Powerlifter sets personal bests despite ‘horrible’ preparation for nationals – صحيفة الصوت

Illness and injury in the buildup to the national powerlifting championships has not stopped a lifter from setting three personal bests.

Christchurch’s Emmanuel James Bautista is one of the lifters competing at the New Zealand power lifting championships at the Globe Theatre in Palmerston North this week.

He finished third in the under-74kg division on Thursday after he lifted 282kg in the deadlift, as well we 217kg in the squat and 150kg in the bench, which were all personal bests.

He was pleased with the result, having competed against some of the country’s top lifters in his division and considering what he had gone through in the past few months.

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“It was horrible,” he said of his buildup to the national championships. “Since my last competition I got Covid and after that I tweaked my back and after that I had a stomach ulcer.”

His last competition was the Canterbury championships four months ago.

He had been through a big block of training when he hurt his back, so it meant it was a “mediocre” preparation for this week. After this event he planned to take it easy for a while.

Bautista, who has been powerlifting for about three years, is originally from the small Pacific island Saipan, which is part of the Northern Mariana Islands, north of Guam.

He said Saipan was a place no-one knew where it was.

The five-day event has been running all week at the Globe. Powerlifting is a strength sport where people attempt three different lifts: squat, bench press and deadlift.

About 240 people are entered in the event, which is spread across men and women. Age classes range from sub junior under-18 to masters 3, which is 60-70.

Weight classes range from 47kg to 120kg plus.