Siamand Rahman

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 in the +107 kg category with a 310.0 kg bench press and also holds the junior world record with 290.0 kg and the Paralympic Championship Record with 310.0 kg. Siamand died on 1, March 2020 due to cardiac arrest.

Powerlifting career
Despite Rahman suffering from disabilities affecting both legs due to polio, he 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 260.0 kg to win the silver medal, losing only to teammate Karem Rajabi Golojeh. He set a new IPC Powerlifting World Record in the +100 kg category on his fourth lift with a 285.0 kg bench press, but unfortunately, it 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 again in the +100 kg category with a lift of 290.0 kg on December 18, despite still being eligible for the junior category.

He broke his own world record once more, lifting 291.0 kg at a competition in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on December 4, 2011.

The 24-year-old Rahman won gold at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, breaking the Paralympic championship record of 265 kg that was previously held by Iranian teammate Golojeh with his first lift of 270.0 kg and breaking it again with his second attempt of 280.0 kg. Although he failed to lift 301 kg on his third attempt due to an uneven lockout, Rahman claimed he has hit that mark in training many times and hoped to continue breaking his own records during the next Paralympic cycle. With his successful lift of 280 kg Rahman was 38 kg beyond Faris Al-Ajeeli, who claimed the silver medal by lifting 242 kg.

Despite his disability and very young age Rahman was also relatively close to breaking the open all-time raw world record (disabled or not) of 335 kg by Kirill Sarychev and had expressed goals of bench pressing in excess of 350 kg and even becoming the first man to bench press 400 kg in competition. Rahman is the first Paralympic lifter who has bench pressed 600 lb.

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) raw without wrist wraps or a belt (2011-12-04)

Powerlifting gym records (unofficial):

done in the gym (based on video footage)
 * Raw Bench press – 311 kg