Iranian weightlifter Sohrab Moradi (-94kg) has snatched 189 kilograms (416.7 pounds) at the Asian Games in Jakarta, toppling a nineteen-year-old world record and securing all three Olympic weightlifting world records in his weight class.
Because the weightlifting classes were restructured in 1998 the record Moradi broke, set in 1999 by Greek athlete Akakios Kakiasvilis, was Olympic weightlifting’s oldest record.
Watch the historic lift below.
As the International Weightlifting Federation is on the verge of completely changing the sport’s weight classes and eliminating the -94kg category all together, it seems that Moradi’s three -94kg records will never be broken. Following up with a clean & jerk of 221 kilograms (487.2 pounds) he totaled 410 kilograms (903.9 pounds), a record for the Asian Games though relatively far from Moradi’s world record total of 417 kilograms (919.3 pounds), which he set at last year’s World Championships in Anaheim. You can watch his lifts from that event below — the 233-kilo clean & jerk remains a world record.
While Moradi failed his attempt to break his clean & jerk record with a 234-kilo lift, he was all smiles in an interview with Agence France Presse in Jakarta.
I really wanted to break the world record as it was the only one I didn’t have and this was my last chance. (…) I feel very happy to know that my name will always remain on all the 94kg world records.
He did note, however, that he was disappointed that his compatriot Kianoush Rostami failed to total, attempting a 220-kilogram clean & jerk twice but never quite making the lift.
We trained together and Kianoush was with me on the podium at 85kg many times. I hope we can both be together again in the medals at 96kg.
Believe it or not, that world record snatch isn’t the heaviest we’ve seen from Moradi — he made a 190-kilogram lift at a meet this June, though it wasn’t an official record.
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Congratulations to the man on finishing his time in the -94kg class with all three records.
Featured image via @barbend on Instagram.