By Tate Papworth
Airport West powerlifter Karl Di Falco has claimed his third Australian title and has his sights firmly set on the world championships.
Di Falco defended his title at the Australian Powerlifting Championships at the Fitness Show Melbourne at the weekend, despite a drastically different preparation to previous years.
Di Falco only had a six-week preparation for the event, but that didn’t seem to slow him down.
“I actually went overseas for an extended period and took some time off,” Di Falco said.
“It’s the longest break I’ve ever had so it was a bit of a challenge to get back.
“It was all a mental battle rather than a physical one ’cause it was such a small turnaround.
“But I just focused session to session and backed off the weights when I had to.”
Competing in the 69-kilogram category, Di Falco said he wanted to “terrorise things” and break his own squat record of 227.7 kilograms.
He managed to break the record twice and will now focus his attention on the world title.
“I really want to do the world titles in Shanghai next year,” he said. “I had already met the requirement to compete before the championships, but a lot of people encouraged me to do this, too.”
Powerlifting isn’t the only thing keeping Di Falco busy. He was recently appointed as the Victorian president for ICN bodybuilding and said he was excited about his new journey.
“It’s another little career stepping stone to develop the sport of bodybuilding,” he said.
“I’ll go to expos and try to promote and grow the sports – there’s lots of people getting into health fitness at the moment.
“My dad is the Australian president so he’ll teach me a lot.”
