Tongotea’s squat was an ideal method to top a monstrous performance.
Through the 2023 International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Classic Powerlifting Championships, Karlina Tongotea scored a 225.5-kilogram (497.1-pound) raw back squat. The mark is an official IPF World Record within the 76-kilogram division, where Tongotea eventually got here out victorious ahead of notable peers like Agata Sitko and former two-time defending champion (2021-2022) Jessica Buettner. Tongotea broke her own squat record of 223.5 kilograms (492.7 kilos) from the 2023 Sheffield Powerlifting Championships by 2 kilograms (4.4 kilos).
Tongotea wore a lifting belt and knee sleeves, and utilized wrist wraps to assist herself rewrite the IPF record books along with her squat. That equipment qualifies as raw in a sanctioned powerlifting context. The 2023 IPF Worlds took place in Valletta, Malta, from June 11-18, 2023. The 2023 edition of the competition was Tongotea’s debut at the celebrated competition, and he or she made essentially the most of this initial appearance by winning her first IPF World title.
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Before breaking through on certainly one of the most important international stages, Tongotea primarily made her trade as a prolific Recent Zealand powerlifter. In response to her personal page on Open Powerlifting, Tongotea is the reigning raw Recent Zealand National Champion (2022) and has dominated in other competitive strength capacities throughout the famed Oceania islands.
Here’s an summary of the competitor’s top stats from the 2023 IPF Worlds:
Karlina Tongotea (76KG) | 2023 IPF Worlds Top Stats
- Squat — 225.5 kilograms (497.1 kilos) | IPF World Record
- Bench Press — 122.5 kilograms (270.1 kilos)
- Deadlift — 245 kilograms (540.1 kilos)
- Total — 593 kilograms (1,307.3 kilos)
After an appearance in the UK throughout the 2023 Sheffield Championships, Tongotea has now competed just 3 times outside of the purview of Australia and Recent Zealand. The athlete can boast 12 victories in 16 competitive appearances dating back to the beginning of her profession in April 2018.
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In a post within the 2023 IPF Worlds’ aftermath, Tongotea seemed emotional about her competitive journey. The athlete, who’s a physician by trade, looked back on her tremendous progress during the last half-decade and took within the proven fact that she is now on top of certainly one of powerlifting’s tallest summits.
After all, she plans to remain there.
“I walked into [New Zealand Powerlifting Academy] in 2018 telling my coach, ‘I even have one 12 months to enjoy this sport before I start GP training and exams,’ and I got back the message on this post. We’ve kept this one between ourselves. We remembered it once I won my first nationals, once I first became No. 1 in Recent Zealand once I won a [World Powerlifting] title, however it never quite felt like we’d fulfilled it yet. Now, I’m an IPF Classic Open World Champion of the [76-kilogram division], and I couldn’t have done it without this partnership. It feels fulfilled. We did the rattling thing, Dom [Tongotea’s coach]. We gotta do it again, though.”
Featured image: @theipf on Instagram