Ed Coan

Edward Ignatius Coan, known as Ed, is an American powerlifter born on 24 July 1963. With multiple world championships and 71 world records he is widely regarded throughout the powerlifting world as the greatest powerlifter of all time. After seeing Bill Kazmaier compete he took up powerlifting with a friend and within six months squatted 500 lb. In 1991 he became the lightest person to cross the 2,400 lb barrier in the total, and at the 1998 World Championships he set an all-time record total of 2,463 lb in the 110 kg class. His best total in a drug tested international contest is 2,282 lb in the 100 kg class at the 1994 IPF Senior World Championships. He failed IPF drug tests three times and received a lifetime ban from the federation in 1996, yet he remains a respected mentor to young lifters, and in 2015 he was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame.