The 2019 World Weightlifting Championship was held in Pattaya, Thailand from September 18th to the 27th. This event is the second most important and significant weightlifting competition right behind the Olympics, and for this reason 588 of the world's best athletes from 97 different countries were there to prove themselves, leading to many new world records set. Some weight classes, such as the Men's 55kg, 61kg, 73kg, and +109kg as well as the Women's 64kg, 87kg, and +87kg weight classes were completely dominated by one lifter, unlike the other classes which were quite close in lift totals among the top athletes of the class. China, as always, completely dominated in most weight classes and walked away from the competition with 29 gold medals, leaving the second place country North Korea, with only 7 medals in comparison.

A few of the most outstanding men’s athletes were Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia among the heavier lifters, Shi Zhiyong of China among the mid weight lifters, and Om Yun-chol of North Korea among the lighter lifters. Talakhadze was able to out total the second place lifter, Gor Minasyan of Armenia, by an entire 24 kilograms with a total of 484 kilograms in the heavyweight class. His snatch, clean and jerk, and total were all world records, earning Talakhadze three gold medals for the competition. On a side note, he also won male lifter of the year for 2019, most likely due to the fact that his snatch is the heaviest snatch done in the history of weightlifting, and his clean and jerk close to. Zhiyong finished Worlds with a total of 363 kg at 73kg body weight, earning a gold medal in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total. He out totaled the second place competitor, O Kang-chol of North Korea, by an entire 16 kilograms and set a world record for the clean and jerk and total in his class. Finally, for the lighter of the lifters, Yun-chol had a world record total of 294 kilograms in the 55 kg class. The largest total difference in the entire competition was between Yun-chol and the second place lifter, Igor Son of Kazakhstan, with a difference of 28 kilograms in their totals! These three lifters are sure to amaze the crowd yet again this summer during the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

The most outstanding of the female lifters were Li Wenwen of China for the heavier lifters, Katherine Nye of United States for the mid weight lifters, and Liao Qiuyun of China for the lighter lifters. Wenwen won all three gold medals for the heavyweight class as well as setting world records in the clean and jerk and total. She also destroyed the second place lifter’s total by 14 kilograms, with a total of 332 kilograms. Nye, just like Wenwen, won all three medals for her class, however she unfortunately was not able to make any world record lifts. Something interesting about Nye though is that she won female lifter of the year, which can be attributed to her quick rise as a world champion weightlifter. On a side note, the other American lifter in Nye’s weight class, Mattie Rogers, helped Nye in completely dominating the 71 kilogram weight class by winning two of the silver medals and one bronze medal. Finally, for the lighter of the lifters, Qiuyun, walked away with 2 golds and silver, and even set two world records.

This year in the 2020 Summer Olympics, the lifters featured in the previous paragraphs are sure to steal the show with some amazing lifts. Many are predicting that Lasha Talakhadze will pull off a 500 kilogram total in the Olympics, however I myself find this to be unlikely since his current world record total is at 484 kilograms. One can reasonably assume that he might pull off a 490 kilogram total however. In regards to Shi Zhiyong, fans of his are hoping that he will hit a massive 200 kilogram clean and jerk, beating his own world record of 197 kilograms. There is a possibility that Om Yun-chol could hit a new 300 kilogram world record total, since that would be only six kilos above his current world record total. In the Olympics, unfortunately for Yun-chol, the 55 kilogram weight class will not be included in the competition, so if he wishes to compete he will have to bulk up to the 61 kilogram weight class, which is likely. Li Wenwen is sure to dominate her class again considering the huge total gap between herself and the second place lifter during 2019 Worlds. She set world records in that competition, and it is possible that she may try to beat her own lifts. Since Wenwen did not set a new clean and jerk world record during Worlds, she may try to accomplish that during the Olympics.. Kate Nye will be moving up to the 76 kilogram class since the 71 kilogram class will not be included in the 2020 Olympics. Kate Nye definitely has a good amount of room for improvement, so the likelihood of seeing her win gold medals and set world records is high. However since she will be five kilos heavier, it's hard to say how much she will be able to lift just yet. One can safely assume Liao Qiuyun will win all gold medals in her class since the only person to beat her in the snatch likely will not be competing either at all or in Qiuyun’s weight class during the Olympics. Besides her fellow Chinese teammate, the next lifter is not too close at all to Qiuyun’s lifts.

In conclusion, I believe the 2020 Olympics will be one of the greatest of all time for Weightlifting due to weightlifting’s increasing prevalence in the world and all of the near superhuman lifters that will be competing this year. In addition, there are many lifters I did not mention who will surely make just as amazing lifts as those mentioned previously.