Eighteen-year-old weightlifting wunderkind Clarence “CJ” Cummings put on one of the most remarkable performances of his career at the American Open Series 3 (AO3), a competition that was held over the last week in Las Vegas.
It’s important to note that the records Cummings was exceeding were made in his previous weight class of -69kg. This is the first national weightlifting event that has used the new IWF weight classes that were announced this past July, which means that a host of athletes were competing in classes and often at weights at which they’d never competed before. For Cummings, this meant that instead of competing in his usual -69kg class he was in the -73kg class, deciding not to cut down to the new -67kg class.
He opened with a 139kg (306.4lb) snatch then finished his snatches with 145kg (319.7lb), deciding not to go ahead with a third attempt. The junior athlete’s 145kg snatch, however, exceeded his senior -69kg American record by one kilogram, which he made in May this year at the Pan American weightlifting championships.
He then went on to hit two of his three clean & jerks: 180kg (396.8lb) and 186kg (410lb). That 185-kilo lift eclipsed his senior American record and youth world record by 1 kilo, a record he set in Bangkok over year ago at the 2017 Junior World Weightlifting Championships. He didn’t make his third attempt of 190 kilos, but props to the man for trying.
CJ Cummings sweeps 🥇 at #18AO3inVegas!
Hits 139kg, 145kg snatch (skips 3rd attempt)
Hits 180kg, 186kg clean & jerk. Misses 190kg.
Watch LIVE>> https://t.co/4HreaihHvl pic.twitter.com/zsp1WwPReo— USA Weightlifting (@USWeightlifting) September 14, 2018
[Maybe the most notable performance of the competition was when Sarah Roble broke a 13-year-old clean & jerk record. Watch it here!]
Cummings uploaded the lifts to his Instagram with the pretty darn nonchalant caption,
Broke my own records, had a good time, now it’s time to enjoy Las Vegas. If you see me say “Heyyy”
A couple of days later he put up a new post that provided just a little more detail on his experience.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn1LkanBEzF/
#ao3 was amazing trip. This was my second competition in the US🇺🇸 this year. So I had a blast exploring Vegas and reconnecting with all of my fans again. I can’t wait to see all of you guys again
[Check out one of Cummings’ last training sessions before competing, where he almost hits a 180kg clean & jerk double!]
With more leeway to gain more muscle in his new weight class, we’re looking forward to seeing how the young athlete’s lifts will progress.
Featured image via @cj__cummings on Instagram.
