-powerlifter Petterson-Griffith

CARLOS Petterson-Griffith, the new holder of the Guyana and South American squat record in the 93KG class says he is buoyed by his performance at the just concluded Sheffield powerlifting championship in England.

The Guyanese finished 7th place out of 12 of the world strongest powerlifters and now holds the Caribbean and South America Squat record at with 332.5KG.

He told Chronicle Sport, “I set out to be the best and compete among the best and the experience at the championship was great.”

According to Petterson-Griffith, aptly nicknamed the ‘showstopper’, improvements were made on all his mandatory lifts to challenge for a top spot.

Carlos reset the 93KG weight class world squat record, albeit briefly, before American Gavin Adin went one better with 337KG to finish fourth in the championship.

Petterson-Griffith says he’s immensely pleased with his showing, adding, “I made a great improvement in my bench press at 182.5 kg from 172.5….great improvement on my best deadlift from 355KG to 360KG for a combined 875KG which put me in the top 5 for my category in the world.”

He continued, “Now it’s time to get stronger opening a greater gap on my nearest competitors, I’m only 20kg away from becoming world champion which is possible with the necessary tweaks.”
The powerlifter says he has set his mind on breaking the squat and deadlift records and becoming world champion.

His coach, Dexter Jones who was assisted by Jamie McDonald says, “His [Carlos] performance was remarkable given the short prep time, the seemingly improbable but necessary targets that were established to get him into a competitive position.”

Jones added that, “Despite the mind-numbing prospect of competing at the most prestigious power lifting competition, Carlos rose to the occasion managed his trepidation and gave a performance that was befitting of his name ‘the showstopper.”

He says the Guyanese will now be a force to be reckoned with in the international 93kg category.

Meanwhile GAPLF president Franklin Wilson praised Carlos “for bringing himself and the nation great joy with his historic performance.”

He says the executive is “proud of this achievement, which further strengthened the foundation for the sport to advance even more.”

He noted Carlos has “worked hard and is very dedicated to the sport, and this is another hurdle crossed in his still growing career.”

Wilson says much thanks must be given to his technical team Jones and McDonald for their work behind the scenes.

The sport administrator said the support of Minister of Sport Charles Ramson Jnr, the National Sport Commission and Carlos’ sponsors has paid dividends, adding that bigger things are on the horizon for the sport and Guyana.

Carlos qualified for Sheffield powerlifting championship after picking up silver at the International Powerlifting Federation World Championship Last Year.

Sweden’s Gustav Hedlund won overall gold with front runner American Jonathan Cayco second and USA Delaney Wallace third for bronze with American Gavin Adin fourth.