Carlos ‘The Showstopper’ Petterson-Griffith still has his sights set on the World Title
To be back at GALPF Qualifiers on April 25th
By Franklin Wilson
Carlos Petterson-Griffith is aiming to come back with a bang. (Photo Franklin Wilson)
Kaieteur News – The name Carlos ‘The Showstopper’ Petterson-Griffith is synonymous with the weight sport in Guyana: powerlifting, strongest and even bodybuilding; but the most popular towards it is powerlifting.
Carlos Petterson-Griffith
His sights were set on becoming the first Guyana athlete to win a medal at the World Championships back in June 2019; Helsingborg, Sweden was the location. Petterson-Griffith sealed his place following his record-breaking performances when he set Squat, Deadlift and Total national records on the final day of the 16th IPF / NAPF North American Regional Powerlifting Championship in Mexico City, August, 2018.
He bagged gold in the Raw Open Men’s 93kg class and followed that performance in the Men’s Equipped Open division claiming his second gold and setting a new 800kg national Total record, his Squat of 315kg was also a new national record as was his Deadlift mark of 330kg .
However, all those hopes came down when Petterson-Griffith was suspended for 12 months by the GAPLF for competing in a non-sanctioned competition in Barbados, May 4th and 5th, 2019. The suspension was due to a violation of Article 14.9 of IPF Constitution and Section 12, Article 1, point 4 of the GAPLF Constitution.
With the past now behind him and a renewed focus on what he wants to achieve, Petterson-Griffith says he is more determined to achieve his # 1 goal of winning Guyana’s first World title.
Martin Webster – Executive Member and GAPLF IT Specialist
Always a bold speaker, he revealed that he had been doing so with the man ‘in the mirror’ since he started competing in strength sports.
“Anyway; from then to now I’ve been working and training hard as ever, not only for local competition but more so for the international championships. The road to becoming a world champion is not that easy because there are quite a few other athletes on the international podium who are also following the same thing.
For the past year I managed to improve at least 15% of my previous scores / records and focus on a bigger place at the world championships. My main goal is to become a world champion.
Nevertheless, I am grateful for the opportunity once again to continue lifting the Golden Arrowhead up high. “
But to reach the World title, Petterson-Grifith must cross the barrier of qualifying for the 18th North American Regional Powerlifting Championship (NAPF) set for Orlando, Florida, USA from August 17 – 21, next. The said dates would also see the 18th FESUPO / NAPF Regional Pan-American Powerlifting Championship as well as the 1st FESUPO / NAPF Regional University Cup North and South America, being contested.
Trials for the aforementioned relevant championships are set for Sunday April 25th at a venue to be announced later by the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation who will also host their Junior Novice and National Championships on the same date.
All athletes from the GAPLF 2020 shortlist must now re-qualify for these championships and the date is April, 25th. Kaieteur Sport has reliably been informed that two (2) new female weight classes as well as a new scoring co-efficient called Good Lift Points were first introduced in 2019 at the Intermediate and Master Championships.
GAPLF CEO Martin Webster wrote the already coded software. Webster advised that there had been a change in the formula used.
“It started using Wilks, then IPF points and is now compliant with the new Good Lift Points. Some of the changes now are that there is no more age coefficient for younger, younger and exposed children all using the same coefficient. Only masters have an age coefficient when using Good Lift Points, all IPF conditions. “
Webster further informed that there were some enhancements to the exhibition to engage the audience. “I added some memes and GIF animations to enliven the audience. I was supposed to add some video submissions to patch into the live stream but covid-19 paused. However, hopefully at this meeting, most of the graphics I will try to patch directly into the live stream instead of just presenting it from our TVs. “
Meanwhile, Petterson-Griffith expresses gratitude to the following businesses and individuals for their unstinting support.
“The relentless Fitness Express, APPAREL SDB, Mr. Jamie McDonald, MonRepos Mall / Gym Fitness, Uncle Budraj (Buddy), ‘Big’ John Edwards, Mr Julio Sinclair and the many, many others who have supported, encouraged, encouraged and more so talk some sense into me every now and then. “
Special thanks were extended by the strong to the Covid-19 National Task Force for their approval of the event and the Federation for pushing for competitive action back again.