Nepedia
Back to Discover
Advanced Reader
📖

Ed Coan

sports Maturity 11-13 Next article →

Ed Coan is a celebrated American powerlifter. Many experts in the sport consider him the greatest of all time. Throughout his career, he achieved 71 world records.

Powerlifting is a specific type of strength sport. It measures an athlete's power through three primary movements. These movements are the squat, the bench press, and the deadlift. A lifter's total is the sum of the weight lifted in these three categories. This total represents the athlete's overall strength. Coan was famous for his incredible ability to excel in all three lifts.

Coan's path to strength began with a personal desire to change. As a child, he was a skinny student who faced bullying at school. He decided to begin bodybuilding in his basement to build muscle. He used old iso-kinetic cord machines for his early training. Later, he progressed to using an Olympic weightlifting set owned by a friend. He also studied the book "Education of a Bodybuilder" by Arnold Schwarzenegger to learn proper techniques.

Eventually, he joined the Chicago Health Club. After seeing Bill Kazmaier, he began powerlifting with a friend. Within only six months, he was already squatting significant weights.

His competitive career was marked by many historic milestones. During the 1991 Senior Nationals, Coan reached a major threshold. He became the lightest person to cross a specific barrier in the powerlifting total. This total is the combined weight of the squat, bench press, and deadlift. He also competed successfully in different weight classes. For example, he competed in the 100 kg weight class and the 110 kg weight class.

His success in these categories proved his versatility and immense strength.

Coan achieved massive numbers in several different weight divisions. In the 110 kg weight class using single-ply equipment, he set several personal records. At the 1999 Senior National Championships, he achieved a massive squat using wraps. He also recorded high bench press numbers in 1998, 1999, and 2000. His deadlift record in this class was set at the 1998 World Championships.

In the 100 kg weight class, his records were also impressive. He set a squat record at the 1987 World Championships. His 1991 Senior Nationals performance included a record-breaking deadlift and total.

In 1998, Coan set an all-time powerlifting record total. This happened in the 110 kg weight class during the World Championships. He also showed great skill in drug-tested international competitions. At the 1994 IPF Senior World Championships in South Africa, he competed in the 100 kg class. This performance established a new world record at that time.

These specific numbers and dates highlight the peak of his physical abilities.

Coan's career also included significant challenges regarding drug testing. He failed drug tests through the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) three times. In 1985, he received a temporary suspension for using Deca-Durabolin, which is an anabolic steroid. He was suspended again in 1989 following a positive test. In 1996, at the IPF Men's Open World Championships in Salzburg, Austria, he tested positive a third time.

This third incident resulted in a lifetime ban from the IPF. Because he placed first in that 1996 competition, his name and results were retroactively removed from the official records.

Despite these bans, Coan remains a legendary figure in the community. He was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. In 2016, the IPF declared that his training seminars violated WADA regulations. This meant his seminars were prohibited due to his ongoing suspension. However, many people still regard him as a master of the sport. He now spends much of his time mentoring young lifters. By sharing his knowledge, he continues to influence the next generation of strength athletes.

621 words

Where will your curiosity go next?

Keep exploring at your chosen reading level.

More to explore

🔬 Go deeper

More advanced topics to explore

🪜 Step back

Simpler topics to build understanding

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.