Chapter 397: Grand Slam in Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Judo

Chapter 397: Grand Slam of Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Judo

"What's going on? Why isn't he lifting?"

"Is the competition over?"

When the announcement came over the loudspeaker that the 109+ snatch event had ended and the clean and jerk would begin after an hour's rest, there was some commotion and jeering from the audience.

"Sure enough, he's a player who changes styles abruptly. Just a moment ago I was thinking of offering him my knees, and now I want to smash my keyboard in his face!"

"A guy who switches between heartthrob and psycho mode at will!"

"What the hell, 233!"

"A perfectly good iron-tower man, and he just won't lift!"

"You can not lift, but laughing 233 while not lifting is a bit much, hahaha!"

"What do you know? This is called strategy!"

"Strategy my ass! He's already got absolute strength dominance, what kind of strategy does he need?"

In weightlifting snatch competitions, it's common to see athletes abandon lifts to conserve energy and avoid injury, so they can compete in the clean and jerk in better shape. By that logic, Meng Fan abandoning a lift is perfectly normal, but when it comes to him, it's hard to explain—who knows what weird quirks he has?

With this stunt, even the shock of lifting 218 kilograms was diminished. Can't we just enjoy the atmosphere for a bit, damn it!

Zhang Wei and the others were holding back laughter, not daring to tease Meng Fan about "not lifting" in front of Wu Tong. Wu Tong, for her part, showed no embarrassment, only pride and admiration.

"Why hasn't it started yet?"

"An hour is so long!"

Next, not only the regular audience found this hour unbearable, but also the coaches, athletes, and officials present. It felt like the longest hour in history.

Still, no matter how hard it was to endure, everyone seemed to reach an unspoken agreement, including the officials: no one went to the rest room to disturb Meng Fan, nor did anyone ask Dean Zhan about Meng Fan's upcoming clean and jerk performance.

Everyone just waited!

If the outcome were spoiled in advance, it would lose some of its thrill.

Finally, the clean and jerk competition began.

The coaches of each athlete started reporting their opening weights. When the arbitration panel saw the opening weight submitted by Dean Zhan for Meng Fan, although it wasn't as shocking as the snatch earlier, it was still astonishing.

251 KG!

When the opening weight for Meng Fan appeared on the display screen, everyone present widened their eyes.

For the average audience, it was because Meng Fan's weight was far ahead of the other athletes. Among them, Ai Yunan from the Beijing team had the highest opening weight at just 225 kilograms—Ai Yunan's personal best was 240 kilograms.

For industry insiders, of course, they knew what this number meant: it was a national record-breaking performance.

The national record for the heaviest weight class in men's weightlifting was 250 kilograms, set by Han Wenliang at the 2003 National Championships. That record was seventeen years old, and honestly, it was still a respectable result in today's weightlifting world. Of course, internationally, this domestic record was not recognized and would not be included in any official data.

Additionally, the total score record was 453 kilograms.

If Meng Fan lifted this opening weight, he would not only break the clean and jerk record but also rewrite the total score record with a combined 468 kilograms!

"He's coming in strong!"

"If he succeeds in this lift, it will truly rewrite the history of China's men's heavyweight weightlifting!"

"Hey, wait! Shouldn't he first report a tie-breaking weight and then adjust?"

"Strategy? Can we ever figure out Old Zhan's strategy? I'm still reeling from that 233 and then the abandoned lift earlier!"

"Coach Lin, I feel like that 233 trick might not be Coach Zhan's idea."

"If it's not his, then whose is it?"

"Coach Lin, you might not know what 233 means. I suspect Coach Zhan doesn't either."

"Oh, come on! 233 just means 'hahaha,' don't think I don't go online! Hmm, but Old Zhan might really not know, since he's not as trendy as me, 2333333!"

"...Oh."

The rest of the competition was no different from the snatch. The first six athletes took turns, all completing three attempts, but their weights didn't even reach Ai Yunan's opening weight of 225 kilograms.

Ai Yunan also went all out. After successfully lifting 225 on his first attempt, he went for his personal best of 240 on the second. On the third, he really gave it his all, reporting 245 kilograms. But this time, it was a pity—he lifted it, but his elbow was clearly bent, resulting in three red lights and an invalid attempt.

Then it was finally Meng Fan's turn. He didn't change the weight, bowed, stepped onto the platform, opened the lift, pulled, turned, pressed—success!

This lift broke the national records for both the clean and jerk and the total score.

After a two-minute rest, the weight for his second attempt appeared on the screen before the call: 257 KG!

This was the weight that tied the world record in the snatch. If he lifted it, he would also break the world record for total score.

"Success!"

When the buzzer sounded, the entire venue erupted.

Amid the uproar, Meng Fan's third-attempt weight quickly appeared on the screen: 258 KG!

"Looking at this weight, he's going for it!"

Indeed, this time Meng Fan and Dean Zhan didn't play any weird tricks. The clean and jerk was relatively Meng Fan's weaker event. In the snatch, he could handle any style, but his stability in the clean and jerk still fluctuated. So, the two decided to make the most of every lift in this competition, not wasting any opportunities.

Of course, the drive to break the world record was also a factor.

Meng Fan stepped onto the platform, took a long breath, and then lifted!

The lift itself wasn't too difficult; it looked relatively easy. But Dean Zhan still frowned. He could see some instability in Meng Fan's technique. Although the judges still gave three white lights to indicate a valid attempt, Dean Zhan knew that if this were an international competition, and the judges—especially the head judge—were strict, Meng Fan's movement could have warranted a red light.

Despite his joy, Dean Zhan muttered, "Still need to strengthen the technique training!"

The people around him rolled their eyes. Old Zhan, don't show off like that!

Meng Fan dropped the barbell, bowed, and stepped down. This time, the entire audience stood up, applauding and cheering wildly. Everyone knew this was Meng Fan's final lift of the competition.

And this time, the familiar coaches and officials gathered around, all offering congratulations to Meng Fan and pounding on Dean Zhan—those were real thuds.

"Well done!"

Two leaders from the Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Judo Center also came, giving Meng Fan a thumbs-up.

After Dean Zhan introduced them, Meng Fan learned their identities and greeted them.

"Xiao Meng, whether it's training, competition, or daily life, if you need anything, just tell us. Our Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Judo Center never treats heroes poorly."

Leader Zhou, in front of so many people, elevated Meng Fan to the level of a hero, giving him very high praise.

Although Meng Fan shook his head and said everything was fine, Leader Zhou still waved his hand and assigned Meng Fan the best nutritionist, technical consultant, technical analyst, and other support staff, specifically to follow him to Hangzhou for training.

This was a reward for Meng Fan and also an incentive for other teams present.

"Ding!"

When the announcement declared that Meng Fan had won the 109+ championship at this selection competition with a snatch of 218 KG, a clean and jerk of 258 KG, and a total score of 476 KG, a prompt sound appeared in Meng Fan's mind, determining that he had earned 2 championship honor points.

Since this was an Olympic selection competition, only one event's result counted, so Meng Fan naturally could only get one chance for the determination. If it were a weightlifting competition with three events, he might have had three chances.

At this point, Meng Fan had 22 championship honor points.

Naturally, a simple award ceremony followed, with the two leaders from the Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Judo Center presenting the medals.

This Olympic selection competition had no live broadcast or streaming, but event coverage was certainly inevitable. And with Meng Fan breaking three national and world records in one go, not reporting it was impossible.

The latest to track the event was, of course, CCTV-5, and the CCTV Sports News official microblog immediately released the news, along with a highlight video of Meng Fan's competition.

Before this, some live audience members had already posted on Weibo and WeChat Moments, especially regarding the earlier snatch—some netizens already knew, while most who knew Meng Fan was competing in weightlifting were waiting for the official announcement from CCTV Sports News' official microblog.

Seeing the posts and videos, confirming that Meng Fan had indeed achieved results in weightlifting, and astonishing results at that, netizens could only express their feelings with a single exclamation: "Holy shit!"

Though everyone thought Meng Fan was definitely awesome, before the official announcement, it was just speculation. Now that the official release confirmed their speculation was correct, that "holy shit" was not only a thumbs-up for Meng Fan's awesomeness but also a pat on their own backs for being right.

Unstoppable in wrestling and judo, and now pulling off a world-record-breaking feat in weightlifting—for the onlooking crowd, it was nothing short of a spectacle.

Not only did they watch the videos and even seek out the full competition, but more than that, they looked at analyses from all sorts of characters, some specifically dissecting Meng Fan's weightlifting strength, others hyping up his dominance across three major sports. Meng Fan showed everyone what it means to achieve an unheard-of grand slam in weightlifting, wrestling, and judo!

Most netizens actually didn't know how impressive Meng Fan's feat was, but after a barrage of educational posts, they all got it, naturally adding a few more "holy shits" for Meng Fan.

This day was March 3rd. For *The Croods II*, set to release on the 5th, it was naturally a chance to grab some attention. They once again promoted the news that Meng Fan would be doing the Mandarin voice dubbing for the film, this time even revealing that Meng Fan would voice both the male lead and the "big villain"—the two most important roles. The tagline was simple: "The only one who can defeat Meng Fan is Meng Fan!"

As for this selection tournament, domestic buzz was inevitable, and the related competition videos also spread to foreign weightlifting teams, especially those with advantages in the heavier weight classes.

That day, Iran, Georgia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan were holding a joint exchange on weightlifting, wrestling, and judo. Upon hearing the news, a group of coaches gathered for a seminar. These four countries all had medal-contending strength in the heavier weight classes.

After watching the video, the coaches all wore expressions that were hard to read.

"China's heavy weight class breaking a world record? Are you sure this isn't a joke?"

"This is a result that will never be recognized by the International Weightlifting Federation. It might even be fake."

"China's heavy weight class has always performed decently domestically but falls flat internationally. Just like their previous national record holder, who never achieved anything in international competitions. So this result is just their own mental stimulant. Honestly, don't take it seriously—just treat it as a joke."

"But... he's Meng Fan! The top wrestlers and judokas from all four of our countries have been easily defeated by him!"

"Can wrestling and judo be compared to weightlifting?"

"...During the judo Masters before, someone seemed to say the same thing about wrestling and judo. And yet..."

(End of this chapter)