We opened Day 3 of the equipped world championships with the 83kg class. Incoming world champion Knute Douglas of USVI faced off with Ukraine’s Mykola Barannik from the start. Barannik finished third in Stavanger last year but finished ahead of Douglas at The World Games in July so this was a battle that could go either way. Douglas and Barannik both opened their squat with 350kg, giving a taste of how close this was going to be. Douglas pulled 2.5kg ahead on second squat but took a conservative approach and did not follow when Barannik asked for a world record attempt of 375.5kg. In the end, Douglas probably had a little more in him than the 370kg he squatted for his third but there’s no doubt that it was a smart move to conserve his energy and focus on the win rather than records. Barannik had to grind for it but grind he did and was rewarded with the world record and the squat gold medal. Barannik is well known as a big bencher so it was no surprise that he was a long way ahead o...