Georgian powerlifter Temur Samkharadze is in his final year as a Junior. He has accomplished much in his short career, including winning the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) Junior World Championships (JWC) three times.
In the last year, Samkharadze has challenged the top in the Open class. He won silver at Malta’s 2023 IPF Classic World Championships (CWC). Since then, Samkharadze has won the European Powerlifting Federation (EPF) European Classic twice in the Open class.
At the 2024 CWC in Druskininkai, Lithuania, Samkharadze launched his fiercest challenge yet. He faced three-time world champion and all-time world record holder Jesus Olivares. Samkharadze had an almost perfect day.
Samkharadze made short work of his first and second squats and then requested 430 kilograms for his third attempt. The Junior squat world record stood at 427.5 kilograms and belonged to Olivares, who had aged out of the Junior category two years previously. Take a look at Samkharadze’s first world record of the day:
Samkharadze squats high bar, which is probably why he doesn’t need wrist wraps. Low bar squats put much more strain on the wrists and elbows. Samkharadze used knee sleeves and a lifting belt. The path to depth was smooth, but the ascent required more work.
Samkharadze’s squat was 15 kilograms more than he had ever achieved on the platform. According to OpenIPF, it moved him into the top five of IPF raw squatters.
The feat was repeated in the bench press. On Samkharadze’s third attempt, he broke Olivares’ Junior bench press world record with 255 kilograms, putting Samkharadze 32.5 kilograms behind Olivares going into deadlift.
Samkharadze opened the deadlifts at 385 kilograms — 20 kilograms more than Olivares — and the gap began to close. The opening deadlift gave Samkharadze a 1,070-kilogram total, extending his Junior world record by 6.5 kilograms.
Samkharadze’s second attempt of 402.5 kilograms added a kilogram and a half to his Junior deadlift world record and extended the recently set Junior total world record. Take a look at the colossal lift below:
Samkharadze set up in a relatively wide conventional stance and took the barbell in a mixed grip. The lockout was scrappy, but it moved quickly and suggested that he had some strength in reserve.
In the final round, Olivares smoked 395 kilograms to put his fourth world title beyond any doubt. However, the final lift went to Samkharadze at 415 kilograms. This would have taken Olivares’ Open deadlift world record, but Samkharadze couldn’t lock it out.
Samkharadze’s total ranks him number three in the IPF. Only Ray Williams and Olivares have totaled more — a remarkable achievement for a 22-year-old athlete.
2024 IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championship Results — Temur Samkharadze (Georgia), +120KG
- Squat
- 400 kilograms
- 420 kilograms
- 430 kilograms — IPF Junior World Record
- Bench Press
- 235 kilograms
- 250 kilograms
- 255 kilograms — IPF Junior World Record
- Deadlift
- 385 kilograms
- 402.5 kilograms — IPF Junior World Record
415 kilograms
- Total — 867.5 kilograms — IPF Junior World Record
Samkharadze is maximizing his opportunities in his final year as a junior lifter. He will return to the platform on July 13, 2024, at the Euro Muscle Show in Amsterdam. Not long after that, he will compete at his last JWC, which will be held in Malta at the beginning of September.
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Featured image: @theipf on Instagram
