Currently, the European Classic Open, Junior, and Subjunior Powerlifting Championships are taking place in Kaunas, Lithuania. The Championships started on November 24th and run through December 2nd. As of right now, all of the junior powerlifters have concluded their performances for this year’s Championships, and we wanted to highlight two athletes who put on amazing shows.
In the -72kg junior women’s weight class, Swedish powerlifters Vilma Olsson and Ida Ronn both found themselves neck-and-neck all the way to their final lift. Olsson, 19, and veteran powerlifter, had her work cut out for her when 21 year old Ida Ronn took the European Championship platform for the first time.
Each of these lifters have their personal strengths on the platform, and that was clearly evident by the mere kilogram that sat between Olsson’s 501kg/1,104 lb first place finish and Ronn’s 500kg/1,102 lb second.
On the squat, Olsson completed a successful 177.5kg/391 lb opener, hit a 185kg/407 lb second attempt, and went on to finish with a 190kg/418 lb third. Olsson’s third lift sealed her with an IPF junior world record, and topped Canadian powerlifter Jessica Buettner’s previous world record. Ronn opened with 170kg/374 lbs and hit a 177.5kg/391 lb second attempt, but missed her 182.5kg/402 lb third.
Moving onto the bench press, another lift that Olsson excels in, Olsson found herself with a 12.5kg lead over Ronn. To push her lead even further, Olsson went 3/3 on the bench and hit successful 107.5kg/237 lb, 112.5kg/248 lb, and 116kg/255 lb attempts. Her final 116kg press was good enough for another IPF junior world record.
Ronn also went 3/3 on the bench press and hit three successful attempts. She opened with 95kg/209 lbs, bumped up to 100kg/220 lbs for her second, then hit 102.5kg/225 lb on her third. At this point, Olsson was up by 26kg and Ronn needed a big deadlift (a lift she excels in) to overcome the deficit. After Olsson completed three successful deadlift attempts with 180kg/396 lbs, 190kg/418 lbs, and 195kg/429 lbs, she left the door open for Ronn.
For her opener, Ronn called for 220kg/485 lbs on the bar. This lift would put her a mere kilogram behind Olsson and would allow her to take two shots at Buettner’s 227.5kg/501 lb IPF junior world record with two attempts at 228kg/502 lbs. Unfortunately, Ronn came up shy on her second and third attempts and had to settle with her 220kg opener.
After watching Olsson and Ronn’s latest performances, we’re excited to see that the -72kg women’s weight class continues to grow in depth.
Both Olsson and Ronn finished 65kg higher than the third place athlete, and they’re both closing in on Buettner’s current IPF junior world records.
Feature image from @vilma_olsson and @idaaronn Instagram pages.