Humankind rarely wholly advances in strength. Records in weight classes are broken over time as athletes grow stronger and train harder, and the target in their sights inches ever heavier. But lifting weights that no human has ever done before is a monumental feat. It’s what Colton Engelbrecht of South Africa just did.
24-year-old Engelbrecht holds the all-time total world records in the 110KG and 125KG classes, lifting in the latter a 1,120-kilogram total at the 2024 WPC-SA Beastmode Power Wars meet, 27.5 kilograms shy of Dan Bell‘s all-time total record achieved in 2021. Engelbrecht shattered that mark on March 29, 2025, when he became the first human to achieve a 1,200-kilogram raw total at the 2025 WPC Clash of Titans to become the top pound-for-pound lifter on the planet.
[Related: Sonita Muluh Hits Record-Breaking 701-Pound (318KG) Squat at 2025 European Classic Championships]
2025 WPC Clash of Titans Results — Colten Engelbrecht
- Squat — 470 kilograms (1,036.2 pounds)
- Bench Press — 260 kilograms (573.2 pounds)
- Deadlift — 470 kilograms (1,036.2 pounds)
- Total — 1,200 (2,645.6 pounds)
Engelbrecht attempted a 500-kilogram deadlift on his final attempt. He pulled the barbell to his knees but had to drop it before locking out. However, it was suggestive that Engelbrecht had more in the tank and could have surpassed the 1,200-kilogram total mark had he not made a massive 30-kilogram jump between his eighth and ninth attempts.
Engelbrecht competed at a body weight of 120 kilograms, which means his record total was 10 times his body weight. He was not a superheavyweight hitting these remarkable numbers. He was two weight classes under where superheavyweights compete and still wrecked the previous records with fuel still in the tank.
Engelbrecht wrote in the caption of his Instagram post relaying his feat, “It’s been done. I told everyone I wouldn’t fail again, and I didn’t — hit the biggest total in powerlifting history, 10 times body weight total, and highest dots ever. I’m not done; I will go further, so sit back and enjoy the show.”
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Featured image: @colton_the.limit.breaker on Instagram
