Gibbs succeeds despite leg injury

BIG EFFORT: Brett Gibbs collected four medals in open 83kg division at the world champs. PHOTO/FILE

A sore thigh might have stopped Masterton powerlifter Brett Gibbs from achieving his full potential at the world power lifting championships but he still came away from his debut appearance in the open 83kg division with four medals to show for his efforts.

Gibbs, at 24 the youngest participant in his class, finished second behind Ecuador's Jose Castillo, 29, for the overall prize after winning the gold medal in the bench press, the silver in the squat and the bronze in the dead lift.

The squat was the first of the three disciplines to be staged at the event in Salo, Finland. It was here that his thigh problem caused him the biggest concern. Even so, he managed 270kg, beaten only by Castillo with his impressive 290kg. Third was Zaitsev Artem of Russia with 260kg.

In the bench press, Gibbs did a demolition job on his opposition. His best lift was 202.5kg, well clear of Castillo with 182.50kg and Sergey Asaturov of Armenia with 180kg.

It was Castillo who called the tune in the dead lift. His 315kg put him well clear of Alexey Kuzmin of Russia and Gibbs, who both recorded 302.5kg, Kuzmin taking the silver medal because of lower body weight.

In the battle for the overall gold medal, Castillo took the honours with 787.50kg with Gibbs second on 770kg and Artem third with 727.50kg.

Results, in order of squat, bench, dead lift and total:-

Jose Castillo (Ecuador) 290.00, 182.5, 315.00, 787.50; Brett Gibbs (New Zealand) 270.00, 202.5, 302.5, 770.00; Zaitsev Artem (Russia) 260.00, 167.5, 300.00, 727.50; Mikko Ronkainen (Finland) 250.00, 165.00, 290.00, 705.00; Mark Wasson (Canada) 247.5, 165.00, 290.00, 702.50; Amir Fazeli (Australia) 252.5, 147.5, 297.5, 697.50; Kristian Sewen (Sweden) 225.00, 160.00, 287.5, 672.50; Tiit Saarma (Estonia) 230.00, 160.00, 280.00, 670.50; Tobias Haegg (Sweden) 232.5, 145.00, 285.00, 662.50; Almar Kuusnomm (Estonia) 230.00, 165.00, 260.00, 655.00; Masatoshi Yokota (Japan) 240.00, 150.00, 260.00, 650.00; Robert Rogers (Great Britain) 235.00, 152.5, 262.5, 650.00; Mark Hodgett (Great Britain) 220.00. 147.50, 280.00, 647.50; Tsuyoshi Hidaka (Japan) 232.5, 150.00, 255.00, 637.50; Sergey Asaturov (Armenia) 190.00, 180.00, 220.00, 590.00; Alexey Kuzmin (Russia) no successful lift, 177.5, 202.5, 380.00. For Gibbs, his latest successes come after the outstanding results he produced at the world junior championships in Johannesburg, South Africa, last year. There he won the 83kg class with a total of 770.5kg after taking away the gold medal in the squat (280kg) and the dead lift (305.5kg) and the bronze medal in the bench press (185kg). That result was a major catalyst to him winning the Senior Sports Personality and Supreme Champion awards at this year's Wairarapa Times-Age sports awards.