Singaporean teenager Matthew Yap powerlifted about three times his body weight to set a new squat world record in the Under-66kg sub-junior category at the World Classic Powerlifting Championships in Minsk, Belarus on Sunday (Jun 18).
The 17-year-old Republic Polytechnic Media Production and Design student, who cleared 190kg on his first attempt, took on 208kg for his final attempt and overtook Kazakhstan’s Dmitriy Chebanov to clinch the gold medal for Singapore. In doing so, Yap also broke the world mark of 207.5kg, which was set last year by Swede Eddie Berglund.
Watch Yap’s record-breaking attempt below.
According to Channel NewsAsia, he credited his coach and brother Marcus Yap — a two-time world record holder in powerlifting — for introducing him to the sport. This trophy comes on top of his bronze medal in bench press and silver medal in the competition’s overall standing.
Reader Interactions