Jaba Sepiashvili, a lightweight Georgian bench press specialist, usually competes in the 59KG class. He has had some success in this class, most notably winning the Junior world title at the 2023 International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Bench Press Championships in Sun City, South Africa.
At the 2024 Euro Muscle Show (EMS) in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sepiashvili dropped into the 53KG class, a weight class reserved only for junior and sub-junior athletes. The IPF keeps two sets of bench press world records—those performed as part of a full-power competition, i.e., between squat and deadlift, and those performed in a bench-only competition.
Sepiashvili claimed the single lift record with his first bench press at 140 kilograms and extended it to 150 kilograms on his second attempt. Check out the lift below, courtesy of the IPF’s Instagram page:
Sepiashvili benched without using any supportive equipment, not even wrist wraps. His arms shook a little as he pressed the barbell from his chest, but he locked it out successfully and was rewarded with three white lights from the referees.
The single lift bench press record in the Junior 53KG class was previously a standard at 135 kilograms. The IPF sets minimum standards for world records rather than allowing any weight achieved in the class to stand as an IPF world record, and up until the EMS, no one had met that standard.
The contest featured athletes from different weight classes. It was therefore scored on GL points, a formula designed to compare the lifters across different bodyweight categories used by the IPF and its affiliates. Sepiashvili’s performance secured him third place with 96.54 GL points, only 0.02 points behind second place. This also netted him a prize purse of 500 Euros.
2024 IPF Euro Muscle Show Results — Jaba Sepiashvili (Georgia), 53KG
- Bench Press
- 140 kilograms
- 150 kilograms — IPF Junior Raw World Record
157 kilograms
Sepiashvili will be back in action at the European Powerlifting Federation (EPF) European Bench Press Championships (EBPC) in Istanbul, Türkiye. The competition will begin on August 5, 2024, and run for seven days.
Sepiashvili was nominated in the 59KG class at the 2024 EBPC, so he cannot extend his Junior world record. He is only one and a half kilograms away from the European Junior record in the 59KG class, though, so he may pick up another record at that contest.
Featured image: @theipf on Instagram
