Siamand Rahman (; 21 March 1988 – 1 March 2020) was an Iranian Paralympic powerlifter. He won gold medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, and the 2010 Asian Para Games in Guangzhou. He is the current IPC Powerlifting World Record holder and the Paralympic Championship Record holder in the +107 kg category with a bench press and also holds the junior world record with . Siamand died on 1 March 2020 due to cardiac arrest.
Powerlifting career Despite Rahman suffering from disabilities affecting both legs due to polio, Rahman has been described as "the world's strongest Paralympian".
Rahman began his career in Oshnavieh, Iran, supported by his family and coach Ali Asghar in 2008. He appeared on the world stage for the first time at the 2010 IPC Powerlifting World Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he competed in the men's +100 kg category and bench pressed to win the silver medal, losing to teammate Karem Rajabi Golojeh. Rahman set a new IPC Powerlifting World Record in the +100 kg category on his fourth lift with a bench press, but did not count toward his medal performance.
Months later, Rahman won the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Para Games in Guangzhou, China and broke the IPF Senior World Record in the +100 kg category with a lift of on December 18, despite being eligible for the junior category.
Rahman broke his own world record again, lifting at a competition in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on December 4, 2011.
Rahman won gold at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, breaking the Paralympic championship record of that was previously held by Iranian teammate Golojeh with his first lift of and breaking it again with his second attempt of . With his successful lift of , Rahman was 38 kg beyond Faris Abed, who claimed the silver medal by lifting .
Despite his disability and young age, Rahman was close to breaking the all-time raw world record of by Kirill Sarychev and had expressed goals of bench pressing in excess of and in competition.
Following the 2016 Paralympics, Rahman was named Best Male at the Paralympic Sport Awards.
Personal records
Powerlifting competition records:
done in official powerlifting meets Raw Bench press – 291.0 kg (641.5 lb) – +100 kg category – 2011-12-04 Raw Bench press – 310.0 kg (683.4 lb) – +107 kg category – 2016-09-14
Powerlifting gym records (unofficial):
done in the gym (based on video footage) Raw Bench press – – 2017-11-27
Major results
YearVenueWeight Attempts (kg) Result (kg) Rank1234Paralympic Games2012 London, United Kingdom +100 kg270.0280.0 301.0--280.0 PR2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil+107 kg270.0300.0305.0 310.0 305.0 World Championships2010 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia+100 kg250260 265285260 2014 Dubai, United Arab Emirates+107 kg275281285 285.5285 2017 Mexico City, Mexico+107 kg265275285 --285 2019 Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan+107 kg250265 ----265
See also Paralympic powerlifting world records Progression of the bench press world record Eric Spoto Big James Henderson Scot Mendelson
References
External links
Video: Siamand Rahman at the Paralympics 2012 - all lifts - 270kg - 280kg - 301kg Video: RAHMAN Siamand Islamic Republic of Iran Paralympic benchpress 301 kg HD (at the Paralympics 2012 in London) Video: Paralympic Powerlifting Benchpress Men +100kg WR 290kg by Siamand Rahman (Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games) Video: Siamand Rahman - 672 lb / 305 kg Raw Bench Press (unofficial gym lift)