This is a sequence of Kim Seon-jong KOR 94kg. This 168kg snatch was a miss. In frame 7 it appears the bar is a little too far forward. Did his hips in frame 5 knock it forward or maybe the bar just wasn’t moving with sufficient acceleration(the bar didn’t reach max ht with enough speed). Frame 6 is interesting, see the enlargement below.

A good exhalation through pursed lips.

Teammate Kim Min-jae KOR 94kg(photo above); is superior in the snatch, he pulls with a less upright back position than Seon-jong.

Top 4 finshers 94kg 2009 Worlds
1 SEDOV Vladimir         185     217       402
2 PASHAYEV Nizami    77    210       387
3 KIM Min-Jae           178    206      384
4 KIM Seon-Jong       165   218       383

Both KIREEV Rinat 85kg and DEMANOV Andrey 94kg trained together. Although they are different heights and body weights they show identical finishes to phase four “The final acceleration”. This was the heaviest training snatch I ever saw them take. In competition Rinat did 170kg and Andrey 178kg. It was somewhat of a rarity to actually see them in the training hall,at past worlds the Russians have tended to fly in separately in groups a day or so before they lift and fly out. I had a chance to see these guys daily from about 5 days out. It was approximately the classic Russian taper as far as I saw. Their approach was fairly conservative compared to the “beat it to death” approach of TUR and EGY or the bizarre exercise selection of CHN in training. I say with tongue in cheek,  that if all lifters from these three teams didn’t train for the entire week they would fair better than they did in the competition.  I found the following Olympic qualification data interesting. (see below) . Russia is in #1 spot for women and #2 for men. However it is probably fairly meaningless in predicting where the medals will go in London. Its always interesting guessing which lifters will make the Russian team. On the mens side it will be categories 85kg to 105kg. If I had to guess; 2 in the 85kg, 2 in the 94kg and 2 in the 105kg. They have a number of choices in each category.

WOMEN

 
MEN

Two Russian weightlifters won the lifters of the year 2011 voting on the IWF site; Akkaev (male) and Tsarukaeva (female).

Lukanin lifts 192.5kg at 2003 World Championship, Vancouver,Canada

Russian classification

has fairly atypical jump forward of maybe 8-10″.

AKKAEV Khadzhimurat RUS 105kg 2011 world champion

I’ve attempted to show just how far forward he jumps (photo below). Jump I feel is the correct word, he does not jump to get height and does not jump to get a full extension as in the traditional vertical jump. In photo #5 (above) and onwards he is probably not trying to get any more height by triple extending, his main task is now in quickly changing directions from up to forcefully pulling/shrugging himself under the bar. It is a flat footed jump minimizing air time. Indeed, the traditional pulls done in the 1970′s with full body extension and on the toes is technically wrong. Doing pulls in this manner is reinforcing bad technique. The rearrangement of the feet is done quickly.

AKKAEV Khadzhimurat RUS 105kg amount of forward foot movement

Lu Yong CHN at 2011 world weightlifting championships(training hall)

The above chart showed remarkable accuracy in predicting snatch and CJ relationship vs total achieved at the Canadian championship by a lifter from our club. The lifter totalled 281 kg with sn 125kg and CJ of 156kg(predictions from formula were 124.8kg and 156.2 kg). In training the lifter did 165kg jerk from rack( 4kg more than formula). Although heavy singles in squats were not practiced, I would guess his best fr sq would be a few kg more and a few kg less in the b squat than predicted from the formula. I feel the fr squat number calculated from the formula is on the low side, the b sq number calculated is about right. I feel b squats in general should be done with correct position and speed as opposed to strict numbers. A grinding b squat done to parallel  with a stooped over back position has NO relationship to any olympic lift. No Bench presses were done but 40% seems a very low number(even for a lifter who has NEVER included them in training). I have never programed them in to any schedule. The p sn and p clean numbers also seem a tad light. However I personally don’t see the value in the p sn and p cl numbers as the technique dynamics(rhythm /timing) CAN BE very different from the full lifts.(ie. feet jumping out wider than normal in the catch, body not dropping under correctly, done slowly,ect). There can be a tendency with power sn and cleans  to pull longer and HIGHER and get into more extension than is required, reenforcing bad technique. Clean pulls were not typically done as heavy as 175kg,  but the lifter could easily pull 175kg with speed to over waist height. Clean and snatch pulls were typically in 90% range of the projected competition target, with snatch pulls deviating a tad higher on average.

The above chart (Romanian) is somewhat different than others in that it is based on the biathlon total rather than either the snatch or CJ PR’s. Great caution should be taken in extrapolating assistance lift numbers(pulls and squats) into theoretical competition lifts. This article will continue from a Soviet perspective at a later date…..

Lu Xiaojun CHN 77kg twenty frame sequence CJ

An easy opener with 200kg for the dynamic explosive Chinese lifter Lu Xiaojun. He would be a favorite to win gold in London. However the depth chart in China is constantly changing and fresh new faces appear quickly.

• KIM Min-Jae KOR (187 kg attempt) 7th place in total
• SEDOV Vladimir KAZ 6th place in total
• MOHAMMADPOURKARKARAGH Saeid IRI 3rd place in total

Actually Sedov lifted in 105kg category but weighed 94.65kg in the competition. He is the 2009 World champion at 94kg.
The positions are reasonably consistent in the key positions considering the lifters may have different body hts and limb lengths.

after clicking on the thumbnail, hovering the mouse over the right or left edge of the photo will give you the forward and back button

His clean technique is very efficient IMO. Standing up from his clean with 211kg at the 2011 worlds was ridiculously easy, ie. very fast. Still my guess is that he isn’t the biggest squatter at 77kg. Precision of body position throughout the squatting motion and speed strength probably take priority in most of his squatting sessions.

The 2008 Olympic champion didn’t disappoint at the 2011 world championship, by again trying a new WR 211kg CJ. He has been hampered by injuries throughout his career.This four year Olympic cycle has been similar, he sat out the 2010 worlds due to injury. This is a familiar story with most the 2008 gold medalists at Beijing.

I watched Dajin Su 77kg at the 2009 worlds do these 210kg snatch pulls for reps and many, many sets. You have to marvel at the strength and work capacity of Su. Whether it makes sense to use 127 % of the weight you lifted in the competition (165kg), might be questioned.  Even if 127 % weights are used regularly in training in this exercise one might question the utility of doing them 5-6  days before the competition. In my opinion this type of training just days before they lift hinders rather than improves performance. Would a world class sprinter be doing parachute sprints days before the main event? The other question is “do the Chinese succeed because of what they do, or despite of what they do?”

Another view of Su doing snatch pulls with 210kg at Goyang City in the Jang Mi-ran Gym (the main training hall for the 2009 worlds had not yet opened).

LU Xiaojun CHN 77kg does snatch pulls in the 2011 world weightlifting championship training hall

Lu’s low body fat offers him an advantage over his competitors.