The 56 kg world record holder Wu Jingbaio just hit a very comfortable looking 130 kg snatch in training, 9 kg less than his best ever snatch of 139 kg from the 2015 World Championships in Houston. This lift was preceded by a staggering 170 kg jerk, 1 kg under his previous weightclass (-56 kg) world record of 171 kg held by North Korea’s Om Yun-chol.
Since the change in weight classes from 2018 we have not seen Wu compete internationally and so we do not yet know his chosen weight class. It seems likely that he will drop the kilo necessary to make the lower 55 kg class rather than gain the 5 kilos needed to make the heavier 61 kg class, a class already populated by several of his Chinese teammates, namely Li Fabin (remember this crazy lift?) and and Qin Fulin who placed 2nd and 3rd at the 2018 World Championships respectively.
So how does this 130 kg snatch and 170 kg jerk fit into the current world level?
Well this effortless 130 kg snatch is just 5 kg under the current world standard of 135 kg and 10 kg over the heaviest snatch hit by his international competitors in the 55 kg class at the 2018 World Championships in Ashgabat. His 170 kg rack jerk is 7 kg more than his competition best of 163 kg from the 2015 World Championships in Houston and is 8 kg above the current 55 kg world record.
Wu JingBIO
Wu Jingbaio is a Chinese -55 kg weightlifter and snatch world record holder in the old -56 kg class with 139 kg. Born on January 10th 1989 Wu’s first senior international medal came at the 2009 World Championships in Goyang where he placed 2nd (131 / 155 / 286 kg). Wu placed 1st at the following two World Championships in 2010 and 2011 with lifts of 132 / 160 / 292 kg and 133 / 159 / 292 kg respectively.
At the 2012 London Olympic Games Wu famously apologized for ‘shaming the motherland’ after placing 2nd behind his longtime nemesis Om Yun-Chol with a 133 / 156 / 289 kg performance. Wu Jingbaio’s last and greatest performance came at the 2015 World Championships in Houston where he set his first and only world record of 139 kg which he followed up with a competition best in the clean and jerk of 163 kg for a personal best 302 kg total.
Wu has also medalled at the Asian Games and the Asian Championships twice at each, taking gold at each in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Wu Jingbaio can be followed on Instagram here.