This one’s for mother Russia

Russia’s Aleksei Lovchev stunned himself and the world this weekend by breaking both the clean as well as the total weight world records at the International Weightlifting Federation’s World Weightlifting Championships in Houston over the weekend.

“I was thinking ‘This is impossible,’ as I had never tried that weight before,” said Lovchev, 26. “I’m overwhelmed.”

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Competing at 105 kg weight class,  Lovchev had never lifted over 257 kg, but upon hearing he needed 264 kg  to beat his childhood idol Iranian Hossein Rezazadeh’s clean & jerk and total world records, which had stood for 11 and 15 years, he knew he had to go for it.  Not only did he try, he did, becoming the world strongest man to the standing ovation of the crowd.

“When I was little I used to watch Rezazadeh on television, lifting enormous weights. He was an example to me and I never imagined I would one day take his records.”

His total weight was comprised of a 264 kg (582.02 pounds) clean and jerk and a 211 kg (465.175 pounds) snatch for a grand total of 475kg (1047.2 pounds). When he was done he dedicated it all to mother Russia, “I’m overwhelmed…this shows that Russia is the strongest nation.”

Check out the full video below: