Over the weekend at the Junior Mens Classic British Championships, 120kg+ powerlifter Luke Richardson completed one of his long-term goals, which was a monumental feat in the sport of powerlifting. At the young age of 21, Richardson has become the youngest athlete to total over 1,000kg/2,204 lbs — and to make it even more impressive — he did so in sleeves.
This is a strength feat that’s only been accomplished by a handful of athletes. Prior to Richardson’s latest accomplishment, powerlifting legend Eric Lilliebridge was the holder of this accolade and hit his 1,000kg/2,204 lb+ total at the age of 22. Outside of his latest epic total, Richardson also hit a ton of huge lifts and completed the heaviest squat ever to be completed in a sanctioned British powerlifting meet.
For the squat, Richardson finished with a 400kg/880 lb lift, which as stated above now makes him the owner of the heaviest squat ever to be performed in British powerlifting. Check out the smooth squat below.
On the bench press, Richardson hit a 220.5kg/486 lb press and in true Richardson fashion made it look like a warm-up. Then for the deadlift, Richardson concluded his performance with a ridiculously easy 380kg/837 lbs, a feat that also unofficially tops his current IPF junior world record by 10kg.
All of these lifts awarded him with his monumental 1,000.5kg/2,205 lb total and another unofficial IPF world record in the junior category, in addition to decreasing the spread between himself and Ray Williams’ open world record total.
It seems like every time Richardson competes he accomplishes a new feat. In June at the IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships, Richardson put on a dominating performance in the junior 120kg+ weight class and pulled an IPF deadlift world record with 370kg/815 lbs and walked away with the world record title.
It’s been exciting to watch Richardson grow as an athlete over the last couple of years and with his latest accomplishment, we’re looking forward to his continued growth in the sport.
Feature image from @platformready Instagram page.
