Kirkbride sets British U23 records in Minsk,

In his first European Championships, Peter Kirkbride (Kilmarnock, Scotland) weighed in at 91.18kg in the 94kg category, he only had seven lifts to wait before he took the stage, opening with 140kg, he held the lift, to get his opener. He then moved up to 145kg which again he held, to equal his personal best.    Adding another 5kg to the bar he lifted confidently to record a snatch of 150kg, a new British U23 and Scottish Senior record and place 3rd in the B group.

After a good warm up for the Clean & Jerk, he then had a long wait (15 lifts), as a number of the athletes in front of him missed their lifts and did not put the bar up.  Kirkbride’s opening lift of 185kg (1kg below his PB) was solid and he then put the bar up to 190kg, going for PB in the C&J.  Both attempts at 190kg were close, he stood up easily out of both cleans, but just could not hold the jerk.

These lifts were good enough to give him a British U23 and Scottish  total records and to put him into 2nd place in the B group and guarantee a top eleven position overall  in the 94kg category, with the A group to follow tomorrow.

It was a disappointing day for Natasha Perdue (69kg) , she missed her opening snatch of 87kg, then got it with her second attempt,  with one lift in the bag she then went after a PB putting the bar up to 92kg,  which she just never really got under.   In the C&J she opened on 97kg, and cleaned it easily, however her jerk was forward and she could not hold it, this happened again in her second attempt.  Now under pressure to get a total, she did not make as good a clean, but a strong punch through the jerk saw her hold the lift and get a total on the board.  A 194kg total and a top ten finish in her first European Championships, but with the lifts she has done in training, the potential to deliver so much more.

Overall a solid performance by the Great Britain team as they head towards London 2012, with 3 athletes getting experience of their first European Championships at senior level, the women all finishing in the top 10 and the men hitting PBs.

Evans delivers in Minsk

In his first major senior International  Championships for Great Britain, Gareth Evans (Holyhead, Wales)  stepped up to the mark to finish in the top 14 at the European Championships today in Minsk,  in the 62kg category.  Following on from his strong performance at the Welsh Championships he opened comfortably with a 105kg snatch, moving up to 108kg he again looked comfortable,  his final snatch of 111kg he just held to give a new PB of 4kg.  Third athlete out in the Clean and Jerk he easily lifted his opener of 130kg, moving up to 135kg he struggled out of the clean and got the jerk to equal his PB.  Moving up to 137kg he had only one other lifter between his 2nd and 3rd attempts, with a much better clean he stood up easily, balanced himself and punched out the jerk, however his right arm did not fully lock out and the bar dropped to the right.   His total was a new PB by 6kg and puts him into the top 10 in the 62kg class in the Commonwealth Rankings for the first time.

Gareth quoted “I am really happy with my snatch as it was really important to get all 3 attempts, I felt strong in my cleans so was disappointed not to hold the 137kg jerk.   I just want to thank, Ray Williams, my coach back home in Holyhead, plus Tamas Feher and Maggie Lynes who took me out onto the platform.”

Tamas Feher, Head Coach for Great Britain, was very pleased with Evans performance and how they had worked together throughout the event, as this was Feher’s first experience of working with Evans.

 With the final of the 62kg class this evening, live results can be found on this link, the A groups of the European Championships are also being shown all week on Eurosport, consult your TV guide for times.  For those of you who get frustrated not being able to see the scoreboard on Eurosport, during the event, try watching Eurosport with the live results coming up on your computer.

Joanne Calvino has moved into 8th place following the A group of the 53kg Category today, the event was won by Turkish lifter,  Aylin Dasdelen with a total of  28kg (88kg snatch, 120kg C&J).

 Helen Jewell (Ivybridge) lifts tomorrow in the 58kg Category, and is looking forward to building on the solid performance she had at the English Championships in February.