“It’s a first for me…

“It’s actually a first for me, because this time it was actually in the three movements, that is, in the powerlifting, that I was able to sing the Marseillaise,” emphasizes Flo, adding that I didn’t expect to get to the first stage of that Podium this year… I think it would take me another year or two of training and competition to access what is called the Holy Grail.”

The power lifting consists of 3 movements: squat, bench press and deadlift with equipment: knee wraps, bra and leggings. Qualified in – 69 kg, Flo Leccese had as main competitors: Amémie Izindre, a Swede with a performance of more than 400 kg and the American Kim Wilson, with performances similar to hers.

Well prepared mentally and physically, with 2 daily sessions at her gym in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Flo Leccese finds herself in first place with squats of 142.5 kg, bench press of 87.5 kg and deadlift of 127.5 kg place again.

“In a competition like the World Championships, you can’t settle for just one basic technique. You really have to look for the movement that’s close to perfection so there’s no doubt in validating the movements: go deep enough under 45° for the squat, stabilize and control the bar’s movement during the bench press, and lock shoulders good when it comes to deadlifts,” she adds with great precision.

runner-up in the bench press

Five days earlier, on October 10, Flo Leccese qualified in powerlifting with the three movements: squat, bench press and deadlift without apparatus, where she did not covet a place on the podium in the women’s category, under 63 kg, champion 2. ” The biggest difficulty for me was getting under the 140lbs threshold. In fact, I had qualified for them at the French Championships in Beuzeville last June…”

Her main opponents were Canada’s Holly Lassante, England’s Sharon Holmes and another Canadian who had done significantly better than the French this year. A priori, Flo could hope for a fourth place. But very motivated, she won the silver medal in the bench press move, then missed the squat and underperformed on the deadlift at 250 pounds…