Anthony Wayne Clark (September 15, 1966, in

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

– May 22, 2005, in

Friendswood, Texas Friendswood is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the metropolitan area. The city lies in Galveston and Harris Counties. As of the 2010 census, the population of Friendswood was 35,805. In 2007, CNN/''Money'' magazine listed Fr ...

, U.S.) was an American

powerlifter Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

, holder of the world record for the reverse-grip bench press and member of the

York Barbell York Barbell is an American-based international manufacturer of fitness products. Bob Hoffman, named "Father of World Weightlifting" by the International Weightlifting Federation, bought the Milo Barbell Company and founded York Barbell in 1932. ...

Hall of Fame.

Powerlifting career

By the time Clark was 13, he was lifting 110-pound cement weights. In 1986, Clark became the first teenager to bench press 600 pounds, and was notable for using a reverse grip on the bar. In 1992, he was the first lifter to bench press 700 using the reverse grip. On September 25, 1993, at the U.S. Powerlifting Federation (USPF) Northwest Open, Clark broke his own world record with a 735 lb lift. In May 1993 he had pressed 725 lb. After his record-breaking lift, Clark often referred to himself as the World's Strongest Man, and toured for a time performing feats of strength. On one occasion he pushed a 6,000–lb. elephant, in a heavy-duty wheelbarrow, across the floor in a strongman competition in Japan. In addition to that, Clark gave motivational speeches, seminars, and one-on-one counseling to motivate kids and prison inmates to improve their lives. Clark also claimed that he stopped using steroids at the age of 22, stating that all they did was to increase his blood pressure. He called his best friend Big Mike. At the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic in 1997, he performed a controversial, reverse-gripped 800-pound bench press, http://www.emusclemag.com/content.php?cat=9&id=4 Strength Legend Anthony Clark Passes Away which was later turned down. This was more than 2 years before Tim Isaac would break the 800 pound mark at a sanctioned meet.

Personal records

;Powerlifting Competition Records: ''done in official Powerlifting full meets'' * Squat – 499 kg (1100 lbs) (in singleply squat suit) *

Bench press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...

– 365 kg (805 lbs) (in

bench shirt A bench shirt is a stiff supportive shirt, used to improve performance in the bench press, most often in powerlifting competitions. Bench shirts are usually made of polyester, denim, or canvas and come in single- or multi-ply thicknesses. The e ...

) *

Deadlift The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, ...

– 350 kg (771 lbs) * Total – 1179.34 kg (2600 lbs) equipped :→ former IPF world record in SHW class (+regardless of weight class)

Death

Anthony Clark, aged 38, died on May 22, 2005, of a heart attack and subsequent kidney failure and is buried at Forest Park East Cemetery in

Webster, Texas Webster is a city in the U.S. state of Texas located in Harris County, within the Houston–The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area. Its population was 12,499 at the 2020 U.S. census History The community was founded in 1879 by James W. W ...

. Anthony Clark dies

References

External links

Interview with Antony Clark
on bodybuilding.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Anthony 1966 births 2005 deaths American strength athletes American powerlifters American sportspeople of Filipino descent Filipino expatriate sportspeople in the United States