AN Isle of Wight prison officer has earned the right to compete in the forthcoming World Powerlifting Championships to be held in Hungary this coming autumn.
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Zoltan Mihalyi was given just the lift he needed by qualifying for the event again — but this time, in a different age class — at a recent qualification competition for the World Championships, held recently in Bristol.
He also wanted to use the opportunity to test his strength.
The World Championships will be run between October 9-15 — an event Zoltan has worked hard for and dedicated himself to qualifying for.
It paid off in spades — exceeding the 670kg minimum needed to quality, with an impressive 685kg.
On the squat, Zoltan — who trains at the Bonchurch Vectis Weightlifting Club — suffered an early setback when he was penalised with a 'no lift', after two referees deemed them to be not 'deep' enough.
However, Zoltan bounced back to finish with a huge 240kg lift.
Zoltan was fired up for his next discipline, the bench, having entered the warm-up feeling strong.
He started with a 170kg lift, followed by a personal best of 180kg.
Zoltan, with more to give, extended his PB by adding a further 5kg on his third lift.
Having picked up an injury to his glutes a couple of weeks ago, Zoltan was apprehensive moving on to the critical deadlift.
However, his determination held him in good stead as he achieved an impressive 260kg personal best.
Zoltan's superb finish had not only secured him the right to enter the World Championships, but he also won his class.
"I'm very grateful for the support shown during my journey to return to World Championship level powerlifting," he said.
"I feel adequately prepared for the World Championships and I will continue to train five days a week."
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