Women's -45 kg - IPC Powerlifting World Championships

The biggest upset and closest contest of the day came in the women’s -45kg with three of the top four athletes finishing with lifts of 95kg and having to be separated by bodyweight. The eventual winner was Russia’s Rayisa Toporkova (96kg) who finished ahead of Poland’s Justyna Kozdryk (95kg) in silver and Mexico’s Laura Cerero (95kg) in bronze. Egyptian world record holder Zeinab Oteify (95kg) could only manage fourth on account of being the heavier of the three tied athletes.

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

The competition also features 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. A full competition schedule and live results can be found at www.paralympic.org/dubai-2014/schedule.

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

Athletes:

ALG Samira Guerioua

BEN Brigitte Boko

BRA Maria Luzineide Santos de Oliveira

CHN Dandan Hu

CIV Akissi Michelle Kouadio

CMR Josephine Nyangono

EGY Zeinab Oteify

MEX Laura Cerero Gabriel

PHI Achelle Guion

POL Justyna Kozdryk

RUS Larisa Berieva

TUR Ebru Basar

UAE Mozah Alzeyoudi

UKR Rayisa Toporkova