10 Nov 2014
More than 300 athletes representing 17 countries converged on Las Vegas October 17-19 for the AAU World Powerlifting Championships, AAU World Indoor Feats of Strength Championships, and the AAU MAS Strength Challenge. The three day meet was held in the ballroom at the Quad Hotel on the Las Vegas strip, and featured athletes of all ages. Martin Drake, the incoming AAU Strength Sports National Chairman, served as meet director for powerlifting, Bill Weinstock, AAU Strength Sports Vice Chairman for Feats of Strength, served as meet director for the Feats of Strength world championship, and Odd Haugen served as director for the MAS Strength Challenge, one of the Feats of Strength events.
Competitors from outside the USA came from as far away as Afghanistan and India; competitors also hailed from Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Iran, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Turkmenistan, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Israel, Egypt and Slovakia. The huge delegation from India tied with the USA for the overall team title. Team Mexico finished in second place and the great team from Afghanistan finished in third place. This was Afghanistan’s second trip to the AAU World Championships in Las Vegas.
Equipment Raw, Challenge Barbell, Ivanko Barbell, American Barbell, The LINQ, Caesars Entertainment, Ken Ibbetson (Morgan Stanley), Fine Design, CSS Photo, Anderson Powerlifting and Fitness Cages Unlimited were key sponsors and supporters of the three-day meet.
A stellar crew of International officials was anchored by the world's finest referee, Gordon Santee. Special thanks go to Karen Fultz, Henry Fultz, Bill Weinstock, Bill Ennis, Paul Gillott, Hal Pittman, Ray Anderson, Tony Rodriguez, Tom Hendron, Danny Bentley, Robert Herbst, Randy Nacarrato, Odd Haugen, Gordon Santee, Bill Croft, Dave Yancey, Patrick Mc Donnell and the amazing spotting and loading team. Drug testing was performed by the Center for Drug Free Sports, which also conducts NCAA testing, and an AAU Strength Sports Board of Directors meeting was held to chart the way forward for AAU Strength Sports in 2015.
Day one (Friday) featured all female lifters, as well as men 75 kg (165 lbs.) and below. Forty-eight outstanding female lifters competed for world titles on day one! Saturday was reserved for male lifters in the 82.5 and 90 kg. classes (181 and 198 lbs.), and Sunday featured lifters 100 kg (220 lbs.) through super heavy weight.
The Feats of Strength events were held throughout the day on Friday and Saturday, culminating with the awarding of Best Athlete Awards in the Men’s, Women’s, and Youth Categories. There were also King and Queen of the Mega Lift Awards, given to the athletes with the greatest number of events using greater than prescribed poundage for repetition competition. The MAS Strength Challenge was a new, but very popular Feats of Strength event at this year’s world championships.
Powerlifting Best Lifters
Women' Powerlifting Ruth Coax
Women's Pushpull Winifred Pristell
Women's Deadlift Winifred Pristell
Women's Bench Patti McKee
Men's Light weight Raw Powerlifting William Hoskens
Men's Light weight Raw Bench Martin Drake
Men's Equipped bench 181 and under Martin Drake
Men's Equipped Powerlifting Bob Grell
Men's Pushpull 181 and under Bill Croft
Men's Deadlift 181 and under Bill Croft
Men's Heavy Weight Equipped Powerlifting Chad Drecksel
Men's Equipped bench 198 and above Jerry Homer Sr.
Men's Middle Weight Raw Powerlifting Ron Garofalo
Men's Deadlift 198 and above Mayank (India)
Men' Pushpull 198 and above Mitch Owen
Men's Raw Middle Weight Bench Cicero Da Silva (Brazil)
Men's Raw Heavy Weight Bench Glen Tenove
Men's Raw Heavy Weight Powerlifting Ali Rafizada (Afghanistan)
Men's Strict Curl Glen Tenove
Feats of Strength Best Athletes
Women’s Best Athlete (Open) Angelica Berti
Women’s Best Athlete Angelica Berti
Women’s Best Athlete (Youth) Allie Lazarus
Men’s Best Athlete (Youth) Evan Pittman
Men’s Best Athlete (Open) Jack Lynch
Men’s Best Athlete Jack Lynch
Men’s King of the Mega Lift Loren McClurg (tie) Jack Lynch (tie)
Women’s Queen of the Mega Lift Bianca Luedeker
Women’s All Around (Open) Bianca Luedeker
Women’s All Around Bianca Luedeker
Women’s All Around (Youth) Avery Miller
Men’s All Around (Youth) Maximus Crofton
Men’s All Around (Open) Jack Lynch
Men’s All Around Jack Lynch
MAS Strength Challenge Winners
Ladies Liefia Ingalls
Men Romark Weiss
Boys, 5-9 Connor Minix
Boys, 15-17 Christopher DeLouche
Number of views (17124) Comments (0)
AAU Southern Pacific Grand Prix Series
Boardwalk Sports USA Big East Youth Basketball Tou
Tiger Youth Wrestling Tournament
2022 Queen City New Year's Bash - Pond Hockey
The Texas Expo Explosion
F.I.A. Holiday Youth Indoor Classic
AAU Northern Indoor National Invitational
Palm Bay Fall Classic
Hawk Brawl