Men’s Records (Unofficially) Fall at Chinese Weightlifting Nationals

After the women’s portion of Chinese Nationals earlier this month — where three World Records were unofficially broken — weightlifting fans were eager to see what the men could do. So far, that hasn’t been a disappointment, and Chinese lifters Lu Xiaojun and Tian Tao have (again, unofficially) broken three records between them.

Lu Xiaojun — who holds the men’s 77 kg world snatch record with 176 kilos and total record with 380 kg — totaled 381 at the competition. When we last say him on the platform, at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships, Lu won the snatch portion only to bomb out on the clean & jerk, missing all three squat jerk attempts. He is the reigning Olympic Champion having won gold in London.

Video of his performance below; Xiaojun declined to take his third snatch attempt after locking up that portion of the competition on his second.

Tian Tao — a young fan favorite who’s been speculated as the heir apparent to the longstanding 85 kg clean & jerk record — made 220 kg, two kilos over the C&J world record for his class. That also have him a 1 kg unofficial total record at 395 kg. Like his countryman Lu Xiaojun, Tao won the snatch portion of the 2015 WWC but bombed out in the clean & jerk portion after missing three squat jerk attempts. The 85 kilo clean & jerk record is the oldest standing record in international weightlifting, set in 1998 by Yong Zhang of China.

Video of Tian Tao’s performance below:

In the 69 kg category, defending Olympic Champion Liao Hui put in a solid performance and won his portion of the competition with a 354 kilogram total.

Record weights lifted in national championships competition do not count toward International Weightlifting Federation world records, so these lifters will need to come up big on the international stage to set new marks.

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