Yesterday was a huge day for multiple athletes at the IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships. Some of the most competitive weight classes at this year’s IPF Classic Worlds wrapped up their competitions and each class was a nail biter to the finish.
If you missed any of the action, then sit back and relax, because we’re going to recap the women’s -72kg. competition.
Women’s -72kg Open Recap
The women’s -72kg Open weight class was arguably one of the most stacked weight classes for this year’s Worlds. The roster includes a ton of heavy hitters including Kimberly Walford, Isabella von Weissenberg, Ana Castellain, and Jessica Buettner. In fact, only 12.5kg separated first place from fourth, so every lift counted for this weight class.
In the squat, Walford ended up going 1-for-3 only successfully making her opener at 180kg. Buettner went 3-for-3 with a 185kg opener, 192.5kg second, and 197.5kg third. Castellain, similar to Walford, only made her opener of 190kg.
The true squat powerhouse in this group is none other than von Weissenberg — and it showed in full force yesterday. Von Weissenberg smoked her opener of 192.5kg, then successfully completed a 203kg second attempt and earned a new -72kg Open World Record. Unfortunately, von Weissenberg missed her third attempt with 208kg on the bar.
After the squats, von Weissenberg had earned herself a 5.5kg lead over the rest of the playing field.
Heading into the bench press Castellain knew it was her chance to make up ground on the rest of the playing field. She went 3-for-3 and finished her attempts with a strong 122.5kg press, which gave her a 7kg lead over second place von Weissenberg heading into deadlifts.
Before deadlifts, the top five athletes were all within 20kg of one another. The totals of the top four placing athletes after the squat and bench press were: Walford 292.5kg, Buettner 295kg, von Weissenberg 305.5kg, and Castellain 312.5kg.
Castellain ended up going 2-for-3 with a 202.5kg opener and a successful 210kg second attempt, earning a 522.5kg total for fourth place.
Von Weissenberg, Buettner, and Walford all completed their second attempts, which then opened up the opportunity for any athlete to make a run for the number one spot. It’s important to note that the third deadlift attempts for these three athletes were all manipulated up until the final minute to do so to strategically make the best calls to place the highest.
Von Weissenberg attempted 227.5kg for her third, but unfortunately fell just short and concluded her performance with a 528kg total.
Now, it came down to Beuttner and Walford. Buettner had a 527.5kg total after her 232.5kg second pull, and needed a mere .5kg more to give herself the top spot and edge out von Weissenberg. Buettner called for 237.5kg on the bar, and crushed the lift earning a 532.5kg total, which put her in first place 2kg over Walford.
Walford, a deadlift specialist and IPF legend, now had the opportunity to call her shot for first place. For her third attempt, Walford called for 242.5kg, which was enough to award her first place, a Masters 1 World Record, and a 535kg total for another Masters 1 World Record.
It goes without saying that the -72kg women athletes brought the heat yesterday in one of the most competitive weight class at this year’s IPF Classic Worlds. Hats off to all of the competitors.
Feature image from @sbd.usa Instagram page.
