Wausau powerlifter comes home from international meet as a junior world champion

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) – A 20-year-old Wausau man is coming home from an international competition as a powerlifting junior world champion.

The sport of powerlifting consists of the big three lifts: squat, bench and deadlift. You get three attempts at each lift.

Austin Nikolai says the prep for the world competition took about four months. He did come home with some hardware, breaking not one, but two world records.

“It feels good, especially just kind of stepping back and looking at it,” Nikolai said.

Nikolai competes in the 66-kilogram weight class, which is about 145 pounds.

His final squat attempt was 567 pounds. It is the first one in the record books for Nikolai.

“Heading into it, I knew exactly what I was going to be able to hit. (That was) just based on data and past meets that I’ve done. I know what I hit in the gym, I can do the exact same on the platform,” Nikolai said.

Next up was the bench press. That is where Nikolai lifted 319 pounds. It is a number he can pencil in as a personal record.

“I used to overestimate bench a lot. I thought I was a lot stronger. So now this meet I was more like, ‘okay I gotta bring my expectations way down.’ I think I did it a little too much where now, I think I did underestimate myself,” he said.

Nikolai’s first deadlift attempt added to a total of 1,567 pounds. He left the platform with another junior world record. He has been in the sport for just five years. Nikolai is proud of what he has accomplished.

“At the end of the day, when you step back and look at it, I’m at almost the top of what’s possible in this sport. So, it’s cool to just look at it and see what I’ve done,” Nikolai said.

Nikolai says he hopes his accomplishments will open the door for growth in the sport of powerlifting in North Central Wisconsin.

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