Over the weekend, the 2017 Nike American Open Finals came to a conclusion in Anaheim, California. This competition took place from December 7th-10th, and acted as the championships for the year long American Open Series. To compete, athletes had to either finish in the top three at one of the American Open Series competitions or meet the qualifying total.
There were a couple American Records broken during the competition, and one of them came from Quiana Welch. She competed in the women’s 75kg weight class, and edged out Jenny Arthur’s previous 107kg record by hitting a third attempt 108kg snatch.
Yesterday, USA Weightlifting shared this record breaking snatch on their Instagram page. What’s possibly the most interesting part of this video — and what had us watching it multiple times — is how Welch slides her hands in about three inches during the turnover/on the catch, all while keeping her arms locked out. Check out Welch’s snatch below.
Welch also hit a 113kg clean & jerk (she missed a third attempt of 116kg) and ended up finishing first in 75kg women’s weight class with a 221kg total. Over the last year, Welch has made significant improvements in all of her lifts and total.
For context, Arthur recently competed for the USA at the 2017 IWF Weightlifting World Championships, and ended up hitting a 104kg snatch, 130kg clean & jerk, and finished in fifth place with a 234kg total. While Welch still has a good amount of ground to cover in the clean & jerk, her snatch has proven to be fairly competitive with World level athletes. The 108kg would have tied her for second at the World Championships.
A few days ago, she shared a great video on her Instagram page that featured her weightlifting progress over the years, along with a few of her teammates.
Welch began her strength sports career as a functional fitness athlete a few years ago. It wasn’t until becoming familiar with the weightlifting movements she made the switch to becoming a competitive weightlifter.
Hopefully we continue to see Welch improve upon her lifts and possibly make it to a World level stage.
Feature image screenshot from @usa_weightlifting Instagram page.