Rehab Ahmed (50KG) Sets Paralympic Bench Press Record of 120 Kilograms (264.6 Pounds)

The second day of Para powerlifting at the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games took place on Aug. 27, 2021. It featured four weight categories — Women’s 50-kilograms, Women’s 55-kilograms, Men’s 59-kilograms, and Men’s 65-kilograms. The major highlight of the day was the narrow finish in the Women’s 50-kilogram category, which saw Rehab Ahmed of Egypt secure a Paralympic record with a 120-kilogram (264.6-pound) bench press en route to a silver-medal finish.

2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games — Para Powerlifting | Women’s 50KG

1. Hu Dandan, China — 120 kilograms (264.6 pounds)
2. Rehab Ahmed, Egypt — 120 kilograms (264.6 pounds)
3. Olivia Broome, Great Britain — 107 kilograms (235.9 pounds)

Ahmed was the first lifter to successfully attempt 120 kilograms (264.6 pounds). Hu Dandan of China matched that lift and, by doing so, secured gold. In the event of a tie, the higher ranking is awarded to the lifter with the lighter bodyweight at the time of competition. Hu weighed 49.27 kilograms and Ahmed weighed 49.87 kilograms. However, since Ahmed was the first to hit the Paralympic record weight, she is still the record holder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This is the second straight Paralympic Games that Ahmed has finished as the runner-up in the 50-kilogram class. In an August 2020 interview with BarBend, Ahmed said that, in addition to improving upon her Paralympic Games finish, her goal lift was 130 kilograms (286.6 pounds). That is just one kilogram shy of the world record of 131 kilograms (288.8 pounds) scored by Esther Oyema of Nigeria at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games on April 10, in Queensland, Australia.

Although Ahmed did not win gold, she did hit a gold-medal lift. It was an improvement of 16 kilograms (35.3 pounds) from her best lift in Rio and 13 kilograms more than Lidiia Soloviova’s 2016 Rio gold-medal lift. Soloviova placed fourth in Tokyo.

2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games — Aug. 27 Results

Below are the results from the other three weight categories that competed on Aug. 27, 2021.

Women’s 55KG

1. Mariana Shevchuk, Ukraine — 125 kilograms (275.6 pounds)
2. Xiao Cuijuan, China — 124 kilograms (273.4 pounds) | bodyweight: 54 kilograms
3. Besra Duman, Turkey — 124 kilograms (273.4 pounds) | bodyweight: 54.88 kilograms

Men’s 59KG

1. Qi Yongkai, China — 187 kilograms (412.3 pounds) | bodyweight: 57.75 kilograms 
2. Sherif Osman, Egypt — 187 kilograms (412.3 pounds) | bodyweight: 58.41 kilog
3. Herbert Aceituno, El Salvador —

Men’s 65KG

1. Liu Lei, China — 198 kilograms (436.5 pounds)
2. Amir Jafari Arangeh, Iran — 195 kilograms (429.9 pounds)
3. Hocine Bettir, Algeria — 192 kilograms (423.3 pounds)

Two More Days to Go

There are two days remaining in the Para powerlifting portion of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Thus far, one world record has been set at Games — Guo Lingling of China’s 109-kilogram (240.3-pound) lift in the 41-kilogram weight class. We will see if anyone else can score a world or Paralympic record before the Games come to a close on Sept. 5, 2021.

BarBend is an official media provider for World Para Powerlifting. 

Featured Image courtesy of World Para Powerlifting