GR/Year 13 Pupil Breaks World Deadlift Record

Congratulations to Grecian (Year 13) pupil, Nonso Chinye, who secured a silver medal at the International Powerlifting Federation World Championships, which took place from 27 August to 4 September in Istanbul, Turkey, in what was only his third ever competition. He also managed to break the deadlift world record in the under 105kg junior class – twice!

Nonso ‘found’ weightlifting during lockdown, when he was at home and was missing school rugby. Once restrictions were lifted, he carried on training at the School’s Bluecoats Sports Centre. He was selected for the World Championships after competing at the British Weightlifting Championships in Birmingham in May. In this, his second ever competition, he was crowned British champion, breaking the British record to lift 310kg. He went on to lift 20kgs more at the World Championships, breaking the world record and setting it at 330kg.

Nonso said ‘I am very proud of my achievement and plan on pushing forward and getting even stronger.’

Director of Sport at Christ’s Hospital, David Messenger, said ‘Nonso’s rapid rise to excellence in his new sport is incredible, and it has been very exciting for the School to help him unlock his potential. What a wonderful example of how something positive can be made of a bad situation like lockdown. Well done, Nonso!’

Powerlifting is a combination of three disciplines: squat, bench press and deadlift. Lifters have three opportunities to lift as heavy a weight as possible in the three different lifts and the highest combined total wins the overall title.