Nicki Lentz Nielsen set a new squat world record in the -93kg weight class at the IPF’s European Open, Sub-Junior & Junior Equipped Powerlifting Championships in Pilsen, Czech Republic on Thursday.
Nielsen squatted 396 kg, or 873 pounds to snag the new equipped IPF world record. The world standard was 395 kg/870.8 pounds, however no one to date had that beat until Nielsen’s record-setting lift this week. For a little context, Nielsen has competed at two previous European Championships, 2017 and 2016. In 2017, he finished in fourth place in the raw -93kg weight class with a 289.9 kg squat, 172.5 kg bench press, and 282.49 kg deadlift for a total of 744.98 kg.
It couldn’t be more clear what two years has done for Nielsen, since he massively improved his squat performance by 106.1 kg.
Nielsen jumped for joy immediately after completing the squat, perhaps knowing right away he had not only met the world standard, but surpassed it.
The IPF’s European Open showcased an equipped event, which is very different than a raw event. At the Open we also covered powerlifter Kjell Bakkelund who took home gold with a total of 900 kg/1984 pounds in the -74 kg weight class.
Like Bakkelund, Nielsen has been focusing more on equipped lifting recently and his training certainly seems to be paying off, given his last raw competition squat was over 100 kilograms less than the world record he just set.
[To find out more about the differences between raw and equipped powerlifting, Blaine Sumner breaks it down]
At the Open there were other impressive squat performances. A World Sub-Junior record squat was set by Russia’s Ilia Marichev in the -59 kg weight class. He squatted 242.5 kg, or 534.6 pounds.
It seems to only be the beginning for Nielsen who not only set a new world record, but looked steady, strong, and confident the whole way through. Whether he decides to compete raw or equipped, one thing is for certain he has plenty of big lifts ahead.
Feature image via European Powerlifting Federation on Youtube.