Wes Kitts Jerks 500 Pounds. How Many Americans Can Do That?

American weightlifting has another 500 pound jerker, and his name is Wes Kitts. And before you call out the lift on a technicality: Yes, we know it’s from the back rack, and yes, it’s still impressive.

Also, if you know of any other active American weightlifters who can hit a 500 pound jerk, we want to know.

I’ve been thinking about jerking this weight since I attempted it last week. Haven’t been pushing intensity on jerks from the blocks in a few months and it’s safe to say I’ve gotten much stronger since I’ve come out to California. As of last Tuesday my best for this movement was 215kg and today I hit a huge benchmark of 227kg (500#)! I remember back squatting this for the first time and being excited so needless to say the celebration game may be a bit excessive haha! The whole day I’ve been thinking about this lift and looking forward to the attempt. Came into the gym focused on one thing and accomplished it. Small accomplishments turn into big things and I’m eagerly awaiting the transition! @cal_strength @thebarbellwod @schieksportsinc @athleteps @caffeineandkilos

A video posted by Wes Kitts (@weskitts22) on Apr 13, 2016 at 12:12am PDT

To our (definitely not unlimited) knowledge, this lift makes Kitts the third American weightlifter — currently active in competition — to jerk at or over 227 kilos/500 pounds. The other two that we know of:

• Caine Wilkes
• Cameron Swart

Both Wilkes and Swart are superheavyweights, making Kitts the lightest American (again, that we know of) to currently jerk 500+ pounds. Here’s Caine hitting a 230 kilo clean & jerk at US Nationals in 2015:

And here’s Cam Swart hitting a 227 kilo jerk out of the rack (though we’ve heard he’s gone as heavy as 237 kilograms):

You want me to show you some #nextlevelshit 227kg 500lb jerk. #1stphorm #1stphormathletesearch #changetheworld #neversettle #legionofboom #olympiclifting #heart #dedication @americanbarbell #training #nevergiveup #nike #iam1stphorm #1stphorm4life @nikeweightlifting @niketraining

A video posted by Cameron Swart (@swartlifting) on Apr 13, 2015 at 7:37pm PDT

Now onto the big question: Who did we miss? Is there another active American weightlifter who’s jerked 500 pounds in recent memory?

Donny Shankle hit 227 and 237 jerks from the back rack back in 2011 — embedded below, also lifted at California Strength — but we haven’t seen anything from him in the last three years approaching those numbers. Shankle is/was also a 105 kg lifter.

If you know of anyone we missed, please let us know in the comments below or email video to info@barbend.com. This is one case where we think we’ve included everyone, though we sorta hope we’re wrong.