Meanwhile in China…
That’s the 69kg weightlifter Shi Zhiyong hitting a clean and squat jerk of 205 kilograms (452 pounds). We don’t know what bodyweight Shi is training at here, but if he had hit this lift in a competition? He would have shattered the previous record by seven kilograms (15.4 pounds).
That previous record was set by the one and only Liao Hui during the World Weightlifting Championships in 2013. You can watch it in super slow motion below.
Shi Zhiyong was born in Guangxi province in 1993 and has had an extremely successful career thus far. He dominated his weight class in Rio last year, earning a gold medal with a snatch of 162kg and a clean & jerk of 190kg, totaling 352 kilograms (776 pounds).
In fact, he’s won gold just about every time he’s competed in international competition. During the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships in Houston he took home gold as well, snatching 158kg and clean & jerking 190kg, totaling 348 kilograms (767 pounds).
Shi likes to scream when he lifts. It seems to work.
In fact, he’s even had success in the -77kg weight class, which he briefly competed in during the 2016 Asian Weightlifting Championships. He turned up weighing 72.4 kilograms which, let’s be honest, is kind of an awkward weight to compete at. But it turned out that he didn’t need any extra weight as he totaled 348 kilograms again to win gold, beating out Thailand’s Chatuphum Chinnawong by just one kilogram.
Some folks know Shi best for his “rivalry” with fellow -69kg athlete Liao Hui. They had a pretty awesome battle at last year’s Chinese National Weightlifting Championships, which Liao ultimately won by 2 kilograms — he totaled 354 kilograms, beating Shi in the snatch and the clean & jerk by one kilogram per lift.
While it was only recently posted, we understand that Shi’s 205-kilogram clean & jerk was made as he trained for the Chinese National Games, where he once again faced off against Liao for the -69kg gold medal. So how did it turn out?
Well, a lot of people called Shi’s performance “sweet revenge” as he won with a solid four kilogram lead. Check out our full article for an in-depth look at how it went down. He didn’t hit his 205kg training lift, but his 198kg clean & jerk landed right on Liao Hui’s world record from 2014.
Frankly, we’re not sure how much longer that record will last.
Featured image via 张子研 on YouTube.
