#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Northern sporstman became the gold medalist of the Russian championship among veterans in powerlifting (bench press) in two categories at once.
Competitions with the participation of more than 150 strongest athletes of the country were held in Zelenogorsk. Salavat Khakimov, performed in the 93 kg weight category (in equipment) and, having shown the result of 200 kg in the bench press, won a gold medal. In addition, the northerner became the winner in the classic bench press (without equipment) in the same weight category with a result of 170 kilograms.
Earlier, Salavat became the winner of the Russian championship among veterans twice – in 2018 and 2020. Note that thanks to his successful performance in Zelenogorsk, the athlete received an invitation to the Russian national team to participate in the world championship, which will be held in October in Kazakhstan.
As the sportsman’s coach Evgeny Kretov told, the Norilsk resident is in excellent shape, it is difficult to compete with him not only for veterans, but also for young athletes. At the same time, Salavat began his career in powerlifting just about ten years ago.
“Salavat is a unique athlete. He came to me about ten years ago, and before that he was a candidate for master of sports in athletics. Thanks to constant training and hard work, Salavat has achieved serious success in powerlifting, so it is not surprising that over the past three years he has already won four gold medals at the national championships. I have to admit that there was no doubts that he would win in Zelenogorsk as well”, noted Yevgeny Kretov.
He also added that at the upcoming world championship, which will be Salavat’s debut in his career, he has excellent chances to win at least one of the prizes.
“We have a lot of work to do. We will reach the medals of the world championship, but our main goal is victory”, concluded Evgeny Kretov.
Text: Mikhail Tuaev, Photo: SC Talnah
