IPF World Classic Open Powerlifting Championships in Malta: Preview and discussion post

nathan2018

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What is IPF Classic Worlds?

The International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) is the largest international drug tested fed. “Classic” means the lifters can wear a belt and knee sleeves, but not knee wraps (or bench shirts, deadlift suits, etc). As with all standard powerlifting meets, the lifter with the best total (their best squat + best bench + best deadlift for the day) within each weight class wins.

When is it?

June 11-18

How do I watch? The IPF live stream page.

Find the full schedule here (times listed in Central European Summer Time), and the full roster and nominating totals here (men/women). Note that all the lifters discussed below will be in the “A” group for their weight class.

Story lines to watch

Is Karlina Tongotea the new queen of the -76s?

Karlina Tongotea (New Zealand) came roaring into the international spotlight last fall when she totaled 600 kilos at the Commonwealth Games, and won the hyped “battle of the 76s” at Sheffield 2023, despite missing several lifts. Here she faces off again against reigning World Champ Jessica Buettner (Canada) and Equipped Champ (and the brief holder of the -76 total world record, until Karlina broke it) Agata Sitko (Poland). Karlina comes into this as the favorite; winning cements her as the premier -76 kilo raw lifter.

Check out the epic showdown between Agata and Jess at last year’s IFP Worlds here.

The -63s, and the return of Carola Garra

Lya Bavoil (France) was the undisputed -63, but failed to make weight for the 2022 IFP Worlds. This opened the door for a fierce competition that ended in a three-way tie for best total, with Meghan Scanlon (USA) winning on bodyweight. With Bavoil moving up to the -69s, the favorite to win is Carola Garra (Italy), with Chiara Bernardi (Italy) and Scanlon likely fighting for silver. Garra last competed in Classic Worlds in 2019, where she won gold. Since then she's mostly competed in equipped, where she has been equally successful.

Bonus: Check out this podcast interview with Scanlon, where she talks about coming back to elite level powerlifting after giving birth to twins.

Does Bonica Brown have a real challenger?

Bonica Brown (USA) has been the strongest 84+ for years. At Sheffield in March she broke the squat world record and total world record, and all of her lifts looked easy. However, Belgian lifter Sonita Mulah has been putting up monster gym numbers. She’s also got a big deadlift, so if things are close she has the advantage in that she’ll likely deadlift last. Brittany Schlater (Canada) is also worth keeping an eye on.

Evie vs Noemie: The Rematch

Evie Corrigan (New Zealand) shocked everyone by cutting down a weight class to the -52s for Sheffield, where she shocked (almost) everyone and won the whole competition as a wildcard nomination. However, Noemie Allabert (France) was just a few kilos behind her. The battle is going to be intense and could easily come down to the last deadlift.

The -93s

The men’s -93 class is absolutely stacked, and paired with the women’s -76s last year was one of the most fun sessions to watch. Even though last year’s champ Chance Mitchell (USA) won’t be competing, Jonathan Cayco (USA), Gustav Hedlund (Sweden), Emil Krastev (Bulgaria) and Gavin Adin (USA) are all legitimate contenders for gold (and would be even if Chance was there). Cayco put on a masterclass at Sheffield, coming in second, while Adin had a monster world record squat attempt that the jury ultimately declared a bad lift on depth (he placed third overall). Expect Adin to nail the squat record this time.

Highlights from last year's showdown here.

This event is huge, so there are a ton of great lifters and awesome match ups I didn't have space to talk about. Use this thread to talk about what you're hyped for, discuss the competition, and ask questions.
 
@nathan2018 I love the write-up, let's bring the hype! A few of my friends as well as my coach will be competing, so double excited for the upcoming days.
 
Another weight class I should have given some attention to in the main post: the men’s -66s, where the top three lifters (Brian Le, Kyota Ushiyama, Kasemsand Senumong) have near identical nominating totals, and #4 is Pana Tarinidis, is known as the king of grind for his ability to fight through really tough lifts. The lighter weight men’s classes have historically been less competitive, but that is changing!
 
@nathan2018 I'm also excited for the -83 and if Ena is going to figure out his grip consistency issue and actually pull above 400 kg, like he's alluding to on social media. He gave us that haily mary pull moment last year.

Big question mark on Chance as well, given he pulled out of Sheffield for sponsorship reasons, not health reasons.
 
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