Men's -54 kg - IPC Powerlifting World Championships

Egypt’s double Paralympic champion Sherif Othman broke his own world record four times on the way to winning gold in the men’s -54kg at the 2014 IPC Powerlifting World Championships in Dubai, UAE, on Sunday (6 April) finishing with an incredible fourth lift of 205kg.

The new mark added an impressive 24kg to his previous record of 181kg set just over a year ago and soon after winning gold, the 31-year-old revealed he is considering a new challenge ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

“Today I got my dream,” said Othman who also won gold at the 2010 World Championships.

"After this I will think about entering a heavier weight category, maybe the -59kg. In Rio maybe I will be there."

Stalking the bench on entry to the venue before each lift, Othman’s started his record breaking day with a first lift of 187kg, adding 6kg to his previous best. In the next round he lifted 193kg, bettering closest competitor Vladimir Krivulya (180kg) of Russia by 13kg.

The battle for bronze went to the third round of lifts and it was China’s Qi Feng (177kg) who eventually managed to push the extra weight required to make the podium.

After Othman lifted 202kg in the third round, he opted for a fourth lift under the watchful eye of IPC President Sir Philip Craven who was later joined by Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The crowd fell silent before erupting in applause as Othman succeeded in lifting 205kg, almost four times his own body weight.

The junior gold went to Greece’s Paschalis Kouloumoglou (144kg). Great Britain’s Panagiotis Mamuneas (121kg) took silver and Iraq’s Ahmed Al-Majmaie (115kg) the bronze.

The 2014 IPC Powerlifting World Championships have featured over 330 athletes from nearly 60 countries and were the first opportunity for athletes to begin qualification for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

The competition also featured the climax to the "Raise the Bar campaign," which has seen powerlifters and team officials take part in education seminars as part of efforts to reduce doping in the sport.

For more information about the 2014 IPC Powerlifting World Championships, please visit the Dubai 2014 microsite:

Athletes:

AUS Nang Nguyen

CHI Jorge Carinao

CHN Qi Feng

CHN Jun Li

CIV Alidou Diamoutene

EGY Sherif Othman

GBR Panagiotis Mamuneas

GRE Paschalis Kouloumoglou

GRE Dimitrios Bakochristos

HUN Nikosz Dudas

IRI Samad Abbasi

IRQ Ahmed Al-Majmaie

JPN Tetsuo Nishizaki

KEN Gabriel Magu Wanjiku

KGZ Esen Kaliev

NGR Ikechukwu Obichukwu

PNG Ziggy Satkurin

RUS Ildar Bedderdinov

RUS Vladimir Krivulya

TKM Mekan Agalikov

TUR Suat Guven

TUR Mustafa Gul

UKR Sergii Khvalinskyi

VIE Binh An Nguyen