The 2023 European Powerlifting Federation (EPF) Western European Championships will be held in Reykjanesbær, Iceland, on Sept. 8-10, 2023. This competition has a long history with origins in the “European Union Cup,” which began in 1994. The entire contest will be live-streamed on the GoodliftTV YouTube channel.
2023 EPF Western European Championships
This is the 14th edition of the Western European version, and 21 countries were invited:
- France
- Austria
- Belgium
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Great Britain
- Greece
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
The contest has an unusual team format. Each participant country can field a team of six men and six women in classic (raw) and equipped categories. The host nation can have an additional “B” Team in each category. Medals are awarded for placing in each weight category, and the top four GL-point scores are added together for the team total.
Full Livestream Schedule
Note: All times CET; schedule is subject to change.
Friday, Sept. 8
- Classic women up to 63KG — 10:00 a.m.
- Classic men up to 83KG — 3:00 p.m
Saturday, Sept. 9
- Classic women 69KG and above — 10:00 a.m.
- Classic men 93KG & 105KG — 2:00 p.m
- Classic men 120KG & +120KG — 6:30 p.m
Sunday, Sept. 10
- Equipped women 105KG — 10:00 a.m.
- Equipped men 120KG & +120KG — 2:00 p.m
The full roster with nominated totals is available on Goodlift.
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Athletes to Watch
Great Britain have fielded a strong team this year, including:
Emma Goodwin — 57KG, Equipped
Emma Goodwin is well known for her massive deadlift, frequently winning the deadlift gold medal at the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Equipped Championships. She has been competing at the top level in equipped powerlifting for the last five years.
Goodwin has been heartbreakingly close to taking the 52-kilogram class deadlift world record on several occasions. She is in the 57-kilogram class this time, though, so she won’t take a world record attempt. However, she is nominated for first place.
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Cherry Yeung — 47KG, Raw
Cherry Yeung won the 43-kilogram class Junior world title in Helsingborg, Sweden, in 2019, breaking the Junior deadlift world record (146 kilograms (322 pounds)) and the Junior total world record (313.5 kilograms (691 pounds)) along the way.
The deadlift record still stands, but Yeung is out of the Juniors and won’t be able to increase it. It’s still a welcome return to the international platform.
Aquinn Onuoha — +84KG, Raw
Aquinn Onuoha is relatively new to powerlifting but has been stacking kilograms onto her deadlift like crazy in the last year. At the English Powerlifting Association (EPA) Manchester Open on Aug. 10, 2023, she deadlifted 251 kilograms (553 pounds) for the biggest tested deadlift in UK history.
However, that was eclipsed by Erholove Izobodo-John’s Junior world record of 253 kilograms (558 pounds) achieved at the IPF Junior World Championships on Sept. 2, 2023. With only four weeks since she last competed, will Onuoha attempt to retake the record?
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Phil Richard — 74KG, Equipped
Phil Richard is a veteran of the sport. Now a Masters 2 (M2) lifter (ages 50-59), he still holds his own in the Open class. On OpenIPF, Richard’s career stretches back to the Welsh Junior Powerlifting Championships in 1984. He has seemingly never taken a break from active competition.
Four-time Masters world champion Richard holds the M2 squat and total world records. He is nominated for first place in this contest. Perhaps he will take the opportunity to try to extend his records.
More Powerlifting Content
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- Jade Jacob (57KG) Raw Deadlifts 215 Kilograms (474 Pounds) Quadruple in Training
Feature image from @palmagiada Instagram page.
