A powerlifter who has found a home in Cyprus was recently crowned World Champion in Brazil

By Christina Michailidis

Cyprus has a new world champion. He’s a 51-year-old powerlifter who trains after work in a Limassol gym. Ireneusz ‘Eric’ Aletorowicz, a Polish-born athlete who has lived in Cyprus for almost two decades, won gold at the 2025 GPC World Championships in Brazil.

His journey to the podium began unexpectedly. After arriving in Cyprus in 2006 for a two-week holiday, he decided to stay for good. “I came in February,” he recalls. “In Poland it was -18C, in Cyprus it was 20. I said ‘Wow, I want to stay!’”. He found steady work as a bouncer and Cyprus quickly became home.

Last month at the Brazil Masters 50–54 (–140 kg) bench press division after a grueling 13-hour day of competition, he secured gold. Behind the medals lies a story of late night training, family support and quiet determination.

On the island he met his Cypriot wife, and the couple now have a family. “I don’t have a Cyprus passport but my heart is half Polish, half Cypriot,” he says.

Powerlifting came into his life much later, almost by accident. In 2018, a friend convinced him to visit a local competition at Cross Gym in Limassol, just to watch. “I went only to see,” he laughs, “but the atmosphere was amazing, everyone was supporting each other.”

There he met coach Giannis Ioannou, who immediately saw his potential. “He told me, ‘You are strong, I want to start a powerlifting team,” Eric recalls. “That’s how it all started”. Within months Eric was training and entered and won his first competition. Eight months later, he was travelling back to Poland, this time for the WPA Championships, where he finished third. “After that I wanted to see what I could do next,” he adds.

In 2023, he won the Cyprus Powerlifting Federation Championship followed by a European title in Poland, and then another gold in Budapest at the World Cup. Then came a surprise invitation in early 2024 to compete at the Arnold Sports Festival in Madrid, organised under the banner of Arnold Schwarzenegger himself. Again, it was a trip marked by success, and a win.

Powerlifting may have brought Eric international medals, but it still has to fit in around the rest of his life. He works full time in private security. “I finish around six and after that, I still have my family, my house, and then maybe at nine or ten o’clock, I go to the gym.”

He trains mostly alone in a 24-hour gym near his house. Those hours alone are sacred, he says. “When I train, I close my phone, this is my time, no one disturbs me. Doesn’t matter if it rains or snows, this is my one and half hours of peace.”

Unlike most competitors, Eric doesn’t have a coach. Instead, he watches videos online and creates his own routines. “Now it’s easy, you have YouTube, Google, you can find every answer,” he says. “Before it was much harder, we had to learn by mistakes”. Even with so much dedication, he insists that powerlifting remains a passion and not a profession. “If the sport gave me money, maybe I could stop working in the day,” he chuckles, “But it doesn’t so I train when I can. I do it because I love it”.

This love is grounded, he adds, by his family. His wife, he says, is his greatest supporter, “She understands me, she helps me, my kids too. Without them, I couldn’t do this. My power comes from my family.”

Although Eric may not yet hold a Cyprus passport, his connection to the island runs deep. Every time he steps onto a competition platform he carries with him two flags, Polish and Cypriot, stitched side by side on his shirt. “It’s important to me”, he says, “It’s my respect. I live with Cypriots, I work with Cypriots, they are my family.”

This sense of belonging is shown in the way he represents both countries abroad. At the World Championships in Brazil, when it came time to choose his walkout music, he chose a Cypriot song. “I feel like Cyprus is my home,” he says.

Despite his world title, Eric’s is quick to point out that powerlifting in Cyprus remains a small, self-funded sport. “It’s not like football or basketball,” he says. There is no big money, or sponsors waiting for you, although he does have a group of backers for whom he is grateful.

When he travels abroad for competitions, the costs are mostly covered out of pocket, and the expenses associated with travelling can add up quick. “When I went to Brazil, the ticket alone was €900,” he says.

Eric believes there is a slow rise of popularity in powerlifting, “Three years ago, there were maybe 20 people competing,” he says. “Now at the last event in Nicosia, there were 93, its growing slowly.” He often lends a hand to newcomers, guiding them on technique or form. “If I see someone in the gym making a mistake, I show them how to lift safely,” he says.

His next big goal is the 2026 World Powerlifting Festival, one of the sport’s competitive international events. He wants to be ready for March. “Every time I compete, I carry both flags with me,” he says. “Because my heart is in both places”.