This past weekend, there were a ton of insane strength feats that went down at the Kern US Open, but none may be as impressive as Chakera Holcomb’s performance to set the highest all-time Wilks Score.
At the Kern US Open, the all-time highest Wilks Score wasn’t broken once, or even twice, it was broken three times in one day. That’s a strength feat that’s completely unheard of, and this is potentially one of the first occasions we’ve seen an event like this go down.
Going into the meet, the all-time highest Wilks Score for raw athletes with & without wraps was previously held by legendary powerlifter Eva Dunbar. Her Wilks Score stood at a monstrous 638 when she totaled 621kg (1,370 lbs) at a bodyweight of 67kg (148 lbs).
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On Saturday, the women of the Kern US Open came out fists swinging in the hopes of not only breaking the all-time Wilks Score, but to crush all-time world records and walk away with $40,000.
To kick off the Wilks shattering performances, 60kg powerlifter Marianna Gasparayan concluded her performance with a Wilks Score of 642.15. Her all-time score only stood for about 30-minutes until Cohen approached the bar and hit her third attempt 235kg (518 lb) deadlift to earn a 642.78 Wilks, nearly edging out Gasparayan’s 642.15.
Many though the Wilks breaking performances were over, but Chakera Holcomb had other plans. Holcomb’s performance could only be described as legendary and upon completion of her meet, the all-time Wilks Score she set now stands at 664.95.
Chakera’s epic performance was composed of three huge lifts, which were a 284kg (617 lb) squat, a 165kg (363 lb) bench press, and 274kg (606 lb) deadlift. Check out her third attempt squat below.
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In addition to breaking the all-time Wilks Score, Chakera set three new all-time world records for the women’s 82kg (181 lb) weight class. Chakera’s new all-time world records now stand in the squat, deadlift, and total with & without wraps of 719kg (1,587 lbs).
We asked Holcomb if the meet went as she planned and what she thought going into her final deadlift and she said, “The meet went as planned. My last training days increased my confidence on what I could do on meet day. My main concern was staying healthy. Honestly, I pulled 606 lbs on my last deadlift day, so when I heard to announcers say that it was 606 lbs on the bar – I was thrilled.”
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We also asked how it feels knowing she just set the all-time highest Wilks Score by almost 30 points and Holcomb told us,
“It still hasn’t set in yet. I will enjoy celebrating, but I know the competition will be fierce next year. I have to train harder now.”
Spoken like a true champion.
Feature image from @Jeff.Frank Instagram page.
