Throughout her career, Tamara Walcott has consistently proven she’s one of the greatest powerlifters ever. The 90-plus kilogram athlete’s latest official showing of strength in a full power meet might be her best yet.
On July 30, 2022, while competing raw, Walcott captured a 290-kilogram (639.3-pound) deadlift during the 2022 World Raw Powerlifting Federation (WRPF) American Pro. The pull surpasses her own previous figure from the 2021 WRPF The Bucked Up Showdown and is the new All-Time World Record by 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds). Walcott wore a lifting belt and lifting strap and used a conventional stance to capture her deadlift record.
Walcott also captured a total of 735 kilograms (1,620.4 pounds) for the new All-Time World Record. It surpasses April Mathis’s former top mark from the 2011 American Powerlifting Federation (APF) Southern States by 4.71 kilograms (10.4 pounds).
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In the caption of her Instagram post, Walcott was emotional. She reflected on her staggering accomplishments since she began competitive powerlifting in July 2018.
“Four years in, and I’m here, not by luck but by faith,” Walcott wrote. “I worked for this. I prayed for this. Why? Because when I win, so many others do too! The impossible becomes possible for others when they see it happen!”
While Walcott didn’t capture a World Record in all four powerlifting benchmarks, she notched personal raw competition bests on her bench press, squat, deadlift, and total top stats.
Here’s a rundown of Walcott’s best lifts from her performance at the 2022 WRPF American Pro:
Tamara Walcott (+90KG) | 2022 WRPF American Pro Top Stats
- Squat — 272.5 kilograms (600.7 pounds) | Competition Best
- Bench Press — 172.5 kilograms (380.3 pounds) | Competition Best
- Deadlift — 290 kilograms (639.3 pounds) | All-Time Raw Deadlift World Record
- Total — 735 kilograms (1,620.4 pounds) | Heaviest All-Time Raw Total
Notably, in late July 2022, just before this year’s edition of the WRPF American Pro, Walcott completed a 299-kilogram (660-pound) raw deadlift during a training session. If she were to transfer that achievement to a competition, Walcott would’ve extended her original deadlift All-Time World Record by 10.8 kilograms (24 pounds), and her new total All-Time World Record would be 14.5 kilograms (32 pounds) ahead of April Mathis.
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Walcott’s Future
At the time of this article’s publication, Walcott has not confirmed when her next powerlifting contest will come around the bend. According to Open Powerlifting, Walcott has never participated in an August competition. However, she has featured in a September full power meet in the last two years. According to the WRPF website, the only current WRPF contest that would align with Walcott’s past precedent is the upcoming The Clash on the Columbia on September 3-5, 2022, in Vancouver, WA.
Whether Walcott elects to potentially exceed her World Record marks at that competition is unclear at this time. Even then, given her track record, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see the prolific powerlifter turn heads once more whenever she stands on a sanctioned lifting platform again.
Featured image: @plussize_fitqueen4.0 on Instagram
