When Kjell Bakkelund turned up at the Arnold Classic Europe this weekend, he was heavier than usual. The Arnold Classic is an IPF-sanctioned, Wilks-only competition, so while he typically competes as a -74kg athlete, he turned up at 77.36 kilograms (170.5lb).
While Britain’s Daniel Worsley beat his squat by 2.5kg with a 260kg lift, Bakkelund dominated the rest of the competition with a 190kg (419lb) bench and an IPF world record deadlift of 325.5 kilograms. He failed his third deadlift attempt of 330 kilograms, but his previous deadlift had nonetheless beaten Robert Mihaylov’s previous world record — by just 500 grams.
You can check out all three of the lifts below, but note that the footage is very dark.
His Wilks score of 539.32 was the highest of all the raw athletes, beating out Britain’s -120kg athlete Tony Cliffe by a little over 21 points. Cliffe was, uh, not pleased with his performance.
Bakkelund posted on his Instagram:
Todays competition: Arnold Classic Europe 2017. Weighed 77,36 and lifted 773. Did a 257,5 squat, 190 bench and a 325,5 deadlift and a new WR in the 83kg class. Now i got the deadlift WR in 74 and 83!
It was a really good day for squats, the bench was okey, and the deadlift was better then worlds but not where i want it to be. But won the overall, got a pr in squat and deadlift and got myself a new wr. Thanks Stig Rune for helping me today.
The Norwegian athlete now holds the IPF deadlift world record in the -83kg class and the -74kg class, in which he pulled 322 kilograms (710 pounds) at the IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships this June.
Bakkelund told BarBend that this performance was a one-off; he didn’t bother cutting weight since it was a Wilks-only event and he expects to continue lifting in the -74kg class for many more years. In three weeks, he’ll compete at the Norwegian nationals as a -74kg lifter — here’s hoping he retains a lot of his strength and breaks another record.
Featured image via European Powerlifting Federation on Facebook.
