Ryan Shawn Kennelly American powerlifter Date of Birth: 10.12.1975 Country: USA

Ryan Shawn Kennelly's Biography

Ryan Shawn Kennelly, an American powerlifter, is well-known for his expertise in the bench press. Born on December 10th, 1975, in Moses Lake, Washington, Kennelly comes from a family of powerlifters, with his father also competing in the sport. He graduated from Kamiakin High School in Kennewick in 1992.

Kennelly did not start his strength training journey until he turned 18. Initially, he did not make significant progress in powerlifting until one day, approximately five years ago, when he successfully lifted a 181.4 kg barbell at a local gym, crowning him as the champion.

On July 28th, 2007, Kennelly broke the world bench press record in equipped powerlifting, lifting an astonishing 470 kg at a Ukrainian competition, surpassing the previous record set by Gene Rychlak by nearly 12 kg. A few months later, on December 1st, he further improved his record by lifting 477.27 kg. In 2008, Kennelly broke his own record three more times. On April 12th, at the Open Iron War competition in Kennewick, Washington, he lifted a 485.3 kg barbell. On July 13th, at a competition in Dubuque, Iowa, he successfully pressed 487.5 kg. Finally, on November 8th, at the Pride Strength Wars competition in Kennewick, he achieved his current record of 487.6 kg.

Kennelly's personal best in the raw bench press, without the aid of equipment, is 294.8 kg, which he accomplished on October 18th, 2010, recognized by the Ukrainian Powerlifting Association (UPA).

Despite his outstanding athletic achievements, Kennelly has faced legal troubles. He was recently arrested and charged with possession and distribution of anabolic steroids. This is not his first encounter with legal issues, as he has a previous case pending in the Grant County Supreme Court. In the new case, Kennelly is accused of sending 89 ampoules of anabolic steroids from Kennewick to Marysville, California. Law enforcement officials in California seized a package containing the ampoules. Kennelly's lawyer, Kevin Holt, requested bail for his client in the amount of $25,000, citing the powerlifter's health issues and the need to care for his blind and immobile mother. However, Deputy Prosecutor Art Bieker argued that the bail for Kennelly's new case should be increased to $100,000. In the previous case, filed in October 2010, Kennelly was charged with manufacturing and distributing marijuana along with anabolic steroids. He spent six days in jail before being released on a $25,000 bail.