At the World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim, Wes Kitts set a new American record in the snatch with a huge lift of 176 kilograms (388 pounds) at -105kg bodyweight.
He opened with 165kg and missed his second lift of 172kg.
He went on to clean & jerk 210 kilograms (463 pounds) for a total of 386 kilograms (851 pounds), putting him in tenth place overall.
On Instagram, Kitts posted a video of his clean & jerk with the simple caption,
I love representing my country! #American105 #USA #AMERICA #americanweightlifting #usaweightlifting
The -105kg class was won by Iranian weightlifter Hashem Ali, who totaled 404kg (183kg/403.4lb snatch and 221kg/487.2lb clean & jerk). He also won gold in the snatch. Korea’s Seo Hui-yeop took home gold for the clean & jerk with 222kg (489.4lb).
While Kitts’ performance didn’t earn him any medals, it’s awesome news for Team USA and his gym California Strength. His snatch was one kilogram over the previous record, which he set in July at the Pan American Weightlifting Championships in Miami.
NEW AMERICAN RECORD FOR WES KITTS! #GOODLIFT pic.twitter.com/O2MXJmeoJi
— USA Weightlifting (@USWeightlifting) July 27, 2017
He earned silver in the snatch and the total at Pan Ams, despite missing his last two clean & jerks and dramatically collapsing after his final clean, apparently from the pressure on his throat and windpipe. (He was fine.)
But yesterday’s lift is far from the heaviest snatch we’ve ever seen from Kitts, who once snatched 180 kilograms (396.8 pounds) in training. He went on to clean & jerk 215 kilograms (474lb), 5kg over the lift he made in Anaheim — you can watch both lifts in the video below.
We’ve also seen Kitts clean 220 kilograms, and he’s jerked a whopping 237 kilograms (522.5lb) from the rack, one of the heaviest we’ve ever seen from an American.
Kitts’ new American record is hugely impressive, and given what we’ve seen of his training, we think the best is yet to come.
Featured image via @usa_weightlifting on Instagram.