Anytime Georgian weightlifter and 2016 Rio Olympic Games gold medalist Lasha Talakhadze is caught with a barbell on camera, it seems as though he is casually performing some of the heaviest lifts ever done. We have seen him hit the heaviest snatch ever caught on film — 222 kilograms (489 pounds) — and the heaviest clean & jerk ever captured by a film lens — 267 kilograms (588.6 pounds).
The man has done mind-bogglingly heavy muscle snatch triples, clean pulls, and has set 18 world records over the course of his competitive career at just 27 years of age. To this day, he holds all three world records in the +109-kilogram weight class.
TikTok user anukidemuria got their hands on some footage of Talakhadze impressing yet again with a buttery smooth 230-kilogram (507.1-pound) snatch balance. Check out the video of the lift posted on Jan. 21, 2021, below:
@anukidemuria#talakhadzelasha#🏋🏻♂️#strongest#foryou#ყველაფრისჩემპიონი🙏🏻❤️♬ original sound – Anukidemuria
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World Records
Although there is not technically a world record snatch balance as it is not a competition lift, we can get a sense of how heavy the weight Talakhadze is tossing around based on the heaviest snatch he has ever done (at least on camera). Talakhadze holds each of the current world records at +109-kilograms, all scored at the 2019 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand:
- Snatch — 220 kilograms (485 pounds)
- Clean & Jerk — 264 kilograms (582 pounds)
- Total — 484 kilograms (1,067 pounds)
So his 230-kilogram (507.1-pound) snatch balance was 10 kilograms (22 pounds) more than the world record snatch and eight kilograms (17.6 pounds) heavier than what is believed to be his personal best snatch of 222 kilograms (489 pounds).
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500-Kilogram Total
It may go without saying at this point that Talakhadze is in a league of his own. After all, he does have the heaviest total ever in weightlifting. That does not mean, however, that he has not set further goals for himself. In an interview with Oleksiy Torokhtiy, released on YouTube on May 24, 2020, Talakhadze said that he is aiming to secure a 500-kilogram (1,102.3-pound) total.
If I reach the 500-mark…I will have a new target — 505, 510, etc. But first I have to reach 500.
He would be the first weightlifter to ever hit that total and improving upon his world record snatch might be where he gets the most of the remaining 16-kilograms (35.3 pounds) needed.
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Tokyo Olympic Games
With an additional year to train for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games due to its postponement in response to COVID-19, Talakhadze may indeed reach the 500-kilogram milestone total. We will have to see how much more weight over his current world records he calls for to get there, but it is almost certainly going to be a can’t-miss performance.
Featured Image from Lasha Talakhadze’s Instagram page: @lashatalakhadzesport
