Kazakhstan’s 85kg weightlifter Denis Ulanov just put up some huge weight in training. Earlier today, he posted a relatively smooth video of a 225kg clean & jerk. This lift surpasses the current 85kg clean & jerk world record by a whole 5kg. The current record is held by 2016 Rio gold medalist Kianoush Rostami.
Ulanov has been closing in on the 220kg+ gap for quite some time, and with this new lift hopefully we’ll continue to see him push past the world record even further. Check out Ulanov’s 225kg clean & jerk below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZy3Z-9HNj6/
This lift is huge for a few reasons. First, it’s 5kg past the current world record, so we may be seeing him challenge the record when he competes in International competition again. Second, Ulanov is relatively young at 23 years old, so he has many more years of competition ahead of him to improve. Lastly, it ties Tian Tao’s 225kg clean & jerk training record, which he hit back in April 2017.
In August, Ulanov competed at the 2017 Summer Universiade and ended up taking home gold with a 165kg snatch and 200kg clean & jerk, which earned him a 365kg total. He tried for a 221kg clean & jerk on his third attempt, but missed it in the clean.
Leading up to the Summer Universiade, Ulanov had been crushing big lifts. Check out this smooth 215kg clean & jerk from early August.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXZ8h2DBFt3/
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Ulanov initially ended up finishing fourth with a 175kg snatch, a 215kg clean & jerk, and 390kg total behind Rostami, China’s Tian Tao, and Romania’s Gabriel Sîncrăian. But in October 2016, Sîncrăian ended up testing positive for a banned substance, which disqualified his medal and earned Ulanov the bronze.
Due to a lifting federation ban from the IWF, we won’t be seeing Ulanov take the International stage until at least mid-October of 2018. Kazakhstan is one of the nine countries which will be facing a one-year ban due to doping retests from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Feature image screenshot from @denis_ulanov_ Instagram page.
