Iran’s Kianoush Rostami has won two World Championships as an 85kg lifter, and he finished second at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships in Houston (oh, and we won Bronze at the 2012 London Olympics — so at 24 years old, the guy is no slouch).
However, he has yet to beat the longstanding 85kg class clean & jerk world record, which has stood since April 1998 (set by China’s Zhang Yong). The 218kg mark is one we’ve seen broken before in non-IWF meets, meaning it won’t count toward a World Record; China’s own Tian Tao hit 220 at Chinese Nationals a couple months back.
But Rostami isn’t taking second fiddle to Tao just yet, as evidenced by this recent 220kg training make from Iran’s weightlifting camp in Hungary.
The funny thing is, while it’s 2kg over the current World Record, it’s not even Rostami’s biggest training lift caught on film. A couple years ago, he hit an astounding 221kg(!).
Want to see something really impressive? Watch that lift below, where he almost bails on a FIRST jerk attempt before resetting himself to take a SECOND.
Clearly, this aren’t competition standards, and it’s likely Rostami is making these while training above weight. There’s so much that’s different about hitting a weight in official competition as opposed to mythical numbers made in training (heck, just look at some of the heaviest snatches recorded on film).
The recent lift, however, IS a good sign that Rostami will be in fighting form heading into the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, where the 85kg class should be a good battle. Reigning World Champion Artem Okulov should be gunning for a Gold, and it looks like his Russian countryman Apti Aukhadov is going up to 94kg for the Olympics. That still leaves plenty of competition at 85kg, which is generally one of the more exciting men’s categories to watch.
