This year’s IWF Weightlifting World Championships have been incredibly exciting to watch. We’re not only getting to watch the implementation of the new weight classes at a senior world-level competition, but we’re also witnessing history as more and more athletes surpass the World Standards set by the IWF to claim World Records.
The other day, we covered Chinese weightlifter Shi Zhiyong’s legendary performance in the -71kg weight class, which included three world records and gold medals, and now we’re back covering Iran’s Sohrab Moradi who did the exact same in the -96kg category.
Yesterday, Moradi took the platform in the stacked -96kg weight class, which hosted athletes such as China’s Tian Tao and Romania’s Nicolae Onica. On the snatch, Moradi opened with 181kg and missed his second attempt with 186kg. For his third, Moradi left 186kg on the bar and earned a good lift, which was enough to seal him with first place and a world record. His opening snatch of 181kg matched second place Tao’s best attempt.
While the 186kg now stands as the new -96kg world record, Moradi’s previous snatch world record in -94kg weight class sits at 189kg. We’re curious what he would have attempted had he not missed his second lift.
For the clean & jerk, Moradi opened with a smooth and easy 223kg, then completed 230kg for his second, which was also enough to surpass the World Standard for a new World Record. Tao opened with 215kg, then quickly jumped to 226kg for his second. For Tao’s final attempt, he went for 236kg to top Moradi’s second 230kg, but was unsuccessful. On Moradi’s third attempt he went for 237kg, but also came up short.
The 186kg snatch and 230kg clean & jerk earned Moradi a gold medal in total with 416kg and another World Record. This new World Record total sits 1kg behind Moradi’s previous 417kg world record in the now retired -94kg weight class set at the 2017 Weightlifting World Championships.
Moradi came out of the gates strong for the -96kg weight class, and it’s going to exciting to see himself and the other athletes that make up this weight category push these records further in the years to come.
Feature image from @iwfnet Instagram page.
