The 2019 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Weightlifting Championships are officially underway, and +109kg world record holding weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze has already gotten our attention (among others)…lifting on his light day in warm-ups!
Weightlifting House shared a video while being on the scenes at the IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Pattaya, Thailand, where Talakhadze casually went through a light training session which consisted of an insane 120kg no contact muscle snatch triple.
As reported by Weightlifting House in their Instagram video’s description, Talakhadze didn’t even stop there though, he also went through some speeds squats with a weight of 285kg, and also did some 230 kg pulls.
Let’s take another moment to acknowledge his no contact muscle snatch and its impressiveness, he’s literally lifting nearly 300 lbs from the ground up over his head three times like it’s nothing using minimally advantageous mechanical positions. Check out the training session captured by Weightlifting House below:
[How to watch the 2019 IWF World Weightlifting Championships]
Earlier this year, Talakhadze was celebrated at the 2018 Lifters of the Year Award Gala in Georgia, and was named one of the IWF’s 2018 Lifters of the Year for the second year in a row.
He was recognized by the IWF for a season that consisted of setting the official snatch all-time world record at 220kg, as well as the 477kg all-time total world record.
It’s no secret to anyone that Talakhadze is one of the best super-heavyweights in the world, and this year’s world championships is another opportunity to watch him reach even bigger milestones. He will be chasing his fourth IWF World Champion total, having already won three prior in 2015, 2017, and 2018. It’s worth noting that two of his titles came prior to the IWF introducing new weight classes, so he was a champion in the +105kg category.
This Tokyo 2020 gold level qualifying event is a major competition for Talakhadze who is looking to return to the Olympics for the second time, and repeat as an Olympic champion. He previously won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in the +105 weight class.
Featured image from @talaxadzelasha Instagram page.