Nathon Damron, 20, is an American weightlifter who’s continuing to impress us with his continued feats of strength. Damron competed in both the 85kg and 94kg weight classes as a junior weightlifter.
Recently he’s been squatting some serious weight and just made a new 310kg (683 lb) personal record look easy.
The lift looked incredibly smooth for a personal record, so it’s fun to wonder how much more Damron has in the tank. We were blown away when he squatted 300kg in September 2016, which was only 2.5kg off an IPF -93kg Junior Classic World Record.
So let’s ask the question again: How does Damron’s new personal record compare to junior powerlifting records?
Before we speculate about this scenario, it’s important we keep a few things in mind. First, the age limit for juniors in weightlifting is 20, while powerlifting is 23. Second, the way weight moves is slightly different in powerlifting and weightlifting due to plate and bar differences. The oscillation and bar’s movement pattern will be slightly different between the two sports. Third, obviously Damron isn’t a powerlifter, so he doesn’t train within that sport’s specialization.
Now that we’ve considered those points, let’s talk numbers.
At the time of the above video Damron weighed in at 98kg, which would put him in the -105kg weight class, but let’s consider him competing in the -93kg weight class as well. The current IPF -93kg World Record for a raw junior squat is 302.5kg. When he squatted 300kg in September, he weighed 95.3kg.
If we went off the -93kg scenario, the question becomes – could he maintain a 310kg squat at a lighter weight?
On the opposite end of the spectrum, if Damron weighed 98kg at the time of competition, which would put him in the -105kg weight class, then he would have an American junior raw record. This record, like the above IPF squat, is also 302.5kg.
It’s a somewhat unrealistic scenario, but it’s still fun to speculate and consider. Damron is squatting 7.5kg more than the -105kg USAPL raw junior record, which is crazy impressive. To top it off, he’s only 20 years old, so he would technically have more years of powerlifting junior eligibility.
Feature image from @nathandamron94 Instagram page.
