Powerlifter Ray Williams Wins His 7th Raw National Title After Gritty Performance

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The all-timer adds another notch to his legendary belt.

Written by Robert Zeglinski Last updated on February 28, 2023

On Feb. 24-26, 2023, during the Powerlifting America (AMP) Classic Raw Nationals in Austin, TX, powerlifter Ray Williams captured his seventh career raw National championship in the +120-kilogram class. The title count is a mix of Williams’ various wins in the USA Powerlifting (USAPL) Raw Nationals contests (2013, 2015-2019) and this new AMP conquest.

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Williams wore a lifting belt, knee sleeves, and wrist wraps for his top back squat, just a lifting belt for his top deadlift, and only wrist wraps for his top bench press. What might make the athlete’s performance more impressive is that he finished the victory despite an apparent injury with limited details on the nature and severity.

At the time of this writing, it isn’t clear what Williams’ exact statistics on each of his best lifts were. According to the Instagram post detailing his output, all that’s clear is the competitor recorded a 1,000-kilogram (2,204.6-pound) total.

Williams’ seventh raw national title follows in a long line of achievements.

He’s a five-time International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Champion (2014-2018) in the 120-kilogram weight class. According to Open Powerlifting, he also holds the all-time raw squat World Record with a lift of 490 kilograms (1,080.2 pounds) at the 2019 USAPL Arnold SBD Pro American.

In addition, Williams’ name is written all over the IPF record books. Those accomplishments are as follows:

Ray Williams (+120KG) | IPF Raw World Records

Squat: 477.5 kilograms (1,052.7 pounds)
Deadlift: 398.5 kilograms (878.5 pounds)
Total: 1,105 kilograms (2,436.1 pounds)

Williams’ IPF raw squat World Record has stood for roughly six years now. Though, it appears some younger phenom powerlifters could be hot on his tail soon enough.

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If the last two years of his track record indicate anything, the 2023 AMP Classic Raw Nationals might be Williams’ only competitive appearance of the year. If that’s the case, he certainly maximized his efforts.