Oran powerlifter set to compete among the world’s best

An Oran man is set to represent Ireland at the IPF World Junior Powerlifting Championships in South Africa at the end of this month.

Cyrille Bikoi’s journey to this juncture has been truly unique. While his father Benoit originally hailed from Cameroon and his mother Julia came from Russia, Cyrille was born in Austria. He moved to Ireland at the age of six. After growing up in Galway, he arrived in Oran with his family, where he attended Roscommon CBS.

Sport has always played a pivotal role in the lives of the Bikoi family. Cyrille’s brother Ivan helped Roscommon CBS claim the All-Ireland Senior B title last year. Youngest sibling Martin also holds a passion for sport.

For the 21-year-old powerlifter, this has been a meteoric rise.

For someone who was only introduced to the idea of powerlifting competitively by his coach Ryan Dunican just over two years ago, finishing first in the U-83kg class at the Junior Irish Nationals back in April was a momentous achievement. He added 100kg in total across his squat, bench-press and deadlift to claim gold, an achievement that fills him with pride.

“Winning the All-Ireland in my second year has been huge for me. The year before, I had come tenth in my weight class. I think six months before, not many people were giving me a chance. I was slightly on the sceptical side as well but the closer it came to the competition, the more I realised I had it in me. About a month out, I felt I could have a real chance at winning it,” he noted.

Cyrille is a talented sportsperson, having played rugby with Creggs and Roscommon CBS while he helped Oran/St. Croan’s win the Division Two U-20 title late last year. He acknowledged that playing team sports has aided his progression as a powerlifter.

“I think it has helped me with my powerlifting, with the importance of balancing your time right and balancing study and sport. The resilience you need with sport and the teamwork element has definitely helped.

“Powerlifting is seen as an individual sport but there is a lot of teamwork involved in terms of working with your coach and your nutritionist, and making sure everyone knows what is going on,” he noted.

Powerlifting in Ireland is predominantly a self-funded sport. Despite the heavy cost of competing, Cyrille’s love for his craft is motivating him to try and producing a life-time’s best display, as he aims to break the national U-23 bench-pressing record, which currently stands at 175.5kg.

“It will be a great experience. I will be competing against some of the strongest athletes in the world — some record breakers, who have world records, European records, North American records — so I will be watching them and learning for them. Representing Ireland on the biggest stage in powerlifting will amazing,” he concluded.

Anyone wishing to donate to help Cyrille compete at the World Championships, can do so by clicking here.