Ben Sagal, a Sixth-form student at Bristol Grammar School, is celebrating after winning the U18 category in the National Powerlifting Championships in Glasgow and qualifying for the world championships in Boston in October. Ben not only won the competition but also set three national records and one world record in the process!
 

In power lifting competitions, competitors have three chances in each of three lifts; deadlift, bench press, and squat. The greatest weights lifted in each category are added together and the competitor with the highest cumulative total wins. Ben’s world record came in the deadlift where he lifted 225kg, beating the previous world record by 20kg. His bench press of 107.5kg was a national record, as was his overall winning total of 487.5kg. You can view Ben’s world record lift here.

Ben said: “I was really pleased to win, especially to set a world record and am looking forward to going to Boston, the chance to compete in a world championships is very exciting.

“Ideally I’ll be able to go out there for a week so I am hoping to find some sponsorship towards the costs of travelling out to Boston for the competition.”
 

Ben, who took up weight lifting eighteen months ago, has only been doing it competitively for six months, after a fellow gym member suggested he might be good at it. He trains up to four times a week, alongside studying for ‘A’ levels in Economics, Russian and Maths. Although he has an occasional training partner, Ben has no coach and devises his own training programme. 

To be in with a chance of winning in Boston, Ben thinks he will need to get his three lift total up to 520kg, adding another 10kg to his best lift in each of the three disciplines. With six months to go to the World Championships, Ben is confident he can do this and hopes to claim a world title before his birthday in January when he will move up to the U20 category.

We congratulate Ben on becoming national champion and a world record holder and wish him the best of luck in Boston.