Twelve years after making his Commonwealth Games debut, former cycling powerhouse Eddie Dawkins today found himself suited up in black again at the Commonwealth powerlifting championships in Auckland. There was one small problem though; while Dawkins was competing he wasn’t eligible for a medal.
Two years after retiring from top level cycling, the 33-year-old once again had the fern on his chest as he competed in the men’s open 105kg category.
And just as he did with cycling, Dawkins didn’t slack for a second – lifting a total 762 kilos across the three disciplines; the squat, deadlift and bench press.
“I feel like I like hurting myself, cycling is a sport of hurting yourself and so is powerlifting,” he said.
“I think I’ll be in competitive in whatever for as long as I live.”
Dawkins’ efforts were good enough for third in his category however he didn’t earn a place on the podium after he was told only days ago he wouldn’t be classed as an “athlete” at the event, meaning he wasn’t eligible for a medal.
Instead, NZ Powerlifting Federation president Paul Clarke explained Dawkins was only competing for experience.“[In] international competitions, you can have eight lifters per age category, one per weight class,” Clarke said.“[It’s] just a way for us to get more people into competition, giving people international experience without paying heaps of money… it was horrible having to tell them the news but rules are rules and that’s part of my role and part of the international federation – we have […]
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