Kryspin earned the competition's highest score in all categories, shattering both his personal and the competition's records on his way to four gold medals.
EWING -- The veins in his neck bulge, his face and neck flush with blood and the air escaping his lungs force his cheeks to swell.
His muscles ripple as he strains to make the 445 pounds of steel on his back defy the pull of Earth's gravity.
Steven Kryspin's legs fully extend.He returns the weight to the rack.
Though the effort is exhaustive, Kryspen makes it look smooth and natural.
"I just breathe, I focus and I lift," Kryspin says afterwards.
Saturday marks the culmination of six years of training for Kryspin. A natural, he's been competing in the New Jersey Special Olympics Summer Games for as many years as he has been in training.
The 28-year-old Florham Park resident earned the competition's highest score in the bench press, squat and deadlift categories. He shattered both his personal and the competition's unofficial records along the way -- earning himself four gold medals.
Kryspin moved a total of 1,335 pounds over the course of the powerlifting competition.
The key to victory is as much mental as it is physical. "Remain focused at all times," he says. "Just focus."
"Our athletes work really hard to train and get here," said Heather Andersen, president and CEO of the Special Olympics New Jersey, held this weekend at The College of New Jersey in Ewing. "They really want that medal."
Athletes competing in this weekend's seven competition categories must qualify by competing and placing in area and sectional contests. In addition to powerlifting, athletes also compete in softball, aquatics, track and field, gymnastics, tennis and bocce.
In all, around 2,500 New Jersey athletes are competing over the weekend long competition, which kicked off with opening ceremonies Friday night.
Add 3,000 volunteers and over 10,000 spectators and the campus' weekend population totals over 15,000 -- nearly half the township's normal population.
"The nice thing about TCNJ is we take over the campus," Andersen said. "Athletes stay here in dorms as well as Rider University."
"The community really embraces it," she said.
Greg Wright may be reached at gwright@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregTheWright. Find NJ.com on Facebook.