Carlos ‘The Showstopper’ Petterson-Grifith and Keisha Abrigo snagged the coveted overall titles after displaying impressive strength prowess during the Raw Powerlifting Championships staged yesterday at St Stanislaus College.
Peterson-Grifith, returned to the platform after a prolonged absence and chalked up herculean lift after lift, among them giant squats and deadlifts. The 93kg behemoth had those in attendance at the edge of their seats, lifting multiple times his bodyweight.
Living up to his moniker, the ‘Showstopper’ set several national records en route to lifting the overall title with a best squat of 320kg (704 lbs) and a mammoth deadlift of 335kg (737 lbs), almost four times his weight.
After a best bench of 170kg, (373lbs) he recorded a total of 825kg, (1815lbs) good for 107.92 IPF points, the best among all the lifters who counted more than 20.
Abrigo, 30, was not to be outdone, the strongest female on the platform also rewrote the record books. However, her deadlift in excess of 185kg (407lbs) had the 69kg strong woman and the crowd amped up as she high-fived everyone in sight after completing the record-breaking feat.
Meanwhile, on a day when several records were broken, Romario Gonsalves ensured his name was written in the record books. The 24 year-old lifting in the 66kg class, was in sublime form. En route to smashing several national records, his standout achievement was lifting 272.5kg (599.5 pounds) off the ground in his final deadlift. His IPF points of 97.42 was second overall to Petterson-Grifith.
A pair of 16 year-olds, Angel Chappelle and Romeo Hunter were also among the standout lifters.
Hunter lifting in the 74kg class had most of the adults in awe by breaking the men’s sub junior and national open records. He had a best bench of 160kg and a herculean deadlift of 205kgs, almost three times his weight.
The petite Chappelle was the youngest female on the platform and won the 52kg class showing plenty of promise for years to come. Up to press time, the official results and number of records broken were still to be officially determined, however Stabroek Sport will keep readers updated in a subsequent article.
Note: The Raw Championships provide the best platform to prove the lifter’s true power. Technically speaking, “raw” in the world of powerlifting means lifting with little to no additional equipment (lifting belts, bench shirts, wrist wraps, knee sleeves, etc.).
In competition, raw lifting means that athletes are allowed to use minimal equipment which must be approved by whatever federation is hosting the meet.
