1,000 pound Bench Press failure at Mr. Olympia

[blut wump]

Not a 100% but I think scott mendelson puts up 700's raw and 1000's geared up. That is 300lbs! I'm not knocking any of these guys but their range of motion is so little by the time they arch and the insanely wide grips. I'm much more impressed with a 15 year old kid putting up 315 with his back flat on the bench than I am by a guy who arches and uses a shirt that he has to pull 500lbs down to his chest just to be able to press it. just my 2 cents.

Agreed, in principle. I'm impressed with anyone who demonstrates improvement and the more consistently they can demonstrate improvement then the more impressive it is.

However, this is mostly irrelevant to the discussion about a 1,000 pound press attempt, failed or otherwise. We go to shows either to support friends or to see freaky people doing freaky things. There's nothing freaky or impressive about seeing someone you've never seen before nor likely to see again pressing a weight that no longer bothers you in the gym. In gear or otherwise, it's freaky to witness someone handling half a ton and so the spectacle will continue.