The caliber of talent in youth weightlifting is remarkable these days. 17-year-old Karlos Nasar of Bulgaria recently had a monumental training session. He hit a 175-kilogram (385.8-pound) snatch to match the current world record at 81-kilograms held by Li Dayin of China. Nasar is no stranger to big lifts — he’s won a Youth World Championship and Youth World Cup. However, matching a world record lift in training at 17 years of age is still an astounding feat, particularly given the stature of athletes who have lifted in the same range.
Check out Nasar’s snatch in the video below, originally from Nasar’s Instagram page, posted to the weightlifting sub-Reddit by user hk-184:
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Since the Men’s 81-kilogram weight class was established in 2018, only three men have ever snatched more than the initial world record standard of 170 kilograms (374.8 pounds). The first man to set the world record was two-time Olympic gold medalist Lu Xiaojun of China. He scored a 172-kilogram (379.2-pound) snatch at the 2018 Weightlifting World Championships Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. At that same contest, Mohamed Ehab of Egypt advanced it by a single kilogram.
At the rescheduled 2020 Asian Weighlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Xiaojun reclaimed the record via a 174-kilogram (383.6-pound) lift. His teammate, Li Dayin, furthered the record at the same contest to 175 kilograms (385.8 pounds). Although Nasar did not disclose his bodyweight at the time of his training lift, it shows that he can snatch in world record range while still a youth competitor.
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Karlos Nasar’s Weightlifting Career
Although Nasar’s weightlifting career is still young, he has been a dominant force in Youth competition. He won back-to-back European Youth Weightlifting Championships titles in 2018 and 2019 at 69 and 81 kilograms, respectively. Also, in 2019, he earned his first Youth World Weightlifting Championship title at 73 kilograms.
Nasar settled in at 81 kilograms and won the 2020 Youth World Cup and scored silver at the 2021 European Championships in Moscow, Russia. At that latter contest, he set multiple Junior European records:
- Snatch — 163 kilograms (359.4 pounds) — European Junior Record
- Clean & Jerk — 206 kilograms (454.2 pounds) — European Record
- Total — 369 kilograms (813.5 pounds) — European Junior Record
When Nasar steps onto the competitive lifting stage next, expect him to call for record weight on the barbell. Considering how much he is lifting in training, a world record attempt is not out of the question.
Feature image: @shturi on Instagram
