This is similar to the story of Eric Spoto. He was repping 600lbs in the gym, but didn’t want to compete until he KNEW he could hit 700. He wanted to break the world record in his first meet.
He didn’t manage that, but DID come close, and did eventually set a new record, ushering in an era where suddenly ALL the 700lb raw benchers came out of the woodwork.
EDIT: Actually, why am I telling the story? It happened here! Haha