World Classic Open Powerlifting Championships: Petterson-Griffith set to rock the world again today

…Confident of being #1

Carlos ‘The Showstopper’ Petterson-Griffth will be taking on lifters from 32 other countries from just around 13:00hrs today; and that’s when he’ll make a strong claim to win the 93kg division at the ongoing World Classic Open Powerlifting Championships taking place in Druskininkai, Lithuania.
Having ended the 2023 edition with bronze and silver medals in the respective squat and deadlift competitions, Petterson-Griffith will be employing an all-out effort to attain the ultimate prize this year, despite the challenges he has faced in getting to the competition.
He will actually arrive in Lithuania about seven hours before the weigh-in, and this is because his Schengen visa was received only on Tuesday afternoon, and he commenced his journey on Tuesday night.
He had experienced a similar challenge last year, but the Guyanese strongman was not deterred. He says he is very focused on again making himself and Guyana proud.
“I am becoming used to these kinds of challenges, and am mentally and spiritually prepared for the task at hand. I’d like to thank all my sponsors, including the Ministry of Sport and the Guyana Olympic Association, for assisting in making this trip possible. I’d like to say to all of Guyana, ‘Rest assured you’ll be welcoming home the World Champion’,” the Showstopper has said.
Petterson-Griffith had turned in a magical performance at Sheffield24 earlier this year in England, while also breaking the world squat record (332.5kg), which was eventually retaken by the USA’s Gavin Aiden with a squat of 337.0kg. While Aiden did not make the cut for Worlds this year, Petterson-Griffith is ranked third based on nominations, behind USA’s Brandon Pitre and Sweden’s Gustav Hedlund, winner of the Sheffield24 Powerlifting Championship.
An unforgettable showdown of the world’s best strongmen in the always fiercely contested 93kg class is anticipated today against competitors from USA, Sweden, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Canada, Norway, Italy, Netherlands, Brazil, Cameroon, Ireland, Malaysia, Algeria, Iceland, Japan, Singapore, Cyprus, China, Jamaica, Belgium, Slovenia, Latvia, New Zealand, South Africa, Quatar, and the US Virgin Islands.
Guyana has already copped a bronze medal at these championships through the efforts of Dominic Tyrell, who made an encouraging senior debut on Tuesday in the 83kg division. The youngest competitor in that division, Tyrell also ended 6th in the world out of 25 athletes.