Masterton powerlifter Brett Gibbs leaves for Canada on Friday as a new Kiwi record-holder for his junior world title bid.
Gibbs, 20, set two records in the newly created 74kg weight class at the 2011 New Zealand National Powerlifting Championships, held in Tauranga this month.
Powerlifting is a strength sport consisting of three events - the squat, the bench press and the deadlift, during which competitors lift successively heavier weights in three attempts.
Gibbs, a member of the Wai Weight Powerlifting Team, excelled at the national three-lift champs and scored 220kg, 162.5kg and 250kg in the squat, bench press and deadlift events.
Teammates Danny "Spike Wilton" and Tony Oliver also competed in Tauranga and placed sixth and fifth in their classes respectively, while the fourth Wai Weight team member, Tim Hintz, failed to compete after injuring a bicep tendon two weeks before the contest.
