Times are tough in the United States and the pandemic’s impact is practically immeasurable. The numbers that get the most attention are the big ones: a six-figure death toll, 40 million unemployed, the ... Continue Reading
Oleksiy Torokhtiy Interviews Lasha Talakhadze On His Training Secrets
Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia is one of the most decorated weightlifters in the world. Currently competing in the 109+kg weight class, he is a 2016 Rio Olympic gold medalist, a 4-time World ... Continue Reading
Finally, a Feature Film About Weightlifting: How You Can Get It Made
Calling all strength sports fans, there's an interesting film on Kickstarter called "The Weight" that needs backers to get up and running. Strength sports continue to grow in popularity across the ... Continue Reading
Ilya Ilyin Is Retiring; Considers Future Career Options
Ilya Ilyin of Kazakhstan has had a very decorated weightlifting career. He has won four World Weightlifting Championships across three different weight classes — 2005 at -89kg), 2006 and 2011 at -94kg, and ... Continue Reading
CJ Cummings Just Did a 3.5x Bodyweight Front Squat In His Driveway
CJ Cummings is a 4-time junior world weightlifting champion — he won them consecutively in 2016, 2017, 2018 in the -69kg weight class, and 2019 in the -73kg weight class where he currently competes. The ... Continue Reading
Mattie Rogers Talks Quarantine, Recovery, And Q&A From Her Ice Bath
Member of Team USA Weightlifting and two-time World Weightlifting Championships silver medalist Mattie Rogers has been posting much more regularly to her YouTube channel since lockdown started, and in her ... Continue Reading
Watch Julio Mayora (-73kg) Hit a 165kg/364lb Snatch
Julio Mayora of Venezuela competes in the -73kg weight class and in a recent training session, he got very close to tying China's Shi Zhiyong's world record snatch. The 23-year-old Mayora started his ... Continue Reading
IWF To Move Operations From Hungary To Switzerland
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) will be relocating their offices from Budapest, Hungary to Lausanne, Switzerland. Editor's note: This article has been amended to clarify that ... Continue Reading
Zygmunt Smalcerz Is the New Head Coach of Norway Weightlifting
In Olympic Weightlifting news, media outlets in Poland and Norway are reporting that Zygmunt Smalcerz has been hired as the Head Coach of the Norwegian Weightlifting Federation. Smarlcerz, the 1972 Olympic ... Continue Reading
USA Weightlifting Partners With Canadian Weightlifting Federation for North American Open Series
USA Weightlifting and Canadian Weightlifting Fédération Haltérophile Canadienne (CWFHC) announced on Friday April 17th that they have established a partnership to hold the North American ... Continue Reading
Longtime IWF President Tamás Aján Resigns Amid Corruption Investigation
After a 24-year reign as the General Secretary and 20 years as its President, Dr. Tamás Aján has officially resigned from the International Weightlifting Federation. Ursula Papandrea, the American who ... Continue Reading
Weightlifter Tian Tao Squats 310kg/683lb For a Double Beltless
Athletes who were gearing up for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games this summer have had to adjust to it being officially postponed for a full year until July 2021. Although this historic change in schedule may ... Continue Reading
Weightlifters From Thailand and Malaysia Banned From 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) shared a press release on Friday, April 4th citing sanctions issued to the Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (TAWA) and the Malaysian ... Continue Reading
Calling All Weightlifters, the Nike Romaleos 4 Are Officially Out
Over the last week, there has been a fair amount of news that's circulated about the Nike Romaleos 4 weightlifting shoes. From athlete sneak peaks in regard to what they look like, to a shaky release ... Continue Reading
Weightlifter Li Fabin (61kg) Clean & Jerks 180kg/397lb, Sets Unofficial World Record
Li Fabin, the 27 year old weightlifter from China, competes in the -61kg weight class and was expected to post some huge numbers at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games before they were postponed until 2021 due to ... Continue Reading
Olympic Postponement and Training with Weightlifter Fernando Reis
Fernando Reis is the strongest weightlifter in the Americas. He's won three Pan American Games and holds all three Pan American records in weightlifting with a 201kg snatch, 240kg clean & jerk, and ... Continue Reading
The New Dates for the Tokyo Olympics Have Been Confirmed
The 2020 Olympics, for those who have been living under a rock, were finally postponed last week due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a new date wasn’t set. The communiqué published by the International ... Continue Reading
Qualified Athletes For 2020 Olympic Games Will Keep Their Spots In 2021
The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, originally scheduled for July 24th through August 9th, were officially postponed on March 24th. There was a lot of speculation as to whether or not the Games would be ... Continue Reading
Nike Romaleos 4 Weightlifting Shoe Photos Revealed, Release Date Postponed
The release date of the new Nike Romaleos 4 weightlifting shoe, originally scheduled for April 1st, has reportedly been postponed. This information comes via @nikemetconclub on Instagram, a fan ... Continue Reading
Katherine Nye and Mattie Rogers Open Up On Olympic Postponement
The pandemic was a slow creep for months, then it felt like it all hit at once. The government position went from "wash your hands regularly and stay home if you feel sick" to "we're banning all planes ... Continue Reading
The Heaviest American Women’s Snatch and Clean & Jerk
At BarBend, we're big fans fo weightlifting (duh), so we never pass up the opportunity to highlight some superlative lifts. Today, we're breaking down the heaviest snatch and clean & jerk ever made by ... Continue Reading
The Tokyo Olympics Have Officially Been Postponed Until 2021
When longstanding International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound revealed in an interview yesterday that the Tokyo Games were being postponed, there wasn’t much of a reason to question the truth of the ... Continue Reading
Canada Pulls Their Athletes From the Summer Olympic Games
While event after event is canceled as the coronavirus pandemic spreads worldwide, the “rising clamor” to cancel or postpone the Summer Olympics is reaching a fever pitch. Now, the Summer Olympics has ... Continue Reading
2020 Weightlifting Events Canceled or Postponed Due To Coronavirus (Updated)
The coronavirus pandemic is causing multiple Olympic weightlifting events to be canceled, postponed, or otherwise affected. We at BarBend decided it would be helpful to have a continuously updated ... Continue Reading