A pretty intense squat battle just took place in Belarus.
The scene: a powerlifting platform at the 2017 IPF World Championships in Minsk. The weight class is the women’s -72kg division. The competitors: Brazil’s Ana Castellain…
and Sweden’s Isabella von Weissenberg.
Before the meet took place, the standing IPF world record in the squat was held by Von Weissenberg, set this year at the European Classic Powerlifting Championships. Here she is making the squat of 192.5 kilograms (424.4 pounds) in March.
During the -72kg event in Minsk, Castellain first tied with Von Weissenberg’s 192.5kg squat. Immediately afterwards, Von Weissenberg herself stepped up to the rack and hit a squat of 193kg (425.5 pounds), breaking her record by a scant 500 grams.
About fifteen minutes later, Ana Castellain approached the stage again. This time, her eyes were set on a 196kg (432.1lb) squat, and she looked fiercely determined.
Bam: yet another world record for the -72kg women’s class.
Almost the instant after Castellain left the stage, Von Weissenberg reappeared. Eyes narrowed, she stalked toward the squat rack like a lioness. On the bar: 197.5 kilograms (435.4 pounds). She grimaced as she unracked the bar and walked out. Was she about to take back her record?
Not this time. For now, the world record for the women’s raw squat in the -72kg class is 196 kilograms, a pretty significant jump from Von Weissenberg’s 192.5kg PR.
You could say that Castellain was actually taking the record back from the Swede — she actually set a record back in the 2014 IPF Classic World Powerlifting Championships in Potchefstroom, South Africa. Take a look at he 185.5kg (409lb) lift, then the heaviest ever made by a -72kg athlete.
It would be melodramatic to say there’s a rivalry between these two lifters, but we sure can’t wait until the next attempt at a record in this weight class.
Featured image International Powerlifting Federation IPF via on YouTube.
