Ghazouani betters London 2012 performance

France’s Souhad Ghazouani certainly started her road to Rio 2016 on a high note on Saturday (25 May) in Aleksin, Russia, recording a world-record lift of 150kg to win gold in the women’s -73kg category at the 2013 IPC Powerlifting Open European Championships.

Her lift was four kilograms better than the performance that won her London 2012 gold last summer when she competed in the -67.50kg category.

She is now a reigning European, world and Paralympic champion, and hopes to help France further develop the sport of powerlifting in the lead-up to Rio.

Ghazouani shared the day’s spotlight with Poland’s Piotr Szymeczek, who registered a new world record in the men’s -88kg group en route to winning his first-ever gold at an IPC Powerlifting international event.

“I’ve been doing this sport for 10 years, and this is the first major gold medal I’ve won,” said Szymeczek, who couldn’t stop smiling.

“It feels so good to be the champion of Europe.”

Szymeczek received a major challenge from Moldova’s Stefan Rosca, who nearly eclipsed the top mark, falling just three kilograms short with a lift of 185kg to get the silver.

The Netherlands’ Patrique Dankers, who had set the previous world-best at February’s Fazza International Powerlifting Championships, won bronze with a lift of 180kg.

Iraq’s Thaer Al-Ali easily lifted more than twice his body weight to win the Open category in the men’s -97kg event, raising the bar with 210kg on it. Ukraine’s Anton Kriukov finished second with a European-record lift of 205kg and Russia’s Ilnar Latypov took third with a lift of 196kg.

As Al-Ali is from Iraq, Kriukov won gold in the European category, allowing Latypov to take the silver and Poland’s Rogala Ryszard to claim the bronze.

Russia’s Vera Muratova, meanwhile, set a new European record in the women’s -67kg event, winning gold with a lift of 111kg. Ukraine’s Alina Kumeyko took silver with a lift of 87kg and Moldova’s Larisa Marinenkova claimed bronze, lifting 75kg.

In the women’s 79kg category, Russia’s Olga Kazankevich and Marzena Lazarz grabbed the top two spots, lifting 107kg and 105kg, respectively. Kazankevich set a new European record in the event.

Ukraine’s Lyubov Semenyuk secured the bronze with a lift of 100kg.

The Championships include IPC Powerlifting’s new weight categories, which took effect on 1 January, changing the structure of weight classes and meaning several world and European records will be set in 2013.

This followed an extensive review of all bodyweight category trends across major competitions.

The final day of the Championships on Sunday (26 May) will feature the women’s -86kg and +86kg events, as well as the men’s -107kg and +107kg categories.

For more information on the 2013 IPC Powerlifting Open European Championships, please visit the event website at /Events/Alexin2013.

All action from the event is being streamed live on the IPC’s YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/ParalympicSportTV.

You can also follow the action on Twitter at @IPCPowerlifting and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/IPCPowerlifting.