Powerlifting fans had their hands full this weekend as some of the best athletes in the world faced off in San Diego, California at the Kern US Open. This WRPF sanctioned meet boasts some of the biggest payouts for athletes in the sport of powerlifting, and to no surprise multiple all-time world records fell, along with the all-time Wilks Score getting shattered twice.
Legendary powerlifter Marianna Gasparyan took the platform at 56kg/132 lbs and was responsible for breaking three all-time world records and setting an incredible 720 Wilks Score. Check out the resume from her legendary performance below.
- All-Time World Record Squat: 260kg/573 lbs
- All-Time World Record Bench Press: 132k/292 lbs
- All-Time World Record Total: 612kg/1,350 lbs
- All-Time Wilks Score: 720
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwzt4Jyg1Z6/
A day before taking the platform, Gasparyan shared an Instagram post highlighting a “surprise” she had kept under wraps from the public — and that secret was her cut to the 56kg/123 lb weight class. Over the last three years, Gasparyan has dominated the 60kg/132 lb weight class, and has not competed in the 56kg/123 lb weight class since late 2016. This meant that Gasparyan would be going head-to-head with Stefi Cohen. In her Instagram post, Gasparyan wrote,
“So, I can talk about the surprise which I prepared for this “Kern Us Open” @kernusopen. My weight is 56.00kg. I was preparing for a very long time and very hard, it was incredibly hard for me to drop weight.
I felt very bad, I was lying on the floor and was dying. At 3am Sergey said that we would stop at the weight that I have now and go to put on an IV, but I didn’t back down and here is the result, I’m in the 123lbs weight class.”
To kick off her legendary performance, Gasparyan finished her squat attempts completing an absolutely phenomenal all-time world record 260kg/573 lbs lift, which also put her 30kg ahead of Cohen. This squat was not only 4.6x her competition bodyweight, but is also five pounds heavier than the men’s 56kg/132 lb all-time world record.
On the bench press, Gasparyan hit another 56kg/123 lb all-time world record and finished her attempts with a successful 132kg/292 lb lift. Heading into the deadlifts, Gasparyan had a healthy lead and needed a big pull to set a Wilks Score above 700.
To conclude her deadlift attempts, Gasparyan pulled 220kg/485 lbs, which gave her a total of 612kg/1,350 lbs and sealed her performance with a Wilks Score of 720. In the sport of powerlifting, many speculated that a Wilks Score above 700 — while completely possible — was still a far way off for raw and classic raw athletes, but Gasparyan has once again proven how far the sport has come.
Feature image from @kernusopen Instagram page.