CrossFit Games athletes sometimes get flack for being too “fit” and not sufficiently specialized, with the implication that trying to be “pretty good” in every area of fitness will result in an athlete who’s not great at anything.
But Sara Sigmundsdottir just silenced at least a few critics by breaking multiple national records at the WOW Reykjavik Games Olympic Weight Lifting Championships. (European English uses two words, “weight lifting,” to describe the sport.)
Competing in the -69kg category (and after psyching herself up as she approached the bar), Sigmundsdottir first snatched 91kg (200.6 pounds), a new Icelandic national record.
Barely pausing to celebrate, she left the stage to recover and start preparing for the next phase of competition. Sigmundsdottir went on to clean & jerk 110kg (242.5 pounds), setting another national record and a new total record: this lift made her the first Icelandic woman to pass the 200kg total, lifting a combined total of 201kg.
In a nation that’s swarming with strength athletes, Sigmundsdottir’s achievements here are extremely impressive, particularly given the fact that she has two back-to-back second place finishes at the Reebok CrossFit Games in 2015 and 2016.
“It´s been such a long time since I last competed at an Olympic weightlifting competition and this was sooooo fun,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m definitely doing this again next year if I possibly can.”
Sigmundsdottir also competed in the 75kg weight class at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships in Houston, where she snatched 80kg (176.4lb) and clean & jerked 105kg (231.5lb).
The WOW Reykjavik Games Olympic Weight Lifting Championships were sponsored by WOW Airlines, an Icelandic airline that has demonstrated a surprisingly strong commitment to strength sports. Last month, they held an exhibition event called WOW Stronger in Reykjavik, during which Thor Bjornsson muscle cleaned and pressed 195kg (430 pounds) and Annie Thorisdottir snatched 87kg (191.8lb). You can check out those and other videos of the event in our wrap up here.
Featured image via @sarasigmunds on Instagram.
