2008 World Bench Press Championship
The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat

The sweet taste of Victory was yours this day; Kendalyn Hersh, Nicole Gamboni, and Corky Bagget! On November 22, 2008 three Champions from Bodytek and the ELITES Academy entered Brute Strength Gym for the world championship Bench press contest. The combined adrenalin of one hundred competitors filled the room as our Champions took the platform for their opening lifts. Thundering music fueled them as they crushed their opening lifts and received a roar of approval from the crowd.
            Corky approached the bench for his final lift; a world record attempt of 336 pounds; one that would best his earlier record of 145Kg (319.5 lbs). The music stopped, the room went silent; we counted off 1,2,3, …and the bar exploded off Corky’s chest heading for the top. With only inches to go one side began to dip. The crowed yelled “DRIVE” as if every one of them was lifting with him. Corky rallied powerfully and drove the 336 pounds of steel to the top! There was a deafening silence as the bar balanced above him while he waited for orders. RACK” commanded the judge and he slammed the heavy load down. YES; corky broke the WORLD record with his lift of 336lbs.
            Nicole’s final lift began perfect when out of nowhere the bar seemingly took its own path and crashed down on her. She received a “Lift not good” from the judges. Our hearts sank as she threw her hands over her eyes and ran to the warm up area in tears. We could only hope that her previous lift would stand up well enough to win.
            Kendalyn would attempt her final lift of 42.5kg (93.5 lbs) after landing her second lift of 77 pounds. At the count of three she forced the bar from the bottom and began what was sure to be a perfect lift.  With her strength draining the bar began to drift backwards! As the weight drifted further and further back towards the rack the crowd chanted Go, Go, Go! The bar came down on the rack to early and the lift was ruled “Not Good” Kendalyn; holding back tears quietly accepted the call and moved towards the warm-up area to be with her partner Nicole.
The feeling was pure heartbreak in our corner as our champions tried desperately to find the silver lining and weighted for their results. Within minutes Corky and I discovered that remarkably the girl’s lifts had been unchallenged and they would each receive FIRST PLACE FINISHES! I called our young champions over and proudly gave them the fantastic news. The agony of defeat was washed away as their smiles returned and they proudly threw their hands up in victory!
It just doesn’t get any better than this folks. Once again the athlete’s spirit lifts us up to the stars and demonstrates how the heart of a champion beats in us all! Congratulations to our BodyTek & ELITES power lifting stars; Kendalyn Hersh, Nicole Gamboni and Corky Bagget!