What is powerlifting?
Powerlifting is the sport of maximal strength in three lifts: the squat, bench press and deadlift. Each lifter gets three attempts at each, and the best successful lift in all three combines into a total that decides the class. Judges give white or red lights on strict standards — depth, pause, lockout — so the sport's records are unusually precise.[1] [2]
How is it organized?
The IPF is the IOC-recognized world body, running classic (raw) and equipped (supportive suits and shirts) World Championships — the 2026 World Classic Open was held in Druskininkai, Lithuania — with powerlifting also contested at the World Games. Honestly stated: many unaffiliated federations run their own meets and record lists with varying drug-testing standards, so "world record" in powerlifting always requires asking whose.[2] [3]
How is powerlifting awarded?
Who has won the most in powerlifting?
Powerlifting does not produce one world champion a year. The International Powerlifting Federation crowns a champion in every bodyweight class at every championship — sixteen at a single open meet — and it runs separate equipped and classic championships, which are kept apart below. The federation publishes no career title counts, so these come from GoodLift, its own results software, whose coverage begins in 2002: titles won before then, including Hideaki Inaba's and Ed Coan's, are outside every IPF database and are not counted here. A per-country table is not given because the federation publishes none.
Most IPF World Open Equipped Championship titles — men (2003–2025)
| Rank | Name | Country | Years | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaroslaw Olech | Poland | 2003–2018 (16 consecutive), 2023, 2024, 2025 | 19 |
| 2 | Sergei Fedosienko | Russia, ROC 2021 | 2003, 04, 07, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 2021 | 15 |
| 3 | Oleksiy Bychkov | Ukraine | 2015, 16, 17, 18, 19, 2021, 22, 23, 2025 | 9 |
| 4 | Tsung-Ting Hsieh | Chinese Taipei | 2006, 07, 08, 09, 10, 2016, 22, 23 | 8 |
| 5 | Sergey Gladkikh | Russia, ROC 2021 | 2009, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 | 7 |
| 6 | Volodymyr Rysiyev | Ukraine | 2011, 2016, 2018, 2023, 2024, 2025 | 6 |
| 7 | Maxim Barkhatov | Russia | 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 | 5 |
| 8= | Six lifters on 4: Ivan Freydun (Ukraine, lid 383), Mikhaylo Bulanyy (Ukraine, lid 1477), Mykola Barannik (Ukraine, lid 3228), Andrei Konovalov (Russia, lid 4108), Dmitry Inzarkin (Russia, lid 4621), Kjell Egil Bakkelund (Norway, lid 4625) | – | – | 4 |
Most IPF World Open Equipped Championship titles — women (2004–2025)
| Rank | Name | Country | Years | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Larysa Soloviova | Ukraine | 2011, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 2022, 2024 | 11 |
| 2 | Natalia Salnikova | Russia | 2009, 2011, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 | 10 |
| 3 | Yukako Fukushima | Japan | 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2024 | 8 |
| 4= | Wei-Ling Chen | Chinese Taipei | 2007, 2008, 2011, 12, 13, 14, 2016 | 7 |
| 4= | Sri Hartati | Indonesia | 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 | 7 |
| 4= | Priscilla Ribic | United States | 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017 | 7 |
| 7= | Kelsey McCarthy | United States, ISV 2022 | 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 | 6 |
| 7= | Rhaea Stinn | Canada | 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 | 6 |
| 9= | Galina Karpova | Russia | 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011 | 5 |
| 9= | Olena Kozlova | Ukraine | 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014 | 5 |
Most IPF World Classic Open Championship titles — men (2013–2026)
| Rank | Name | Country | Years | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sergei Fedosienko | Russia, ROC 2021 | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 | 7 |
| 2 | Jesus Olivares | United States, ISV 2021 | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 | 6 |
| 3 | Ray Williams | United States | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 | 5 |
| 4= | Aliaksandr Hrynkevich-Sudnik | Belarus | 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 | 4 |
| 4= | Krzysztof Wierzbicki | Poland | 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 | 4 |
| 6= | Kjell Egil Bakkelund | Norway | 2017, 2025, 2026 | 3 |
| 6= | Taylor Atwood | United States | 2018, 2019, 2022 | 3 |
| 6= | Anatolii Novopysmennyi | Ukraine | 2019, 2021, 2023 | 3 |
| 6= | Austin Perkins | United States | 2024, 2025, 2026 | 3 |
| 10= | Fifteen lifters on 2: Mohamed Bouafia (Algeria, lid 4765), Brett Gibbs (New Zealand, lid 5774), Sergey Gladkikh (Russia, lid 3217), Eli Burks (United States, lid 9755), Dennis Cornelius (United States, lid 9756), Ls McClain (United States, lid 7803), Charles Okpoko (United States, lid 8940), Russel Orhii (ISV, lid 12331), Tony Cliffe (Great Britain, lid 5457), Panagiotis Tarinidis (France, lid 13112), Jonathan Cayco (United States, lid 16278), Delaney Wallace (United States, lid 17990), Wascar Carpio (United States, lid 20963), Ivan Campano Diaz (Spain, lid 18723), Anthony McNaughton (United States, lid 18697) | – | – | 2 |
Most IPF World Classic Open Championship titles — women (2013–2026)
| Rank | Name | Country | Years | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bonica Brown | United States | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 | 7 |
| 2= | Amanda Lawrence | United States, ISV 2021 | 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 | 6 |
| 2= | Kimberly Walford | United States, ISV 2019 | 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 | 6 |
| 4= | Tiffany Chapon | France | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026 | 5 |
| 4= | Joy Nnamani | Great Britain | 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2026 | 5 |
| 6= | Ielja Strik | Netherlands | 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 | 4 |
| 6= | Jennifer Thompson | United States | 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 | 4 |
| 6= | Carola Garra | Italy | 2019, 2023, 2024, 2026 | 4 |
| 6= | Brittany Schlater | Canada | 2021, 2023, 2025, 2026 | 4 |
| 10= | Inna Filimonova | Russia | 2014, 2015, 2016 | 3 |
| 10= | Sofia Loft | Sweden | 2014, 2015, 2016 | 3 |
| 10= | Heather Connor | United States | 2017, 2019, 2025 (two GoodLift profiles merged) | 3 |
| 10= | Evie Corrigan | New Zealand | 2023, 2024, 2025 | 3 |
Medal lists rank on total medals, then gold, then silver; title lists rank on titles. Equal totals are separated by golds, then silvers, and every table states the period it covers. Verified September 2026.[5] [6] [7]
References
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Powerlifting. Accessed August 2026.
- IPF — official site. Accessed August 2026.
- IPF — 2026 World Classic Open Championships, Druskininkai. Accessed August 2026.
- Powerlifting at the 2025 World Games. Accessed August 2026.
- GoodLift — the IPF's own results database, lifter profiles. Accessed September 2026.
- GoodLift — lifter profile used for the classic-era counts. Accessed September 2026.
- GoodLift — lifter profile used for the equipped-era counts. Accessed September 2026.