Uniting Through Strength: The AUBG Olympics Powerlifting Challenge

On a Wednesday night on Feb. 22, the AUBG Olympics hosted their second challenge for the semester in the ABF Sports Hall, bringing together motivated and inspired students. Coming from different majors and clubs, the one thing that united the participants was their shared passion – powerlifting. 

“We have been thinking pretty hard this year about introducing new challenges and sports. Powerlifting came naturally. Plenty of people nowadays are interested in fitness and such challenges,” Georgi Slavov, the President of AUBG Olympics, said. 

Georgi is a third-year student at AUBG and has been part of the club since his freshman year. “My grandfather is a big football fan, and he used to play. I started off playing naturally.” After a few years of playing football, Georgi started playing tennis and training for a triathlon. However, to this day, basketball is Georgi’s biggest passion. He was a professional referee and officiated matches in the grown-up stages of the Bulgarian tournaments. 

Even though Georgi believes individual sports such as powerlifting require more skill and are less attended, it is important to introduce them to the AUBG community.

The Powerlifting Challenging Wednesday consisted of three categories: women, men under 80 kilograms, and men over 80 kilograms. The AUBG Olympics members provided a detailed list of rules and regulations, including the three types of lifts in powerlifting: squat, bench press, and deadlift. “Our goal is to have fun. We would love to meet new people from the community, see people who haven’t attended the Olympics events, and achieve sports results as well,” Georgi said. 

A little before the start of the competition, third-year AUBG student Ethan Perelstein shared why he decided to join in the first place. “I competed in the last D-day and got second place," he said, "It felt good and fun, and when I saw they were doing this again, I thought I would throw my head in the ring.” Back in his home in the United States, Ethan started doing conventional powerlifting around the age of 16 while participating in other sports. 

One of the things Ethan looks forward to in this challenge is that he will have the chance to be in the same room with people who understand the meaning behind powerlifting. “We are all in the room doing one thing that we usually do alone. And other lifters can not only empathize but sympathize. That’s really cool - to do something you are proud of in front of people who see it as impressive as well. It’s validating, and I am excited to do that for other people, too,” Ethan said.

“Lifting weights feels good. It gives me energy and releases stress from studying,” Boris Slavchev, a sophomore, said when asked why he joined the competition. One of the most challenging parts of powerlifting for him is the diet and the amount of food he must eat to stay in good shape and have enough energy. On a regular training day, Boris has a fitness menu from the canteen and prepares himself a protein shake. 

“Stay consistent. This is probably the most important thing when you are powerlifting or performing any physical activity,” was Boris's advice to people considering weightlifting. For tonight’s challenge, he felt most excited about the bench press, but he also looked forward to trying his best in the other categories. 

After almost four hours of endless excitement, hard work, and cheering, the participants in the powerlifting challenge have gone through all three categories. Nadya Mladenova, a junior, had just won second place in the women’s category. 

“I honestly feel a bit disappointed because I participated in two D-days in the past two years and won first place the two times. But at the same time, I’m proud because I have lifted this heavy for the first time. I am very proud of the girl who won and our community here.” Nadya lifted 85 kilograms on the squat, 40 kilograms on the bench, and 90 kilograms on the deadlift. 

Nadya shared that she never had strong competition in her hometown, but now she is surrounded by people who inspire her and push her to do more. “It’s like a mutual motivation. You can see there are very strong females in this university,” Nadya said. 

When it comes to her primary motivation, Nadya shared that her best friend has been the one encouraging her throughout the years. “He is very strong, and I want him to be proud of what I did,” she said. Like every other weightlifter, Nadya loves listening to songs that inspire her while lifting. “If I had to choose one song, it would probably be ‘Ni**as in Paris’ by Jay-Z & Kanye West,” Nadya said with a smile.  

The winners in this year's AUBG Olympics Powerlifting Challenge were: Hristomir Dimov in the under 80 kilograms category, Ethan Perelstein in the over 80 kilograms category, and Radina Terziyska in the women’s category.  

The rest of the places were distributed as follows: Second place for Simeon Velkov in the under 80 kilograms category, Blagovest Stoyanov in the over 80 kilograms category, and Nadya Mladenova in the women’s category. The third-place winners were Nurmukhammed Tashbolotov, Ivan Abu Rumman, and Eva Kortezova, respectively.