The 2025 EPU European Classic Championships took place on March 23 in Malaga, Spain. The Men’s 120KG category was a showcase for British powerlifter Nonso Chinye, who won gold by a 35-kilogram margin over runner-up Nicolas Peyraud of France.
En route to his 965-kilogram total, Chinye secured an International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) deadlift world record of 400 kilograms.
At just 20 years old, Chinye is still a Junior lifter and, therefore, his record also stands as the Junior raw deadlift world record. Additionally, Chinye’s total now stands as the IPF Junior world record and the third heaviest all-time.
Chinye’s world record deadlift can be seen in the video below, courtesy of his Instagram page:
[Related: John Haack Bench Presses 501 Pounds 6 Weeks out From the 2025 Ghost Clash III]
2025 European Classic Championships Results — Nonso Chinye, 120KG
- Squat
- 315 kilograms
- 340 kilograms
- 352.5 kilograms — Continental Junior Record
- Bench Press
- 197.5 kilograms
- 207.5 kilograms
- 212.5 kilograms
- Deadlift
- 350 kilograms
- 380 kilograms
- 400 kilogrmas — IPF World Record, IPF Junior World Record
- Total — 965 kilograms — IPF Junior World Record
Chinye’s feat did not require much setup upon taking the lifting platform with a world record weight on the bar. After a few motions of his arms to rev up, he hinged in his conventional stance to grab the barbell in a mixed grip.
Wearing only his lifting belt and some chalk dusted across his hands and legs, Chinye ascended with the barbell in what could have been misconstrued as a warm-up lift. The pull was as smooth as butter without any signs of a sticking point.
Chinye wrote in the caption of his post:
420 [kilograms] was there. RPE 7.5 to round off the day.
—Nonso Chinye
Chinye’s record surpassed the previous world record deadlift held by Etienne El Chaer by four kilograms.
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Featured image: @nojo.fitness on Instagram
