Leading up to the 2021 Kern US Open, all eyes were on John Haack, and for good reason. Haack was considered the favorite at 90 kilograms (198 pounds). However, the fans watching in San Diego, CA as well as on the live stream saw another 90-kilogram competitor dominate the day.
Chad Penson had already made powerlifting history once by becoming the first man at 90 kilos to squat 400 kilograms (881 pounds) raw with wraps. By the end of that meet — which takes place from April 24-25, 2021 — he not only set personal records on all three lifts, but he stood atop the podium with a new all-time world record of 997.5 kilograms (2,199 pounds). That is 11 times his body weight. According to Open Powerlifting‘s records, Penson may just be the heaviest powerlifter to total 11 times their body weight.
Here are Penson’s fulls stats for his historic Kern US Open performance:
- Squat — 400 Kilograms (881 Pounds), new ATWR
- Bench Press — 232.5 Kilograms (513 Pounds)
- Deadlift — 365 Kilograms (804.6 Pounds)
- Total — 997.5 Kilograms (2,199 Pounds), new ATWR
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Going into the weekend, Haack held the record with a total of 970 kilograms, which he set in February at the Hybrid Showdown III contest in Miami, FL. Penson claimed the top mark and added an incredible 27.5 kilograms to it. Haack still owns the bench press world record, which is set at 260 kilograms (573 pounds).
According to Open Powerlifting, Penson’s record squat was a crazy 60-kilogram improvement on his previous best of 340 kilos, which was set in 2019. His bench press mark is an increase of 10 kilograms over what he had lifted at the Hybrid Showdown meet in February 2021 As for his deadlift, he bumped that lift up by five kilograms over what he did in Miami.
At the beginning of this meet, Penson wasn’t in the top three lifters for either record that he now has possession of. He now owns both previously mentioned records, and he added 78 kilograms to his total. Now the question becomes: When will he go for the elusive 1,000 kilogram total? As of this writing, there is no word on when his next meet will be.
The 2021 Kern US Open will finish on Sunday, April 25, 2021. Stayed tuned to BarBend for a full meet recap and more world record coverage.
Featured Image: @joesullivan_aod on Instagram
