Yesterday, the 2018 IPF World Classic Powerlifting Championships kicked off in Calgary, Canada with the first groups of Masters athletes taking the platform.
This year, the Championships are running through June 17th, and luckily there’s a live stream so you can tune throughout the week to check in on your favorite athletes. If you’re interested in watching, along with checking out the full competition schedule, check out this link.
On June 15th, the men’s Open -83kg weight class is set kick off, and like always, it’s set to be an intense showdown. This weight class is notoriously competitive and one of the top contending athletes is Texas-based powerlifter Russel Orhii, or Russwole as many know him on social media.
Orhii has been somewhat quiet on social media in respects to his videos lately, but he recently shared a monstrous squat single that he moved like a warm-up set. In his video below, Orhii smoothly hits 283kg (625 lbs).
The last time Orhii competed was at the SBD Pro American, which was held at the 2018 Arnold Classic. At this meet, Orhii opened with a 287.5kg (633 lb) squat, and then attempted 300kg (660 lbs) for his second and third. Unfortunately, he missed both attempts due to being flagged for depth, although, he moved the weight pretty well.
A squat of 300kg (660 lbs) is significant because it would top the current -83kg IPF Open squat world record currently held by John Haack at 298kg (657 lbs). If we go off of Orhii’s video above, the speed in which it moved, and his attempts at the Arnold, it’s not unrealistic to think that this world record may fall in the very near future.
Orhii’s last big squat shared on his Instagram page comes from late April. His video below highlights a big 288kg (634 lb), which also moved decently well.
There’s no denying that Orhii is going to be a contender for this year’s -83kg title, but can he top some of the weight class’s best athletes like Brett Gibbs? Time will tell!
Feature image from @russwole Instagram page.
