Colin ‘Mr. Clean’ Chesney is the new heavyweight champion after he won the division at the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Association (GAPF) championships yesterday at the Critchlow Labour College.
Chesney, who competed in the 125kg (275lbs) category, defeated Farook Abdool and Julius Sinclair with a winning total of 782.5kg.
Abdool placed second in the heavyweight category with a total of 745kg while Sinclair was third place with a total of 660kg.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport following the simple presentation ceremony which was graced by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, Chesney indicated that a lot of training and preparation was responsible for his performance yesterday.
“Basically it was real hard training, because if you don’t train hard you can never, ever come out on top,” he said.
Elaborating on his day’s performance Chesney added: “I came today to squat 800lbs, but I had some difficulty with my squat suit so that took a lot of energy away from me.”
Chesney was unable to rise up with the 804lbs on his shoulders as he attempted to be the first Guyanese to squat over 800lbs.
“This is not the best of me based on what I came to do, but I still give thanks because I came out at the top of my weight class,” he declared.
Two novelty events were also contested yesterday and saw Randolph Francois and Clint Duke carting off a case of Banks Power Stout each, compliments of the event sponsors Banks DIH Limited. Francois and Duke won the Novelty Curls and Dips competition with a total 43 curls and 47 dips respectively.
Due to technical difficulties affecting the judge’s computer which resulted in a mix up in the day’s results, the complete official results, which include the overall winner and best gym, were unable to be disclosed to media operatives up to press time. The GAPF apologized for this shortcoming and related that all results will be divulged at a press conference scheduled for Wednesday.
