A NEW BREED OF

JAMES Oh enough iron.

A chance moment under the bar three years ago, has spurred an obsession for the Townsville teenager. And he is enjoying a meteoric rise to the top of the powerlifting world.

Oh now holds a junior world record after lifting more than twice his body weight at a competition in Cairns last month.

Competing in the under-85kg bench press, the James Cook University student lifted an incredible 172kg, breaking the previous record of 170.5kg.

But it was a lift that almost wasn’t after the rack was set too high.

While his coach, Favian Arcidiacono from Heavy Metals Strength and Powerlifting Club, was losing his cool in the Cairns heat, Oh didn’t break a sweat.

“He only had 10 seconds when he finally got it out of the rack, I could feel my heart beating right can’t get through my feet,” Arcidiacono said.

“He didn’t show it. He got up and asked them to move and just sat back down and got to work. He is a unique lifter, he is just calm and casual.

“Some guys you watch them pacing up and down with the headphones on, he just has a laugh about what is going on and gets to it.”

Oh has been training with the Heavy Metals team at Garbutt for almost three years after getting into the sport in a school physical education class at Ignatius Park College.

The sport soon took over his life.

“I guess it is almost a habit now, but when I first started doing it, it was almost addictive. You see all of your friends there, and everyone just edges each other on. Even though it is an individual sport, it really feels like a team sport,” Oh said.

“It is kind of all I do. No matter what I am doing, it is always gym from 3pm until I go to bed. I fit everything else around that, I fit university around it, and I fit work around it.

“The first time I went to the nationals, I had watched all these national coaches and athletes training on Instagram and there I was in the same warm-up room. You watch that and think no it will never happen, but I am proof it does.”

Not content with his youth world record, Oh now has his sights set on a much bigger fish.

He will move into the junior division next year as he aims to break the world record set by his lifting idol Owen Hubbard.

But it is a chance to lift alongside the Welshman that has the Townsville teenager very excited.

“That’s a few years away now when I get to the opens level, but if I could lift next to him at worlds that would be awesome,” he said. “I don’t even have to beat him.”

According to his coach, the latter is still very much on the cards.