Athletes who were gearing up for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games this summer have had to adjust to it being officially postponed for a full year until July 2021. Although this historic change in schedule may throw off training programs for some, all athletes who have already qualified will remain qualified.
Ultimately, this means that athletes have the opportunity to train for an additional twelve months and the Chinese weightlifting team is moving full speed ahead. Check out -96kg weightlifter Tian Tao squat 310kg/683lb for a double beltless below in the post from ShenZen Weightlifting’s Instagram page:
ShenZen Weightlifting follower Gayral Mathieu summed up this raw squat double best when he commented:
“So deep.”
Is was not specified what Tian’s current bodyweight is, but this beltless double is over three times his competition bodyweight. And he might not even have been one hundred percent during this session.
Team China held an internal test event just over a week ago where Li Fabin (-61kg) set an unofficial world record clean & jerk (180kg/397lb) and Lu Xiaojun (-81kg) snatched a kilo more than the current world record 173kg/381lb. Tian, however, had to sit it out alongside his teammate Li Dayin, both due to injury. You can see the entire test event below from Squat Jerk Journalist’s YouTube channel:
Tian is one of the more decorated weightlifters of the -85kg and -96kg divisions. He competed in the -85kg weight class until the -96kg class was recognized by the International Weightlifting Federation in 2018.
His mantle includes a silver medal from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and gold medals from the 2019 Asian Weightlifting Championships and 2019 World Weightlifting Championships.
Tian also set current world record clean & jerk for his 231kg/509lb lift at an Olympic tests event in Tokyo, Japan on July 7th, 2019. Assuming he can stay healthy through 2021, he is setting himself up for a big performance at the Olympic Games.
Feature image via ShenZen Weightlifting’s Instagram page: @shenzhenweightlifting
