Olympic weightlifter CJ Cummings is closing in on the clean & jerk world record.
The 20-year-old, who competes in the -73 kilogram weight class, is a four-time Junior World Weightlifting Champion (2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 ) and just hit an incredible 195-kilogram (429.9-pound) clean & jerk personal best on Oct. 3, 2020. You’d think chasing a legacy paved by gold medals and massive lifts would inspire Cummings to lift just three kilograms shy of the world record, right? No. It turns out he really wants a Playstation 5. Check it out:
[Related: CJ Cummings Did a 3.5x Bodyweight Front Squat In His Driveway]
According to his Instagram video, Cummings responded to a challenge from his girlfriend in response to his request for a PS5 gaming console. Cummings performed a smooth clean into a squat jerk in what appeared to be an empty gym and then held the weight overhead for a full four seconds. Check it out:
World Record
The 2019 Pan American Weightlifting Champion’s new personal best is 2.67 times his competition bodyweight and just three kilograms shy of the current world record held by Shi Zhiyong of China. Zhiyong hit clean & jerked 198 kilograms (436.5 pounds) at the 2019 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Weightlifting World Cup in Tianjin, China. Cummings and Zhiyong both competed in the -69kg weight class before moving up to -73kg when the IWF approved new weight classes back in June of 2018.
If you have not seen that world record by Zhiyong, you can check it out below courtesy of Squat Jerk Journalist’s YouTube channel:
[Related: Watch 69kg Weightlifter Shi Zhiyong’s Insane 190kg Power Clean & Jerk]
Junior World Records
Cummings currently holds all of the Junior weightlifting world records in the -73kg class. His new PR is two kilograms above his clean & jerk junior world record:
- Snatch — 154 kilograms (339.5 pounds)
- Clean & Jerk — 193 kilograms (425.5 pounds)
- Total — 347 kilograms (765 pounds)
All three of the junior world records above were hit at the 2019 Pan American Championships on June 27th, 2019, in Havana, Cuba, when Cummings was 19 years old. In the additional year of training offered by the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games postponement, we’ll see if Cummings can muster the strength to best Zhiyong’s senior world record clean & jerk of 198 kilograms.
Featured image from CJ Cumming’s Instagram page: @cj__cummings
