Chinese weightlifter Lu Xiaojun swept his fifth International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Weightlifting Championships with a world record breaking performance. Lu dominated the men’s 81kg bodyweight category with a 171kg snatch, a 207kg clean & jerk, and a 378kg total.
His clean & jerk and total were both new world records, and the total record he was breaking was his own, from the 2018 IWF Weightlifting World Championships: 374kg. His performance in Pattaya, Thailand this weekend wasn’t just impressive from a numbers standpoint — Lu had also been battling a low back injury all week, with Weightlifting House reporting that as a result he hadn’t performed any snatches in training since arriving in Thailand.
After missing his first attempt in snatch, his low back pain was clearly flaring up. What could have easily been enough of a reason to step away from the competition, Lu persevered. He went on to eventually claim multiple gold medals in spite of the setback — in total, the 35-year-old has now earned 17 Weightlifting World Championships medals and won five IWF World Champion titles at age 34.
Watch this heaviest lifts below.
The men’s 81kg class finished up with Lu in first place, Li Dayin (also from China) in second place, and Colombia’s Brayan Santiago Rodallegas Carbajal in third place. Lu’s total was just 1kg over Li Dayin, who also made a terrific performance.
- First place: LU Xiaojun
- Second place: LI Dayin
- Third place: RODALLEGAS CARVAJAL Brayan Santiago
- Fourth place: REJEPOV Rejepbay
- Fifth place: BEYTULA Yunder Nedim
We can only hope that Lu’s back doesn’t set him back too much for the remainder of the year and heading into the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Lu has lifted in two Olympics: the 2012 London Olympic Games, and the 2016 Rio Olympics. He won gold in 2012 and finished with a silver medal at the 2016 Games. It’s worth noting that he won those Olympic medals as a 77kg athlete prior to the IWF’s introduction of new weight classes in 2018.
The 2019 IWF World Weightlifting Championships wraps up on September 28th.
Featured image from @sickangles Instagram page.
