32nd FESUPO/16th NAPF & FESUPO Pan American C/ships – Raw/Classic Edwards, Taharally and Petterson combine for 5 more medals – 10 new records set, PBs achieved

Jul 06, 2017 Sports, http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....ds-set-pbs-achieved/

By Franklin Wilson in Orlando, USA compliments of Crown Mining Supplies, Fitness Express, Secure Innovations & Concepts, Industrial Safety Supplies, Rose Hall Town Youth & Sports Club.
Guyana ended the Raw/Classic segment of the 16th North American Powerlifting Federation (NAPF) and 32nd South American Powerlifting Federation (FESUPO) Championships yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport with another authoritative performance.
Led by experienced gladiator ‘Big’ John Edwards (120kg Masters 11 50+& Open) who captured gold and bronze medals, Guyana mirrored the opening day medal haul of five with the two debutants also ending on the podium.
‘Big’ John was in devastating form as he set new Commonwealth, South American and Pan American records; seven in total.
His gold came in the Masters 11 50+ contest with his total of 712.5kg, while the bronze was achieved in the Open Class; gold went to Costa Rica’s Manuel Campos (745.0kg) and the silver was taken by Alexandre Emidio of Brazil with 715.0kg.
Edwards’s best squat of 275kg replaced the old Commonwealth and South American records of 265.0kg (set by Steve Lousich of New Zealand on April 11, 2015 in Australia) and 190.0kg (set by Richard Alverez in Uruguay on November 22, 2013).
His new Total of 712.5kg erased the old Commonwealth and South American marks also set by Lousich (705.0kg) and Alverez (510.0kg) on the above dates. Alverez’ old Bench and Deadlift records of 172.5 and 200.0 respectively were also smashed by John’s new standards of 200.0kg and 262.5kg, respectively. The old Pan American Bench Press record was also replaced.
Nadina Taharally, the third debutant to take the platform, contesting the 72kg Masters 1 (40+) and Female Open divisions had a dream start to her international career, capturing the nation’s third gold medal in the Masters Class whilst achieving Personal Bests in the Benchpress and Deadlift.
The mother of two snatched the gold medal in the Masters 1 Class with a total of 337.5kg – 742.5lb. Taharally had a best squat of 117kg, benchpress 65kg and deadlift of 155kg; both the bench and deadlifts were Personal Best lifts for Taharally.
She spoke of her performance: “My feel for today is not as I would like it to be because of the coldness of the arena I wasn’t that warm especially for my bench, I really didn’t like how it went. My squat was ok but didn’t get the required depth on my last attempt. For the deadlift my adrenalin was running, I felt warm, I was up and down keeping myself warm and in the end I pulled it off so I’m happy.”
Taharally commended the young lifters for setting the pace and revealed that she uses them as motivation and tries to keep up with them. “I thought for my age I did pretty well.”
With 60, 70 and 80 year old women also competing, the 44 year-old Taharally said she would love to be competing at those ages.
A number of persons were credited with assisting Taharally in her climb to the top. “The whole RipHit crew, my teammates also they are always encouraging me, the Outcast crew, David Gomes for always pushing me to be my best, my boss, the girls at Buddy’s Gym, my mother and family.”
The fourth debutant and third local athlete on the day, Carlos Petterson lifted his way to respective silver and bronze medals in the very competitive 93kg Men’s Junior and Open competition. Petterson also set new National Bench and Deadlift records.
He had set a new Pan American record in the Squat of 280kg but that was broken soon after by the USA’s Chance Mitchell who lifted the standard by another 3kg’s.
Petterson took silver in the Male Raw Junior 3-Lift competition with a total of 760.0kg; Mitchell won the gold with a Total of 770.5kg, while Canada’s Yohann Savinsky captured the bronze with a Total of 735.0kg.
In the Open battle, Petterson had to settle for bronze with Mitchell taking silver and Canada’s Walter Cariazo taking the gold medal with a total of 795.5kg. Petterson set new national benchpress (150kg) and deadlift (317.5kg) records in both the Junior and Open divisions.

Medal Table for Guyana
Day 1 Gold Silver Bronze
2 2 1
Day 2 2 1 2