Klaus skrifar frá Denver

This was Audun’s first world championship in 120 kg category, after a rather quick weight loss down from ~137kg in May. After eating breakfast, he weighed in on 119.83 and was ready to go, although a little bit more nervous than is usual.

Head-coach Gretar and assistant coach minions Klaus and Maria were also ready to go.

We shared a platform in the warmup area with the British, as many times before. The usual friendly and good-hearted insults were exchanged and we helped each other through the competition.

The squat warmup was uneventful and he was ready to go. He opened on a conservative 345kg which was easy. We asked for 365 for his second attempt. He went to depth and exploded up, but something went wrong and the bar died half way up, and Audun left the stage with a pain in his lower back. We kept the 365 for the third attempt, and it went up without any problems, securing a new national record, back pain or not.

The warmup for the bench went smooth and we kept the 260 opener. The first lift went smoothly and Audun asked for a 10kg increase to 270. That proved too much today, and second and third attempts were not good lifts.

Then it was on to the deadlift warmup. Audun’s back was still in some pain, and Gretar had rubbed almost a complete container of heat-creme on the back of the old cirkus horse. The feeling of the last deadlift was not perfect, so we lowered the opener to 300kg and went to the wrapping area. He smoked the opener and I Gretar and I suggested a jump to 315-320, but the old cirkus horse had smelled the magnesium and baby-powder, and asked for 337.5kg. He pulled that with ease and wanted 350 for his last lift of the meet.342.5kg would be enough to move him into 9th place overall, but with his easy 337.5 pull and determination, we stuck to 350. Turns out, it would not have made any difference, because the gas tank was completely empty after the second lift, and 350 never made it past the knees. Audun finished 11th in one of the most competitive and talent-packed categories of the meet.

While Audunn was finishing the deadlift, downstairs in the warmup area, Sigfus was warming up for the squat, and we ran downstairs to help him. We shared a platform with Sweden’s Fredrik Svenson. The warmup went smoothly, and Sigfus looked strong. The Norwegian Carl Yngvar cirkus in the warmup area is a thing to behold. His last warmup was around 450kg, more than any other lifter even attempted in the meet – and he makes it look like a squat with an empty bar.

15 minutes before his opener on the platform, we went upstairs to the wrapping area and were ready for the first attempt. The elevators from lower level one up to the ground level were heavily utilized by the heavy guys, as the most powerful enemy of the heavy powerlifter is gravity (and fixed-size portions).

Sigfuss easily lifted his 360 opener, but it was deemed not a good lift (2-1), so we asked for the same weight one more time. This time, he nailed it with ease and got three white lights. Sigfus then asked for 382,5, got fired up and went in on stage and lifted the weight. The margins were again against him, and it was red-lighted 2-1.

Down to the warmup-area, where we finished with a 315 to about a thin board. On the warmup plaform was also Fredrik Svensson, who went straight into a shirt and did 320kg to a board.

Sigfuss did not get a good opener on 330, and missed the lift – where he felt the spotters took it too early. I went to the jury and asked for a new attempt, but was denied by IPF president Gaston Parage himself. He has a tough time getting a solid footing on the platform, so for the second attempt at 330 we made sure his shoes were nice and sticky – by “accidentally” stepping in some gatorade, that somehow had managed to get spilled on a plastic bag next to his chair. It helped with the footing, but there was a problem with the lift-off, and Sigfus got a bad start – and missed the lift. Angry and frustrated, he went back in for his third attempt on 330 – fighting to stay in the competition, and this time he nailed it and got three white lights – and we could breathe a sigh of relief.

Back down to the warmup area (via elevator, of course), a quick warmup for the deadlift was completed. Sigfus had two goals: 1. Nail a good lift to most likely secure the 4th place overall. 2. Do 310 and reach the 1000kg total. We lowered the opener to 290, just playing it safe, and he lifted that with ease, even though he managed to start the lift so far from his legs, that the chief referee was almost afraid for his own feet. Sticking to the plan, we asked for 310. Sigfus also nailed that and with that secured the 1000kg total. When the Canadian Ryan Stinn missed his second attempt, the 4th place was safe and secure, so there was not much more to lift for, as advancing was not possible. The final attempt of 315 did not go up, so Sigfus finished 4th overall behind Carl Yngvar Christensen (NOR – World record 1230 total), Kenta Sandvik (FIN) and Fredrik Svensson (SWE).