There was no new World Record for Ray Williams at this year’s IPF World Classic Championships in Belarus, but the American powerlifter easily repeated as champion in a performance that further established him as the world’s top raw superheavyweight powerlifter.
Williams totaled 1,090kg, a full 55kg over second place Jezza Uepa and 100kg ahead of third place finisher Kelly Branton. The total podium — listed below — was a repeat of last year, though all three lifters bested their totals from 2016.
1. Ray Williams, USA, 470kg squat, 242.5kg bench press, 377.5kg deadlift.
2. Jezza Uepa, Naura, 460kg squat, 270kg bench press, 305kg deadlift
3. Kelly Branton, Canada, 420kg squat, 265kg bench press, 305kg deadlift
Video of the full session is embedded below.
Coming into the competition and based on training videos, it looked like there might be a real battle between Williams and Uepa for a new squat world record — and perhaps a total world record as well. Both men have spent the past year topping one another in training and competition squats, pushing the raw squat World Record well above 1,000 pounds.
For context on how fast and far lifters have pushed the superheavyweight numbers, a year ago, a 1,000 pound raw squat was unheard of in IPF competition. This weekend, both Williams and Uepa exceeded that mark — on stage — by comfortable margins.
But it was Williams’ competition at the end of the day, and though he only took a 10kg lead after the squat portion — and was significantly out-benched by Uepa and Branton — the superheavyweight from Mississippi showed his dominance in the deadlift to out-pull both by over 70kg. Williams’ final deadlift was 22.5kg ahead of the next heaviest pullers (two at 355kg) in the session.
Williams attempted a 393kg deadlift on his third attempt but was unsuccessful near lockout. The lift would have extended his own deadlift world record by 0.5kg and his own total world record by 0.5kg.
Featured image: International Powerlifting Federation IPF on YouTube
