At the 31st World Junior Powerlifting Championship held in Texas, USA from August 26 to September 1, Okayama University's own Yoshito Nishimura (fifth year medical student) took the gold medal in all four categories of the squat (S), bench press (B), dead lift (D) and total points (T) for men 66kg and under. This in an outstanding first for a Japanese man to gain gold in a clean sweep of all the categories in this event.

There were 212 contestants aged 19 to 23 from 28 countries worldwide. They competed over how much weight they could lift in their respective weight classes. This is Nishimura's third time to compete, after 2011 and 2012. After being the runner-up for the last two years, he was determined to finally clinch the gold this year. At the championship he attempted a world record lift of 210.5kg for the bench press. Although unable to break the record, he set a series of new best scores over those of the Japanese champs in May, showing his dominating strength. Nishimura stated that he wished to further increase his strength so that he could go beyond the junior champs to win in the world champs as well.

Akari Teramoto (third year law student), who competed in the women's 57kg and under class, made a good performance to gain eight place. She was able to beat out competitors from other countries with larger physiques than hers, showing the fruits of her constant practice.

Championship Results
    Men's 66kg and under: Yoshito Nishimura S.275㎏ (1st) / B.192.5㎏ (1st) / D.260㎏ (1st) / T.727.5㎏   (1st)
    Women's 57kg and under: Akari Teramoto S.120㎏ / B.70㎏ / D.132.5㎏ / T.322.5㎏