Lasha Talakhadze is commonly regarded as one of the best weightlifters of all time — he is unequivocally the strongest, having lifted more weight in the snatch and clean & jerk, the sport’s two competitive disciplines, than any human being living or dead.
- The heaviest split jerk caught on camera is 270 kilograms. Talakhadze broke that ground in 2021.
Flash forward to late 2024, and (almost) nothing has changed. Talakhadze won the 2024 Olympics, earned his third gold medal, and maintained his decade-plus undefeated record in weightlifting. Afterward, Talakhadze was widely expected to retire. As of Nov. 2024, it’s a “maybe.”
But a handful of his competitors are hot on his heels, and they’re starting with some 270-kilogram jerks of their own.
The Next Lasha Talakhadze & 270-Kilogram Jerks
On Nov. 9, 2024, Armenian weightlifter Varazdat Lalayan posted a video to social media in which he successfully jerks 270 kilograms, or 595.2 pounds, out of the rack. Lalayan is the latest to throw his hat in the jerk ring and has given Talakhadze grief at weightlifting meets for the last two years.
One big thing: Talakhadze has clean & jerked 270 kilograms. Lalayan and the other athletes who have held the same weight overhead did so without performing the clean.
Let’s take a look at Lalayan and the other weightlifters who have jerked 270 kilograms in 2024 to determine who might be capable of dislodging Talakhadze from the record books.
Varazdat Lalayan (Armenia)
At just 25, Lalayan is the youngest super-heavyweight athlete to pose a real threat to Talakhadze, 31, in recent years. He’s also not missed the weightlifting podium since 2018 and almost always places second behind the Georgian.
The real case for Lalayan assuming the throne rests upon his steady climb in the weightlifting Total as he’s matured as a competitor. Here are Lalayan’s best Totals from each year for the last five years:
- 2024: 467
- 2023: 462
- 2022: 461
- 2021: 457
- 2019: 424
The incremental but steady growth of his Total, plus a recent exhibition of his overhead strength in the jerk, are bullish signals for Lalayan in a post-Talakhadze weightlifting market. However, he’s not the only super to put five red bumper plates overhead in 2024.
Alireza Yousefi (Iran)
In October 2024, Iranian weightlifter Alireza Yousefi jerked 270 kilograms out of the rack. Yousefi is 21 years old; when Talakhadze was 21 a decade prior, his best competition clean & jerk was in the 240 to 250-kilogram range (Talakhadze was serving a performance-enhancing drug suspension in 2014 and did not compete).
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If you looked solely at their age-equivocated strength in the split jerk, Yousefi would appear far ahead of Talakhadze’s trajectory. However, Yousefi has yet to complete a snatch in competition above 190 kilograms.
Talakhadze, at roughly the same age, snatched 207 in 2015. When Lalayan was 21, he snatched 205. Despite his extraordinary overhead game, Yousefi lags behind his colleagues in snatch prowess.
Simon Martirosyan (Armenia)
Armenia’s former-heavyweight Simon Martirosyan jerked 270 kilograms at the tail end of 2023, so it’s worth taking a look at his resume in the super-heavyweight division. Martirosyan, 27, is a two-time Olympic silver medalist whose world record in the Total at 109 kilograms, set in 2018, still stands.
- After the 109s were left off the proposed Olympic docket for Paris 2024, Martirosyan opted to bulk up to the supers rather than cut weight and compete in the 102-kilogram category.
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He’s fared well, though Martirosyan has yet to win an international gold medal in weightlifting’s uncapped men’s division. The Armenian managed a career-best total of 450 kilograms at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships, but excessive strength in the split jerk likely isn’t enough to carry Martirosyan to the top of the +109-kilogram podium.
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Featured Image: @weightlifting_house / Instagram
