The World Raw Powerlifting Federation held their European Championships in Moscow over the weekend, and relatively little-known -83kg Russian athlete Dmitry Nasonov competed in a deadlift-only event.
Hoping to lift 340 kilograms, he failed, unable to stabilize at the top of the lift. Undaunted, he added 10kg to the bar, and failed again. He kept going, and failed a 360kg lift.
Most of us would have been pretty darn disheartened at this point. But Nasonov thought he’d add some more weight and try a 370kg deadlift anyway.
Now, remember that the world record in the raw deadlift for untested athletes in this weight class was set way back in 1984 by the legendary Ed Coan, who pulled 791 pounds (358.8kg) at a USPF event. You can watch his lift below.
Undaunted, Nasonov hit the 370kg (815.7lb) deadlift.
Then he added another 10 kilograms to the bar and pulled 380kg (837.76lb), 4.73 times his own bodyweight (he weighed 80.3kg) and more than 20kg over Coan’s record.
Both of the lifts can be seen in this clip from the event.
Yes, he was surrounded by a live band and stage smoke, which absolutely made this even cooler. Even more surprising was the fact that he pulled with a mixed hook grip, which can’t have been easy on his bicep but hey, it seems to have worked pretty well for him.
Now, this was a deadlift-only event and not a full meet, so Nasonov has no total to speak of and we’re not completely sure as to whether or not this will officially go down in the WRPF’s record book, which hasn’t been updated. With that many attempts, such a long bar, and it being a deadlift only event, it certainly won’t hit the IPF’s record books any time soon.
Nonetheless, this is a pretty historic achievement. Little is known about Nasonov, but we do know that he competed at the WRPF Pro Cup last year as a -77kg athlete, where he tried and just barely failed to lift 360kg (793lb).
He could be forgiven for thinking that, when he failed his first lifts this year, that he just wasn’t meant to lift 360kg. We’re pretty darn glad that he persisted, and can’t wait to see more from this lifter in the future.
Featured image via Илья Нидилько on YouTube.
