The 2024 Sheffield Powerlifting Championships saw 12 men and 12 women compete for huge cash prizes in the “champion of champions” meet hosted by SBD Apparel in Sheffield, UK, on Feb. 10, 2024. Of those 12 men, four were in the 93-kilogram class; they had a brilliant battle for supremacy.
2024 Sheffield Championships Roster — Men’s 93KG
- Jonathan Cayco (USA) — 2021 & 2023 World Champion
- Gavin Adin (USA) — 2021 Junior World Champion
- Gustav Hedlund (Sweden) — 2023 Worlds silver medallist
- Carlos Petterson-Grifith (GUY) —2023 Worlds deadlift silver medallist
The competition format was heavily focused on International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) world records. The overall top prize went to the athlete who broke the total world record in their class by the highest proportion. Additionally, £5,000 (~$6,300) bonuses were offered for each world record broken in the squat, bench press, deadlift, or total.
As the current world champion, Cayco was the clear favorite, but sometimes things don’t pan out according to expectations.
[Related: Karlina Tongotea (76KG) Sets IPF Raw Squat and Total World Records at 2024 Sheffield Championships]
Squat
Gavin Adin has had a troubled history with the squat world record in the 93-kilogram class. Ukraine’s Anatolii Novopismennyi set it at 331 kilograms (730 pounds) in 2019, and it has survived many attempts since then.
Adin successfully squatted 331.5 kilograms (731 pounds) at the 2022 IPF Classic World Championships (CWC) in Sun City, South Africa. However, the lift was turned down by all three referees due to insufficient depth.
At the 2023 Sheffield, Adin successfully squatted 336.5 kilograms and initially got it two to one in the judges’ view. However, the jury intervened and overruled the lift, again due to insufficient depth.
At the 2024 Sheffield, Adin took 331.5 kilograms (731 pounds) for his second attempt and absolutely nailed it. He received an irrefutable decision from the referees — three white lights. Adin finally had the long-sought-after record.
Adin didn’t have it for long for it to vanish, however. Carlos Petterson-Griffith was the next onto the platform and surprised everyone by breaking the record at 332.5 kilograms — a huge achievement in only his second international competition.
Adin snatched the record back in the third round with 337 kilograms (743 pounds). This drew a single red light for depth. The audience held their breath momentarily, but the jury did not intervene, and Adin bagged the £5,000 (~$6,340) bounty on the world record.
Reigning world champion Jonathan Cayco hit an unexpected bump when the jury overturned his second squat for depth — the only overturn of the whole competition — which put a dent in his campaign and opened the way to the challengers.
Bench Press
The bench press was destined to go Cayco’s way. He has broken the IPF world record six times over the last two years, and the 2024 Sheffield was no exception. Cayco made light work of 243.5 kilograms (537 pounds) on his second attempt and extended it to 245.5 kilograms (541 pounds) to bag a £5,000 (~$6,340) bonus.
At sub-total, the competition was close:
- Cayco — 545.5 kilograms
- Adin — 542 kilograms
- Hedlund — 540 kilograms
- Petterson-Grifith — 515 kilograms
[Related: Tiffany Chapon (47KG) Sets IPF Raw Squat, Bench Press, & Total World Records]
Deadlift
Although Petterson-Grifith was behind the pack, he had the biggest deadlift. He put this to good use with the heaviest opener at 320 kilograms (705.5 pounds). However, Hedlund jumped into the lead with an easy-looking 327.5-kilogram (722-pound) pull. Hedlund had quietly put up a squat personal best and matched his best bench press, flying a little under the radar.
On the second round of deadlifts, Cayco moved just three kilograms (seven pounds) ahead of Hedlund, and Petterson-Grifith moved ahead of Adin with a monster 360-kilogram (794-pound) pull.
Adin was the first to emerge in the final round. He recently switched to a conventional stance, which seemed to suit him well. He hit a 345-kilogram (760.5-pound) deadlift to move into the lead in the 93-kilogram class and second place overall, as Delaney Wallace in the 83-kilogram class put in the performance of his life, taking Russel Orhii’s total world record and sitting pretty at the top of the table.
Cayco was next out, hitting a matched personal best of 347.5 kilograms (766 pounds) to break his world record with 893 kilograms (1969 pounds) and take the lead in the competition.
Hedlund loaded up 355 kilograms (783 pounds) for his final deadlift — 10 kilograms (22 pounds) more than he had ever attempted before on the competition platform. The atmosphere was electric as he set up in a sumo stance, and the crowd howled as the barbell rose smoothly to lockout. Gustav Hedlund took the 2024 Sheffield crown.
2024 Sheffield Championships Men’s Results
- Gustav Hedlund (93KG): 895KG, 100.8%
- Jonathan Cayco (93KG): 890.5KG, 100.6%
- Delaney Wallace (83KG): 842.5KG, 100.2%
- Gavin Adin (93KG): 887KG, 99.9%
- Panagiotis Tarinidis (66KG): 702.5KG, 98.9%
- Timothy Monigatti (74KG): 789.5KG, 98.7%
- Carlos Petterson-Grifith (93KG): 875KG, 98.5%
- Anatolii Novopismennyi (105KG): 925.5KG, 98.5%
- Carl Johansson (74KG): 785.5KG, 98.2%
- Kyota Ushiyama (66KG): 690KG, 97.1%
- Jesus Olivares (120+KG): 1,152.5KG, 96.6%
- Tony Cliffe (120KG): 925KG, 94.5%
Hedlund won a prize purse of £30,000 (~$38,000) and emerged as the top 93-kilogram lifter in the IPF. These four will meet again at the 2024 IPF CWC in Druskininkai, Lithuania, and it promises to be an exciting rematch.
Featured image: @league_of_lifting, @gustav.hedlund, and @gavin_adin on Instagram
