At the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Kate Nye of Team USA scored a silver medal in the 76-kilogram weight class — the first American weightlifter to medal at the 2020 Games and the best performance by an American in 21 years. Here were her stats from that event:
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games — Katherine Nye, 76-Kilograms
- Snatch — 111 kilograms (244.7 pounds)
- Clean & Jerk — 138 kilograms (304.2 pounds)
- Total — 249 kilograms (549 pounds)
Two weeks before her runner-up performance at the Games, Nye hit a personal best snatch of 115 kilograms (253.5 pounds) while training in Hawaii. Although she shared the lift on the stories of her Instagram page, she did not share it as a post — until now. Check out the heaviest snatch Nye has ever hit in the video below:
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Suffice to say, Nye’s training went as well as expected for someone who podiumed at the biggest weightlifting competition in the world. This was an excellent training session for Nye, who was firing on all cylinders:
No misses all the way up and a five-kilogram jump to this weight in particular.
For a sense of how this lift would stack up against the best in the world, it is three kilograms shy of 2020 Olympic Games gold medalist Neisi Dajomes‘s 118-kilogram (260.2-pound) snatch — the heaviest in the weight class. However, Nye intended to match that weight during that same training session, but her coach, Spencer Arnold, did not allow it.
Spencer wouldn’t let me take a crack at 117 kilograms/118 kilograms.
Nye did manage to hit a 114-kilogram (251.3-pound) snatch attempt, but it was not counted following a late intervention by the jury who deemed it a no lift due to Nye releasing the barbell too early after standing. Despite not scoring the heaviest snatch at the Games, Nye’s 111-kilogram (244.7-pound) lift did earn her a new American record.
Nye’s latest PR displays that she can beat the current American snatch record and only needs the proper stage and the green light from her coach to make an attempt. In her Instagram post’s caption, Nye wrote she “can’t wait to put it on the bar” — “it” is two to three more kilograms over her new PR.
At just 22 years of age, if Nye can continue her rise as one of the best weightlifters in the world at 76-kilograms, perhaps the top of the podium is a possibility at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Featured image: @katherineenye on Instagram via @barbellstories
