Olech Claims 21st World Title with 865 kg Total at 52

Jaroslaw Olech of Poland won the men's Open 74 kg title at the 2026 IPF World Open Equipped Powerlifting Championships in Istanbul, totalling 865.0 kg on 11 November. The victory, secured on Poland's Independence Day, carried the 52-year-old to his 21st world title and 31st world championship medal.

A morning session decided on the platform

Olech weighed in at 72.90 kg, lighter than the American Lawson Lillo at 73.80 kg. He opened his squat at 345.0 kg, then moved to 360.0 kg and held it for his counted lift. Three deadlifts followed — 285.0, 295.0 and finally 300.0 kg — and each one stayed on the board.

Twelve-and-a-half kilos clear of a rival born decades later

He posted an 852.5 kg total, leaving Olech a margin of 12.5 kg. Kazakhstan's Yakov Ionin took bronze at 845.0 kg.

The result carried Olech's total 15.0 kg above the 850.0 kg he lifted to win the Open title in 2025. It also placed him second in the Best Lifter Open ranking with 108.2478 IPF GL points. Since his first world title in 2002, the Starachowice lifter and Wiking Starachowice club member has moved through a string of world championship medals counted now at 31.

Two decades of titles, one more on Independence Day

When Olech took his 19th world title — a 860.0 kg total that beat the American Alexis Maher by 12.5 kg — the rhythm of his career was already set. In Istanbul he returned to the same margin, against an opponent young enough to be his son, and left with his 21st crown.

The platform in Istanbul asked no questions about age.