Online World Cup Finals to crown first champion

The first Online World Cup champion will be crowned on Tuesday (17 November) with nine participants from eight countries competing live on World Para Powerlifting Facebook channel. 

The World Para Powerlifting Online World Cup, presented by BIGSER, was launched in April, as a way to keep athletes active during the COVID-19 pandemic and became an immediate success. 

One hundred and twenty-nine powerlifters from 34 countries joined the five Online World Cup Series. 

Tuesday’s winner will receive a bar from World Para Powerlifting Official Partner Eleiko. 

The nine finalists were announced last week but the list had two last-minute changes due to injuries.

Brazil’s Mariana D’Andrea will replace Italy’s Matteo Cattini and El Salvador’s Herbert Aceituno will replace Kazakhstan’s David Degtyarev. 

Here is all you need to know about the finalists:

Amalia Perez, Mexico
Three-time Paralympic champion Perez made her Online World Cup debut in the second series winning the women’s category. She returned in the fifth leg and again finished first.

Anastasiia Mamadamirova, Russia
The Dubai 2014 World Championships bronze medallist has been one of the most efficient competitors throughout the season. Mamadamirova finished in the women’s top four in all series. Her best result was second place in series number 1. 

Cristina Poblador, Colombia
Another of the most regular lifters during the season, Poblador will be one of the two Colombians in the Finals. Her best results were fifth places in series number 1 and 5. Poblador’s biggest international achievement was the gold medal at the Bogota 2018 Americas Championships.

Herbert Aceituno, El Salvador
The powerlifter made history for his country winning El Salvador’s first gold medal at the Parapan American Games in two decades at Lima 2019, in the men’s up to 65kg category. Aceituno received a wildcard following David Degtyarev’s injury. His best result was fourth in series 5.

Jainer Cantillo, Colombia
Toronto 2015 Parapan American champion, Cantillo finished in the top three in three out of five Online World Cup Series. The Colombian’s best result was the second place in the fifth leg.

Latsami Sipaseuth, Laos
The Laotian athlete competed in fourth series, being a regular in the top ten. Her overall points took her to the finals. A seventh place in Series number 3 and 4 were her best result. 

Mariana D’Andrea, Brazil
The Brazilian is definitely the lucky loser in the Finals. D’Andrea finished third in the overall women’s rankings but could not join the finals as she missed Series number 5. She had a new chance to qualify through a voting on World Para Powerlifting social media, but lost to Egypt’s Rehab Ahmed. But she finally made it to the Finals as an alternate to Matteo Cattini. 

Rehab Ahmed, Egypt
Nur-Sultan 2019 world champion and Rio 2016 silver medallist Ahmed joined the finals through popular vote on social media beating Brazil’s Mariana D’Andrea and Uganda’s Muhamed Nigo. She finished fourth in the overall women’s rankings.

Vera Muratova, Russia
The most successful athlete in the Series, Muratova won three series and finished second in the other two. The Russian’s best international results are bronze medals in the Dubai 2014 and Nur-Sultan 2019 World Championships.

You can watch the Online World Cup Finals live on World Para Powerlifting Facebook channel on Tuesday (16 November) at 6:00 PM (Central European Time).*

* Text updated on 17 November (1845 CET). Due to technical issues it was not possible to broadcast the Online World Cup Finals live.