Adesokan Wins Gold at IPC Powerlifting World Championships

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Nigeria’s Yakubu Adesokan beat off a sustained challenge from Vietnam’s Van Cong Le in what was considered as an incredibly tense men’s -49kg, which saw the world record fall three times at the IPP Powerlifting World Championships in Dubai.yakubu_adesokan_gold_medalist

The gold medal looked to be Le’s after the 29 year-old broke Adesokan’s world record with a lift of 177kg in the second round, and improved it further still with a 180kg lift in the third round.



However, Adesokan showed true champion qualities with a final lift of 181kg to take back the world record and complete a unique Grand Slam of Paralympic, world and Commonwealth titles.

Russia’s London 2012 silver medalist Vladimir Balynetc (166kg) finished third, whilst the junior world record went to 15 year-old Iranian Mohsen Bakhtiar (131kg) who finished tenth overall.

The 2014 IPC Powerlifting World Championships, featuring over 330 athletes from nearly 60 countries, runs from 5-11 April and is the first opportunity for athletes to begin the qualification process for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.