British powerlifter Jonathan Lewis has been flying under the radar until now, but he burst onto the international scene in dramatic style at the 2024 Euro Muscle Show (EMS) in Amsterdam. He has been lifting since 2019, but up until this event, he had only competed at a local and national level.
Coming into the EMS, Lewis’ best deadlift in competition was the 332.5 kilograms he had set at the 2024 British Junior Championships on March 19. This was a 17.5 kilogram personal best at the time — a huge increase — so there was no foreshadowing of this colossal world record attempt.
Lewis opened his deadlift at 330 kilograms, only 2.5 kilograms shy of his competition best. He then asked for 355.5 kilograms for his second attempt. Unfortunately, it did not come off as Lewis seemed to time the pull initiation incorrectly, and his center of gravity shifted backward, upsetting his balance. Lewis tried it again on his final attempt, hitting it right this time.
Check out the lift below, courtesy of the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) Instagram page:
Using only a lifting belt to assist him, Lewis approached the platform. He took a while to set up, gripping the barbell in a mixed grip several times before standing again briefly before addressing the bar again. When he finally started the lift in earnest, it moved from the platform well, typical of conventional deadlifts. The lockout was nearly as fast, though, which is less typical.
The lift was passed two to one, with the center referee giving a red card failure for soft lockout. In the IPF, in addition to voting yes or no with the white and red lights, the referees give a colour code to indicate the type of failure. On deadlifts, the red card is always for insufficient lockout.
The Junior raw deadlift record previously belonged to Polish deadlift specialist Krzysztof Wierzbicki, who set it at the dawn of international classic powerlifting in the IPF, the first Classic World Championships in Suzdal, Russia, in 2013, making it one of the longest-standing records in the IPF.
2024 IPF Euro Muscle Show Results — Jonathan Lewis (UK), 93KG
237.5 kilograms
250 kilograms
260 kilograms
160 kilograms
170 kilograms
177.5 kilograms
Deadlift
330 kilograms
355.5 kilograms
355.5 kilograms — IPF Junior World Record
Total — 793 kilograms
This was Lewis’ final year in the Junior category. He is not on the roster for the 2024 IPF World Junior Championships in Malta in August, so it’s unclear where or when he will next compete.
The Open raw deadlift world record in the 93KG class is 373.5 kilograms, so Lewis still has some way to go to collect that record. However, with his current rate of progress, it might not be that long before he challenges it.
Featured image: @theipf on Instagram
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