for July 13 - 14 in Glenarm, Northern Ireland, with the biggest names in the sport scheduled to compete.

True to its tradition, the USAA National Pro-Am Armwrestling Championships is drawing the top names in the sport, and this year, USAA president Denise Wattles said, John and Bill Brzenk, and Cobra Rhodes, will be among the competitors going after the $12,000 in cash and prizes.

 
Brian Brandon (left) and John Brzenk (right) at Crystal Bay last year - John won, but so did Brian because he qualified for the Arnold. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

This is also the first qualifier for the 2006 Arnold, more than enough incentive in itself to be a part of the action.

The action starts tomorrow at the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge and Casino in Crystal Bay, Nevada, and admission is free.

With a star-studded field of former World's Strongest Woman competitors, the inaugural Strongwoman World Championships have just been officially announced.

 
Jill Mills on her way to winning the 2002 World's Strongest Woman contest (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Jill Mills, Shannon Hartnett, Aneta Florchek, Julie Dunkley, Anna Rosen, and Heini Koivuniemi - all former World's Strongest Woman competitors - have been invited to the 2005 Strongwoman World Championships, scheduled for July 13-14 in Glenarm, Northern Ireland.

Two more competitors will be selected, said Douglas Edmunds, Ph.D., who, along with David Webster, OBE, is organizing the contest.

Although strongwoman is relatively new and undeveloped compared to strongman, each of the competitors already named to the starting field comes with notable credentials: Jill Mills, for example, is a two-time World's Strongest Woman winner, Shannon Hartnett is a ten-time Highland Games world champion, and Heini Koivuniemi has excelled in both strongwoman and fitness contests.

The events have yet to be named, but given the involvement of Edmunds and Webster - both of whom have led the charge in strongman and strongwoman contests - every expectation is for a well-designed, well-run contest.

Grip guys and everyone interested in hand strength will want to read the latest John Brookfield Grip Tip.

How can a pair of humble dumbbells help you in your quest for a stronger grip? Let John Brookfield, the author of the books Mastery of Hand Strength and The Gripmaster's Manual show you how

Go directly to John Brookfield's Grip Tip or follow the Training Articles link on the IronMind® homepage.

The World Strongman Cup event in Minsk, Belarus this weekend had to go on without Glenn Ross in the field - his luggage was misplaced by the airline, keeping him from competing.

Final placings and points were:

1. Raivis Vidzis, 56
2. Ralf Ber, 45
3. Antanas Abrutis, 45
4. Tarmo Mitt, 43
5. Roland Gulbis, 39.5
6. Oleg Dudkin 34
7. Roman Novik, 34
8. Franz Beil, 33
9. Guntars Kushins, 31.5
10. Dave Ostlund, 31
11. Juri Fomin, 30.5
12. Sergey Rumin, 21.5
13. Alex Laparov, 11

The next event on the circuit is set for Wexford, Ireland on May 15.

We have just posted the latest Steve Jeck column, and you will want to be sure to read it.

Steve "Inver Stone" Jeck does it again, mincing no words as he zeroes in on what just might be the missing element in your quest for success.

Click on the Training Articles link on the IronMind home page, or go directly to Steve Jeck's "From the Quarry, and benefit from Steve Jeck's latest column.

 

Cleveland, Ohio - Cara Heads won the women's 75-kg category today at the USA Weightlifting National Championships, in the first class of the day today.

 
Casey Burgener on his way up with 210 kg. Burgener went six for six, had a 10-kg PR, and made the World Championships team. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Even though she had made three good snatches, ending with 97.5 kg, Heads had things in the balance until the last minute, as it took her three tries to make 115 in the clean and jerk.

Cheryl Haworth hit 120/155 to win the women's +75-kg category, and Pete Kelley did 160/202.5 for the men's 105-kg title. Olympian Shane Hamman did 175/212.5 for the +105-kg title, with Casey Burgener in pursuit at 170/210.

Making the women's Pan Am and World Championships team were: Jackie Berube, Natalie Woolfolk, Danica Rue, Erin Okonek, Cara Heads, Cheryl Haworth and Carissa Gordon. Lance Frye, Shane Hamman, Matt Bruce, Robert Murphy, Casey Burgener, Pete Kelley, Chad Vaughn and Innocent Ukpong made the men's Pan Am and World Championships team.

Here are the winners so far from the USAPL Men's National Championships, from the 52-kg class through the 100-kg class.

52-kg, Ervin Gainer: 200/105/230
56-kg, Doc Holloway: 220/137.5/260
60-kg, Hennis Washington: 255/152.5/237.5
67-kg, Keith Scisney:260/170/235
75-kg, Wade Hooper: 340/230.5/277.5
82.5 kg, Steve McLawchin: 335/225/310
90-kg, Ray Benemerito: 322.5/210/297.5
100-kg, Jason Beck: 352.5/245/337.5

The lifting continues today, with the 110-, 125- and +125-kg classes.

For full results, please check: http://www.purepowerlifting.com/2005_Mens_National_Results_may72005.html

Cleveland, Ohio - Natalie Woolfolk upped the ante at the USA Weightlifting National Championships today by taking two shots at the national record in the snatch.

 
Robert Murphy going under his 200-kg clean, on his way to winning the men's 94-kg title. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

After an easy 92.5-kg opener, Woolfolk took two shots at 97.5 kg in the snatch, in an effort to break the US record, and although she missed both, she went on to clean and jerk 107.5 kg, for the victory in the women's 63-kg category.

2004 Olympian Chad Vaughn won the men's 85-kg class, with a 150-kg snatch and a 185-kg jerk. Vaughn cleaned 195 kg on his third attempt and although he went into a very deep split, he could not fix the bar overhead.

Danica Rue won the women's 69-kg category, and after snatching 95 kg, and then cleaning and jerking 120 kg on her opener, she went after the US record in the clean and jerk, attacking 125 twice, but she missed the jerk both times.

Robert Murphy snatched 155 kg, and cleaned and jerked 200 kg for the men's 94-kg title, holding off a determined charge by Jeff Wittmer, who snatched 145, opened with a good 185 in the clean and jerk, followed by another good lift with 195, and then managed to rack 202.5 but could not stand up with the weight.

Cleveland, Ohio - The USA Weightlifting National Championships were action packed today, and the final class came down to the last clean and jerk.


Lance Frye on his way up with his 150-kg snatch, which gave him a solid lead in the men's 77-kg category. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

The first day of the USA Weightlifting National Championships ended with a bang today as the men's 77-kg title came down to the final clean and jerk.

Lance Frye had gotten off to a strong start, hitting a 150-kg snatch that put him solidly in the lead, but when he missed his opening clean and jerk, things suddenly looked like they might change, especially when he missed the jerk again on his second attempt.

Matt Bruce added to the pressure by making a hard-fought success with the same weight on his third attempt, and it looked like he might emerge as the national champion, but with all the marbles on the line, Frye was not to be denied as he came through under pressure to make the 180 on his third attempt.

Other winners today were:

1. Shelton Gilyard (men's 56 kg): 92.5/112.5
2. Chris LeRoux (men's 62 kg): 102.5/135
3. Jerri Pugh (women's 48 kg): 60/72.5
4. Jodi Wilhite (women's 53 kg): 70/87.5
5. Henry Brower (men's 69 kg): 122.5/157.5
6. Jackie Berube (women's 58 kg): 87.5/105
7. Lance Frye (men's 77 kg): 150/180

The action continues tomorrow.

Congratulations to Kevin Bussi for officially bending the benchmark IronMind® Red Nail™.

Kevin has already been certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush® Gripper, so this is an additional feather in his cap, and his name has been added to the official Red Nail Roster.

Congratulations Kevin!

USAA president Denise Wattles said today that the USAA National Pro-Am Armwrestling Championships will be the first of four qualifiers for the armwrestling competition at the 2006 Arnold.

 
John Brzenk (left) pulls Tom Nelson (right) at the 2004 Crystal Bay competition. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Scheduled for May 14 - 15 at the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge and Casino in Crystal Bay, Nevada (on Lake Tahoe), this contest will have "over $12,000 in cash & prizes" and it traditionally draws some of the top names in the sport.

Please email Denise Wattles for details: dmwatts@wtp.net .

The new date tentatively reported for the 2005 Asian Weightlifting Championships several weeks ago is official.

 
Sergey Filiminov (Kazakhstan) sinks the putt on this world record snatch (173 kg) in the 77-kg category at the 2004 Asian Weightlifting Championships (Almaty, Kazakhstan). IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Originally scheduled for June 15 - 22, the competition is now set for September 23 - 30 and it is still being held in Dubai, UAE.

In addition to its stature as a continental championships, the Asian Weightlifting Championships has produced some of the sport's top performances in recent years.

The 1-kg rule went into effect on May 1st, and the International Weightlifting Federation has offered a summary of how this works.

Up to this point, the weight on the barbell was increased in 2.5-kg increments, except for records, where 0.5-kg increments could be used. In this era, the weights counted within the competition only included the 2.5-kg increment, not the additional record-setting increments, which was sometimes the basis for confusion among people not familiar with the details of this rule.

Beginning May 1, the weight on the bar can be increased in 1-kg increments, whether within competition or for records, and the actual weight lifted will be counted for the best snatch, clean and jerk, and total - both in the competition and for records.

Please check the IWF website for details.

Two-time World's Strongest Man winner Jouko Ahola is returning to strongman.

 
Jouko Ahola's back: You're looking at a 400-kg deadlift machine. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo (Hardenburg, Holland).
 

After retiring from strongman competition, the extremely popular Jouko Ahola has worked hard expanding his successful construction business, he and his wife had a son, and Jouko is on his second movie: Kingdom of Heaven.

But in what will be music to the ears of strongman fans, Jouko is now set to return to the sport, as he has signed a contract to be the head referee at the World's Strongest Man Super Series competitions, beginning with the June 18th event.

Jouko said that he really misses training and his life has been so busy that he has worked out very little since retiring from competition, but last year, preparing for his latest movie, Jouko hit a 330-kg deadlift and a 320-kg squat with just five weeks of training. His body weight, Jouko said, has stayed at about 113 - 115 kg, just slightly lighter than what he weighed when he was at the top of the food chain in the strongman world.