Roth wins, sets AAU bench press record

By DICK SPARRER

There may be weight lifters who are bigger and more experienced than Justin Roth of Cupertino. There may even be weight lifters who are stronger than the Monta Vista High School senior. But there are certainly none in Roth's weight and age division any better--at least, none in the entire scope of the Amateur Athletic Union.

Roth finished first and set an AAU record in his division (132 pounds, 16- to 17-year olds) when he raised 122.5 kilograms (270 pounds) at the Amateur Athletic Union Drug Free World Bench Press championships in San Diego.

Roth set the new world record and clinched a win in his division on his final lift of the competition.

"What's amazing about Justin's accomplishments is that he has competed at this level with no formal coaching," said his father, Marc Roth. "All the other competitive lifters had individual or team coaches.

"The coach from Slovakia gave him a tip through an interpreter regarding the placement [of Justin's] hands on the bar, which seemed to help him successfully complete his final lift of 270 pounds."

There more than 300 athletes from North America, Europe and South America entered in the competition, said to be the premier drug- free powerlifting event in the world. All winners were required to submit to a drug screening to make sure there were no drug enhancers in their systems.

Roth earned a place in the competition by winning the North American Challenge last May. American lifters had to qualify by winning a title, either the North American Challenge or the 1999 World Challenge. International lifters had to win national championships.

Roth, who plans to attend Arizona State University in the fall, began lifting when he entered Monta Vista as a freshman. He works out in the mornings at school and in the afternoons and on weekends at the El Camino YMCA in Mountain View, where he works as a fitness instructor.

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