Brave Enough CrossFit in North Kansas City, Missouri was the site of the 2020 edition of “The Showdown” powerlifting meet, sanctioned by the World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRPF). Anyone that was in attendance got to see powerlifting history be made thanks to Ohio native Joe Sullivan.
Sullivan was competing in the 220 pound (100 kg) Raw class. He started the day with the squat, culminating with an 822.3 pound lift (372.8 kg) which is now the all-time world record in that class. The previous record was 821.2 (372.4 kg) pounds by Amit Sapir, which he set in 2015. It’s also the best squat Sullivan has performed Raw in any class he has competed in.
Sullivan went on to complete eight out of his nine attempts throughout the day. His best effort on the bench press was 507 pounds (230 kg) and his best weight on the deadlift was at 677.9 pounds (307 kg). His only missed lift on the day was on his final deadlift attempt. Sullivan managed to pull 716 pounds (324.7 kg) up to lockout, but he lost grip of the bar due to a callus tearing as the judge was giving the down signal.
Nonetheless, the 2007 pound (909.7 kg) total now puts Sullivan at 10th place on the all-time total list for that same class. He also placed 1st in his class at this meet. The Wilks score of 554.34 placed him 11th overall out of all lifters competing. He expressed his feelings about the weekend on Instagram after his historic performance.
“Hell of a day. 822 squat, 507 bench, and a 677 deadlift to deal the deal. A PR total at 2006lb in sleeves and a wilks of 554.2. Cried a lot yesterday. Very happy with what I’ve been able to do. And proud of how I’ve done everything up to it. Now we just see where the future holds. Always in it.”
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This was the first time Sullivan had competed this year. His last meet was the 2019 Great Lakes Raw meet in Ohio where he totaled at 1,962.1 pounds (889.8). His new squat world record is less than 60 pounds away from his personal best of 881.8 pounds (400) which he did in wraps at the 2018 at the International Powerlifting League’s Midwest Open.
If Sullivan wants to reach for the all-time total record in this class, he would have to best Cailer Woolam’s record of 2121.9 pounds (962.3), which he set at the 2019 Slingshot Record Breakers event.
Featured image: @joesullivanpowerlifter