The 2017 Chinese National Weightlifting Championships are wrapping up in the next couple days. This year’s competition was held over the span of two weekends with the women competing April 8-11th, and the men April 15-18th. These championships act as a qualifying tournament for the National Games in September.
Tian Tao, 23, competed yesterday and set a new unofficial world record for the 85kg weight class. He successfully completed a 221kg clean & jerk, which tops the current 220kg record held by Iranian weightlifter Kianoush Rostami.
Keep in mind this is an unofficial record (since it wasn’t set in international competition), but it definitely suggests Tao is in a great position to eventually break and set the new official record. This was Tao’s third clean & jerk, as his first lift was a successful 190kg and his second 206kg.
Check out the side view of Tao’s lift shared below. His speed under the bar is ridiculous, plus he doesn’t take any steps to stabilize the lift. Is 221kg just a glimpse into what this young weightlifter will eventually be able to do with the official world record?
Tao ended up claiming first for the men’s 85kg class. He finished with a successful 155kg and 164kg snatch, skipping the third, and a 385kg total.
If you remember two weeks ago, we wrote about Tao’s recent 225kg clean & jerk PR in training, and speculated on his platform consistency. The above video is making us believers in Tao’s abilities on the platform as his consistency is improving.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSiOHDjj2ra/
In his 225kg clean & jerk video above he also takes 210kg and 220kg for a ride, so it looks like the heavier mock competition training has definitely been paying off. There’s no question behind Tao’s strength, but can he stay healthy?
If this young weightlifter can stay healthy, then I think it’s getting progressively more safe to say he’ll be the 85kg clean & jerk official record holder in the near future. His strength continues to grow with every training session and competition.
Feature image screenshot from Wlift84 YouTube Channel.
