Quite a lot of success from one little gym, it's just in a retail shop in a less-than-prosperous part of my city.
I just got back from Europe yesterday, so I’m going to write this newsletter while everything is still fresh in my mind.
For those that don’t know what I’m talking about, the 2012 GPC Worlds was held in Bardejov, Slovakia this year, and GPC Australia sent 17 athletes to compete, the largest Australian team ever.
Of those 17, 9 were from PTC Frankston, 5 from PTC Brisbane and 1 from PTC Perth.
Before I discuss individual efforts, the first thing that hit me when I got home was how many people back home were watching. Before a big comp like Nats or Worlds, I think a lot about the lifter. We prepare as best we can, but the last thing I want is for the lifter to bomb. I keep to myself and don’t say much, but it’s something I worry about. After the event, I kind of retreat into myself. I can’t explain it, its relief and a letdown I suppose. I tend to notice what isn’t perfect at an event, and focus on that, rather than look at the positives.
This event was no different. What I didn’t understand was the affect it had on the lifters and relatives back home. When I watched the vids on my computer, I noticed some lifters close to tears with the National Anthem being played. Jesse tells me he stayed up and watched the entire event, he was in the chat room talking to others, parents, friends etc
I must admit I don’t get emotional after an event, except for one occasion I’ve previously mentioned. Even though Max has medalled twice at a Worlds, and set a WR, Nina winning Gold and breaking WR’s, I don’t get emotional, so I miss how important it is to some.
Only when I got home did it sink in. I now wish I could have enjoyed the aftermath more, but it was more about relief for me. Of the 9 lifters from my gym we had 7 Golds and 2 Silvers, we set 17 World Records, Max finished 2nd overall in Juniors and Nina 3rd overall in masters. I’m very, very proud of what they achieved, and relieved. Once I can stop noticing the negatives, I’m sure I’ll learn to enjoy the success of our lifters more.
Here’s a rundown of the trip. We left Tullamarine on Tuesday the 11th of September at around 3pm, stopping in Singapore then London on our way to Vienna, Austria, arriving there on Wednesday.
For those that haven’t been to Vienna, let me describe it. Awesome. It was Nina’s favourite place that we visited. The people, the city, food, shopping, was excellent. We left on Sunday for Bardejov, Slovakia, arriving at Kosice airport in the afternoon. The meet director, Jan Matej had a big coach waiting for us. We took 90 minutes to arrive at out hotel in Bardejov, sharing the coach with the Israeli team. The area the hotel was located in was ordinary, 5 minute walk had us at the venue, a very special place, and it was excellent. Another 2 minutes by foot had us in the Bardejov town centre. What a beautiful little town, and exceptionally cheap.
Our team started lifting on Tuesday, the girls first.
Vicki went 87.5/55/130.5 for 273kg@57kg for a total of 273kg (4th attempt deadlift WR 132.5kg). One WR
Sussy went 112.5/60/120 for 292.5kg@54kg, 4 Masters WR
Nina went 120/70/140 for 330kg@57kg, plus a 4th attempt 142.5kg deadlift, for an Open and Masters Women World Record, Masters squat, deadlift and total WR
Amanda went 135/67.5/135 for 337.5kg@76kg, including an Open Women squat WR
All 4 girls won Gold, with Nina finishing 3rd overall in Masters.
The other 3 girls on the Aussie team, Tish, Cami and Bec, also won Gold.
Emad was the first of our male lifters, followed by Conor, Max, Spiros and Jack. Emad, Spiros and Jack won Gold, Max and Conor won Silver.
Emad set the 75kg Masters WR, Max set the 90kg Juniors bench press WR, Jack set 4 WR.
Emad won a tough tussle for his Gold. He deadlifted a massive 260kg at only 74kg bodyweight to seal the Gold. Only later, when watching my videos of the presentation on my computer when I got home, did I realise how much it meant to him, and how much it must have meant to his whole family who stayed up to watch.
Conor just missed a Gold, once he improves his bench press he will be very hard to beat. To be squatting 200kg at 17 and only 81kg is incredible, he had a 20kg lead after the squats, only to give it back after the bench press, a Silver for Conor.
This was Max’s first comp for 2 years, in fact his last comp was the 2010 Worlds in the States. He had set himself to total 650kg, which he did. His comp went down to the deadlift. If Max had managed to make 255kg, he would’ve won the Gold. He did set the WR bench press with 155kg@86kg in the 90kg Junior class
Spiros started well, squatting a 235kg PB, then benching 150kg, before re injuring his lat during warm ups on the deads with 170kg. He took a token 140kg deadlift. He was set to go well over 600kg, but it wasn’t to be, still won Gold.
Jack had his worst comp ever, yet still broke all 4 of his WR, broke all his PB’s and won Gold. Jack dropped 7kg of bodyweight, had a doctor visit his room in Vienna, helped others all day Tuesday and half the day Wednesday, then competed. To put in perspective what a bad day meant to this 21yo giant, he squatted 280kg, benched 185kg and deadlifted 280kg, totalling 745kg, a 40kg increase on his WR he set in June.
Emad went 220/122.5/260 for 602.5kg@74kg, WR total and Gold in the 75kg Open Men
Conor went 200/90/210 for 500kg@81kg and Silver in the 82.5kg teen class
Max went 250/155/245 for 650kg@86kg and Silver in the 90kg juniors, WR bench press and 2nd overall teen/junior
Spiros went 235/150/140 for 525kg@126kg for Gold
Jack went 280/185/280 for 745kg@153kg, Gold and 4 WR
The other male lifters were Scott, Ricky and Zach from PTC Brisabane and Dan from PTC Perth.
Dan finished 3rd in the 82.5kg open men
Scott got Gold in the 90kg open men, including a WR deadlift of 302kg and WR total of 724kg
Ricky finished first in the 110kg Open men with the Russian, but the Russian was 1kg lighter so Rick had to settle for Silver. Ricky totalled 847.5kg@110kg
Poor Zach pulled his hammy on his second squat. It was 310kg. Zach is 18yo.Zach also benched 190kg, he weighed in at 144kg, he won Gold and set the squat and bench teen WR.
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