Instagram user Shin Yong Jin regularly posts training footage and competition archives from some of Asia’s best weightlifters and weightlifting federations; his feed is equal parts hanging out with elite lifters and snapping images of delicious cuisine. What caught our eye most recently was a series of training videos of Ilya Ilyin in his preparation for the 2012 London Olympics — a competition Ilyin would go on to easily win, only to be suspended four years later for a positive doping retest. (Ilyin also had a positive retest from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.)
Though we’re still waiting on Ilyin’s ultimate suspension length, it’s likely he’ll be formally asked to return his medals, and his results will be removed from the official Olympic Games results. His World Record clean & jerk (233kg) and total (418kg) set in London are also likely to be officially overturned.
While it’s possible we’ve seen the last of his competition career, Ilyin reigned as one of weightlifting’s most dominant athletes for nearly a decade; shockingly, he never lost or bombed out in international competition, and he won World Championships at 85kg, 94kg, and 105kg.
2012 was undoubtedly the peak of Ilyin’s abilities as a 94kg lifter, and the videos below illustrate just how strong, fast, and dialed in he was.
The first video from 2012 prep shows a progression of snatches from 170kg all the way to 196kg, a full 8 kilograms over the weight class world record.
In the next clip, we see Ilyin hit clean & jerks at 220, 230, and 240kg — the last lift again 8 kilograms above the class world record.
What are your thoughts on Ilyin’s career? Did his doping results change your opinion of his accomplishments? Let us know in the comments below.
Featured image: @shin_yong_jin_ on Instagram
