Steve Varga entered the
record books when he won his fourth New Zealand powerlifting
title in Auckland recently.
Varga (37), a Dunedin personal trainer, won the 110kg class
with a total of 852.50kg and received an award for being the
best male lifter at the championships.
His squat of 335kg was a record for a South Island lifter and
he also had personal-best performances on the bench press
(217.5kg) and deadlift (300kg).
Varga won national titles in the 110kg class in 2004, the
100kg class in 2006 and the 110kg class last year.
"It was great to win the title two years in a row," he said.
He also won a gold medal in the 100kg at the Commonwealth
event in Christchurch in 2007 and a bronze medal at the
Oceania championships in Fiji in 2004.
Varga was one of five Otago lifters to win titles at the
Auckland champs.
Douglas Sekone-Fraser set a New Zealand record of 210kg in
the deadlift and increased his personal-best total by 30kg to
470kg when winning the junior class.
Sylvia Clarkson increased her total by a 17.5kg to 225kg when
winning the women's over-60 age group in the 60kg class.
Charles Abraham, returning to the national arena after five
years, won the masters men's over-50 class with 482.5kg.
Brett McCormack improved his total by 20kg when winning the
men's open 82.5kg class with a total of 720kg.
Keith Old was second in the masters men over-40 75kg class
with a total of 782.50kg.
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