Currently, the IPF Open World Championships are taking place in Pilsen, a city in the western Czech Republic. The Championships started Monday and will go through Saturday, November 18th. If you’re late to the party, but still want to visit the live steam to check out the final weight classes, then check out this link.
Today, there’s been an epic squat battle taking place in the men’s 105kg weight class. The IPF have now shared two Instagram videos of huge squats coming from two of the world’s best equipped 105kg powerlifters. Ukrainian powerlifters Oleksandr Rubets and Dmytro Semenenko went back and forth with their crazy strong squats.
At this year’s Championships, both powerlifters set new world records, one in the Open age category, and the other Junior. First, it was Rubets who stepped up and squatted 433kg (952.6 lbs), which is a new IPF junior world record. Check it out below.
This squat is 4.12 times Rubet’s bodyweight, and tops the current junior record by 2kg. And we want to reiterate, he’s still a junior powerlifter.
Back in May, Rubets squatted 431kg at a bodyweight of 100kg, which earned him not only the junior record, but also the open. In fact, it topped Semenenko’s previous open record by 13.5kg. He accomplished this feat at the European Equipped Powerlifting Championships.
Yet, it wasn’t long until Semenenko stepped up to the plate and made a statement. Moments after Rubets hit his insane 433kg squat, Semenenko called for 445.5kg (980 lbs) on the bar. This would award Semenenko with a new open record, and top Rubets’ 433kg squat by 12.5kg. Check out the ridiculous 4.25 times bodyweight squat below.
It’s a little ironic that Semenenko called for a weight very similar to what Rubets topped him with back in May. And we’re not sure if that was intentional, we’re just happy these athletes were both able to complete such epic feats.
There’s no denying that Rubets and Semenko are leading the pack when it comes to equipped 105kg lifting. It’s only a matter of time until one of these lifter eclipse the 1,000 lb squat feat at their bodyweights.
Feature image screenshot from @theipf Instagram page.
