Double British record boost for Jason
18th February 2004Powerlifter Jason Irving staked a strong claim for a place on the British squad for the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games by breaking the British record for the second time in four weeks.
The 29-year-old Manchester lifter set a British record of 172.5kg at the Malmo Open competition in Sweden.
It came just four weeks after he lifted 162.5kg at the IPC Bench Press competition in Cardiff - when he added10kg to Russell Willey's nine-year-old British record for the 60kg division.
Irving dropped down from 67.5kg to the 60kg division to increase his chances of making the British squad for the Athens 2004 Paralympics.
He tried to make the team at 67.5kg for the last two Paralympic Games but just missed out - now he hopes it will be third time lucky.
"It's been a long time since that record has been broken, so to break it twice in four weeks and put 20kg on it is a good feeling," he said.
"I've been doing 173kg to 175kg in training, but haven't managed it in competition," he added. "I've been working on my technique and on keeping my strength, even though I've been losing weight to make 60kg.
"The European record is 180kg. I'm not far off that now and it would be nice to go to the Games and break that," said Irving, who won a gold and a silver medal competing in the 67.5kg division at the European Championships in Slovakia last year.
Irving used to weigh-in at 68kg and has lost about 8kg in five months with a well-structured diet and exercise routine to compete in the 60kg division.
There were also good performances at Malmo by three other British lifters hoping to make the Athens Paralympic Games, which take place from 17th to 28th September.
Julie Salmon is also planning to drop down a weight to the 48kg division to maximise her power to weight ratio. She comfortably made her target weight, weighing in at 47.2kg. She just missed out on a personal best of 77.5kg when she failed to lock her arms on her final lift and had to settle for a still impressive lift of 75kg.
Natalie Blake also performed well at Malmo, despite being ill in the run-up to the competition. She lifted 92.5kg, just 2.5kg short of her personal best. She aims to compete in the 56kg class at Athens.
Anthony Peddle lifted 145kg at Malmo, the same weight he lifted at the IPC Bench Press competition in Cardiff. He only missed out on 150kg at Malmo on a technicality. His 145kg lift was much more comfortable than at Cardiff - suggesting the Northampton lifter is heading back towards his best.
Peddle also comfortably made the 48kg weight division, which he has been struggling to make recently. He won a gold medal at 48kg at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics but has missed out on a lot of training in the meantime through injury.
Emma Brown, Britain's other powerlifting gold medallist at Sydney, did not compete to Malmo. She is ranked first in the world at +82.5kg.
Britain won two powerlifting gold medals and a bronze at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.
The British squad finished second in the overall medals table at Sydney - our haul of 41 golds, 43 silvers and 47 bronzes was only bettered by the host nation.