When asked who the greatest powerlifter of all time is, most people will say Ed Coan, but I have a different set of rules I go by and this is my list and I make the rules.
On my list I have have Six lifters.
More than 70 combined Open World Championships.
Hundreds of world records.
Decades of dominance.
But before we start, there are a couple things we need to address.
- All the lifters on this list compete in drug tested federations and have actually been been drug tested countless times.
- Powerlifting isn’t one sport— unfortunately we have to distinguish between drug tested and not in the sport. And yes Raw VS Gear is a big argument too but for a long time Raw didn’t exist. so my list is of Drug tested gear and raw athletes only.
Some of the lifters on this list built their legacies in equipped powerlifting. Others built their careers in the **raw division. **
Both require incredible skill, dedication, and strength. But depending on which style you value more, your answer for the greatest powerlifter of all time might change.
So today, we’re looking at six athletes who all have a legitimate claim to the title.
Let’s get into it.
Jarosław Olech – The Immortal King
If longevity is the ultimate measure of greatness, Jarosław Olech might already have the strongest case.
The Polish legend spent decades dominating the toughest federation in powerlifting and built a résumé that sounds almost fictional.
Olech won a ridiculous 20 IPF Open World Championships, more than any other lifter in history. Even more insane, he captured 17 of them consecutively between 2002 and 2018.
Think about that for a second.
Most elite lifters are lucky to stay at the top for three or four years. Olech stayed there for nearly two decades.
And he wasn’t just winning. He was setting records while competing in one of the deepest and most competitive weight classes in the sport.
One of the most incredible examples came when he squatted 370 kilograms, or 815 pounds, at just 74 kilograms bodyweight. That’s five times his bodyweight. The dude is like an ant!
As he moved into his 40s and then his 50s, he continued beating athletes young enough to be his children.
GOAT Argument: Nobody in drug-tested powerlifting history has stood on top of the Open World podium more times. If greatness is measured by longevity, consistency, and the number of championships, Olech is hard to beat.
Best Lifts:
Squat: 370kg
Bench 220kg
Deadlift 328kg
Sergey Fedosienko – The Alien
Some athletes dominate a weight class.
Sergey Fedosienko dominated the laws of physics.
Competing primarily in the 59-kilogram class, Fedosienko became one of the most decorated lifters in history while producing pound-for-pound numbers that still seem impossible. I remember watching him lift and thinking it doesn’t make sense.
Over the course of his career, he accumulated more than 15 IPF Open World Championships and excelled in both equipped and raw competition.
But the numbers are what make people shake their heads.
His equipped total of 765 kilograms, or 1,686 pounds, at only 59 kilograms/130lbs bodyweight remains one of the most absurd strength performances ever.
Imagine weighing 130 pounds and standing up with 660 pounds on your back.
Then imagine deadlifting more than 600 pounds raw.
That’s the kind of athlete we’re talking about.
At one point, Fedosienko held world records in the squat, bench press, deadlift, and total simultaneously.
He didn’t leave room for anyone else. He was truly competing against himself.
GOAT Argument: If about pound-for-pound strength is the main argument, there may never be anyone better than Sergey Fedosienko.
Best lifts:
- Equipped Squat: 661
- Equipped Bench Press: 454
- Equipped Deadlift: 602
- Raw Squat: 540
- Raw Bench Press: 391
- Raw Deadlift: 606
Kimberly Walford – The Deadlift Queen
The first time I met Kimberly, I was pretty sure she could pull Excalibur out of the stone with one hand.
When raw powerlifting exploded in popularity, Kimberly Walford became one of its defining athletes.
A seven-time IPF Classic World Champion, Walford didn’t just dominate one weight class. She won world titles across multiple classes and became known for one thing above all else:
Delivering when it mattered most.
Over and over again, world championships came down to a final deadlift, and over and over again, Walford found a way to get it done.
Her intensity on the platform became legendary.
She wasn’t the biggest lifter in the room.
But when everything was on the line, few athletes in powerlifting history were more dangerous.
Watching Walford approach a championship deadlift became must-see television for powerlifting fans.
GOAT Argument: Kimberly Walford helped define the modern raw era and proved her greatness across multiple weight classes and generations of competitors.
Best lifts:
Squat: 425.5/ gear 418.8
Bench: 253.5/ gear 253.5
Deadlift: 542.3/ gear 567.7
Bonica Brown – The Bubbly Dominator
Some champions edge out victories.
Bonica Brown buried the competition.
Brown built one of the most dominant careers ever seen in powerlifting, With seven IPF Classic World Championships and four Equipped World Championships.
What makes her case unique is that she excelled at both raw and equipped lifting at the highest level.
Very few athletes in history can make that claim.
At her peak, she achieved one of the rarest accomplishments in powerlifting: holding world records in the squat, bench press, deadlift, and total at the same time.
Think about what that means.
She wasn’t the best in one lift.
She was the best at everything.
In the super heavyweight division, Brown often won by margins so large that she wasn’t really competing against the women on the platform anymore.
She was competing against her own legacy.
GOAT Argument: Complete dominance matters. Few lifters have ever separated themselves from their peers the way Bonica Brown did. So for talking championship titles, how you represent the sport and pure absolute dominance, then Bonica has my vote.
Best Lifts:
Squat: 617.3 / Gear 716.5
Bench: 341.7 / Gear 485
Deadlift: 556.6 / Gear 574.3
Natalia Salnikova – The Machine
Some athletes dominate through explosive performances.
Natalia Salnikova dominated through perfection.
Competing in the 52-kilogram class, Salnikova captured 13 IPF Open World Championships and became one of the most technically sound lifters the sport has ever seen.
Her lifting looked effortless.
Every setup was identical.
Every lift followed the same precise path.
Every year she showed up ready to win.
She earned multiple World Games gold medals and was repeatedly recognized as one of the best pound-for-pound lifters in the world.
While other athletes relied on big breakthroughs or spectacular records, Salnikova built her legacy through consistency.
Year after year.
Meet after meet.
Title after title.
Not enough people say this name but if you’re a true fan of the Sport then you better start.
GOAT Argument: Thirteen Open World Championships is an extraordinary achievement. If consistency is greatness, Salnikova deserves to be in every GOAT conversation.
Best Lifts:
Squat: 341.7 / Gear 462.9
Bench: 214.9 / Gear 325.1
Deadlift: 374.8 / Gear 418.8
Ray Williams – The Barrier Breaker
Every sport has moments that change history.
Powerlifting has Ray Williams.
Before Ray, a raw 1,000-pound squat was considered one of strength sports’ great impossible milestones.
Then he did it.
In 2016, Ray became the first person ever to officially squat over 1,000 pounds raw in drug-tested competition.
The entire strength world took notice.
Ray didn’t stop there.
He kept pushing the limit even further.
At the 2019 Arnold Sports Festival, Ray squatted an unimaginable 490 kilograms, or 1,080 pounds.
Even today, many lifters consider it the greatest raw squat ever performed.
The crowd erupted.
Commentators lost their minds.
The video spread throughout the internet and introduced countless people to powerlifting for the very first time.
But Ray wasn’t just a one-lift wonder.
He won five consecutive IPF Classic World Championships from 2014 through 2018 and completely redefined what people believed was possible for a drug-tested athlete.
When Ray stepped onto the platform, history felt possible.
GOAT Argument: Some athletes win championships. Some athletes change the sport forever. Ray Williams did both.
Best Lifts:
Squat: 1080.2/ 800 wraps
Bench: 545.6
Deadlift: 878.5
Here’s the thing.
Most powerlifters are forgotten.
Harsh, but true.
Twenty years from now, very few people will remember who won Nationals in 2026.
But they’ll remember Ray Williams squatting 1,080 pounds.
They’ll remember Jarosław Olech winning world title after world title.
They’ll remember Sergey Fedosienko making 600 pounds look light.
The greatest athletes don’t just win.
They literally change the fabric of the sport itself.
And that’s exactly why we’re still talking about these names today.
So Who’s the GOAT?
That’s where things get complicated.
If championships and longevity matter most, it’s difficult to look past Jarosław Olech and his twenty Open World Titles.
If pound-for-pound strength is your standard, Sergey Fedosienko might be untouchable.
If dominance over an entire division matters, Bonica Brown deserves serious consideration.
If you’re looking at the modern raw era, Kimberly Walford and Ray Williams helped define it.
And if consistency and technical excellence are your measuring stick, Natalia Salnikova has one of the strongest résumés ever assembled.
Then there’s the raw versus equipped debate.
Some fans believe raw lifting should carry more weight because it’s closer to pure strength.
Others argue equipped lifting requires an entirely different level of technical mastery and should be judged equally.
There’s no perfect answer.
That’s what makes this debate …well a debate.
If I had to cast a vote today, I’m probably giving it to Bonica Brown. Eleven Open World Championships across both raw and equipped lifting, dominance that lasted for years, world records in every lift, she gives back every chance she gets and has a personality that represents the sport better than anyone could hope for.
Let me know who gets your vote in the comments even if they’re not on the list.
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