Chapter 428: A Mind-Boggling Feat

Chapter 428: A Staggering Feat

"He's just unreasonable!"

Talahad, still seated on the ground, finally stood up with his coach's help after several failed attempts to coax him, muttering under his breath.

His coach sighed deeply several times.

If Meng Fan had only beaten Talahad by two kilograms in the snatch to take first place and advance to the clean and jerk, the coach would still have had confidence in Talahad. After all, the clean and jerk record also belonged to Talahad, and his performance in that discipline was far more dominant compared to the snatch. In regular competitions, he might surpass the second-place competitor by only 3–5 kilograms in the snatch, but in the clean and jerk, he could often explode with a lead of over 5 kilograms.

In other words, it wasn't impossible for Talahad to beat Meng Fan by 3 kilograms or more in the clean and jerk.

Yet Meng Fan had already blown past Talahad by 12 kilograms in the snatch alone—truly demoralizing!

This was the snatch, for crying out loud!

Anyone who regularly watches weightlifting knows that it's incredibly difficult to create a massive gap in the snatch. The clean and jerk, on the other hand, often produces miracles. In weightlifting competitions, it's not unheard of for someone to stage a comeback in the clean and jerk—even on the very last lift.

For instance, in the 2000 Sydney Olympics men's 77 kg final, Dean Zhan entered the final in fourth place after the snatch. In the clean and jerk, his last attempt was 5 kilograms behind his opponent. The psychological pressure and the weight itself were at their limits. Yet, under those circumstances, Dean Zhan completed a staggering lift and achieved an impossible turnaround. Because of that lift, he became the first athlete in Chinese history to win consecutive Olympic gold medals in weightlifting.

Although a 5-kilogram comeback in the 77 kg Olympic final was something no ordinary human could do—after all, Dean Zhan was a god—it's well known that the larger the weight class, the greater the potential for a comeback. A 5-kilogram reversal in the 109+ kg category wasn't out of the question.

But now, the deficit was 12 kilograms! And it was a 12-kilogram gap from the snatch, not a deficit that emerged after the clean and jerk had already begun. To overcome that would be incredibly difficult.

After all, the largest comeback in international competition history on the final lift was also a 12-kilogram gap!

And most crucially, if Meng Fan had already ventured into the forbidden zone of human limits in the snatch, could his clean and jerk possibly be weak?

To be precise, would Meng Fan's clean and jerk fall 12 kilograms behind Talahad's?

That possibility was even lower than Meng Fan breaking the world record again—far lower!

After a ten-minute rest, when the athletes submitted their opening weights for the clean and jerk, Talahad's coach realized that the possibility of Meng Fan faltering in the clean and jerk no longer existed. Meng Fan's declared opening weight was 258 kilograms!

This was the result Meng Fan had achieved in the domestic trials, and it was also a weight that surpassed the world record!

Currently, the world record for the clean and jerk in the 109+ kg category was 257 kilograms, set by Talahad in 2018. Before the rule changes, Talahad had once lifted 260 kilograms. But even if Talahad succeeded in lifting that weight again in this Olympics—or even more—his chances of winning the gold medal were already slim.

If Meng Fan dared to declare such an opening weight, would he fail to lift it?

That possibility was even lower!

If he lifted it, Talahad would have no hope at all.

Unless Talahad could lift 270 kilograms, there would be no chance of a comeback!

But that weight was also a forbidden zone for humans!

Talahad had absolutely no chance!

No need to even think about it!

As soon as the opening weights were announced, the audience in the stands erupted with excitement. The display screen showed not only the athletes' opening weights and the order of attempts but also the world records.

The Chinese people have always been the best at math in the world. Adding Meng Fan's snatch of 233 kilograms to his opening clean and jerk of 258 kilograms gave a total of 291 kilograms!

That obliterated the current total world record of 474 kilograms!

A direct blowout of 17 kilograms!

As for the foreign audience, they could see at a glance that Meng Fan's opening weight exceeded the clean and jerk world record.

Opening with a record-breaking attempt!

If this had been any other time, even in an Olympic competition, it would have been astonishing.

But today, although it was still terrifying, no one was shocked. After witnessing the snatch, this opening weight didn't surprise them at all. If it had been otherwise, that might have been more surprising.

The subsequent competition was somewhat dull.

Athletes took the stage one by one. By the time the first nine had completed their lifts, the athlete with the third-highest declared weight had just finished his second attempt. Then, after his third attempt, the bronze medal for the event was secured. Yet Talahad and Meng Fan had not even made their first attempts.

Overall, the clean and jerk competition so far had been both boring and lackluster. The ten athletes had poor results, with many failing consecutive attempts. Most had not performed up to their potential, which was more or less influenced by Meng Fan's astonishing snatch that had touched the forbidden zone of human limits.

233!

Every time they thought of that weight, most athletes felt dazed. Although it seemed to have nothing to do with them, it ultimately affected their competitive state.

Talahad was also affected!

His opening weight was 255 kilograms, his best result in international competitions over the past two years (2019–2020, which was actually just one year, as international events became scarce after the start of 2020). This weight was not particularly outstanding for his actual ability; he could have pushed for 260 kilograms. But his first attempt failed—and it failed right after he lifted the barbell off the platform. It wasn't a case of instability after the jerk or issues like bent arms. It simply dropped as soon as he lifted it!

If he hadn't managed to lift it at all, or if he had lifted it but failed due to technical fouls, that would have been normal. Weightlifting competitions are always like that; there are plenty of athletes with strength who underperform on the platform. But dropping it immediately after lifting—even the casual audience could tell that Talahad's state and emotions were affected.

After the first failed attempt, Talahad and his coaching staff did not take the risk of increasing the weight. They kept the same weight for his second attempt.

Increasing it further would have been meaningless.

If Meng Fan could lift his opening weight, no matter how much Talahad increased, it wouldn't matter.

If Meng Fan failed, Talahad only needed a valid result to secure the championship.

At the very least, even if Meng Fan succeeded, Talahad would still have a valid result to guarantee the silver medal.

Had Talahad, accustomed to winning gold, ever looked down on silver?

Not really. At least an Olympic silver medal was something he treasured.

Besides, people always cling to a sliver of hope. If Meng Fan failed all three attempts, a valid result would still be necessary!

"Secure a result!"

Since he started competing, Talahad rarely had to motivate himself like this.

Two minutes later, he took the stage again.

This time, he lifted it.

Although there was slight instability that caused one referee to give a red light, the result was valid!

For his third attempt, Talahad directly declared 259 kilograms, one kilogram more than Meng Fan's current declared weight.

In this situation, it didn't matter what Talahad declared. If Meng Fan lifted his weight, Talahad would lose no matter what he did next. So he might as well declare a higher weight, just to save one attempt for the end and see how Meng Fan handled his lift!

However, Meng Fan did not let him have his way.

After Talahad submitted his third-attempt weight, Meng Fan changed his own to 260 kilograms.

But Talahad wasn't stupid. Since the success or failure of his third attempt was meaningless, he might as well change again!

He still had two opportunities to change his weight, while Meng Fan only had one left. If he couldn't force Meng Fan's hand with this, he wouldn't believe it!

Change!

To 261 kilograms!

Was this out of spite?

In a way, it was also a tactic. If he could force Meng Fan to keep increasing the weight, the difficulty of Meng Fan's lift would increase, and the chance of failure would naturally grow.

Regardless, forcing Meng Fan to make his attempt before Talahad's third lift was something he could still achieve.

Wasn't this just playing dirty?

Bring it on!

Would Meng Fan respond?

Probably not.

It was already clear that Tarahadze had made up his mind to force Meng Fan into the arena, and he was one hundred percent sure of success. Naturally, Meng Fan wouldn’t fight himself—even if he wanted to act recklessly, Dean Zhan wouldn’t allow it.

A safety net.

Dean Zhan also hoped Meng Fan would go up first and secure a safety net, though that safety net directly exceeded the world record by three kilograms.

Meng Fan stepped onto the platform. The barbell on the weightlifting stand had already been loaded to 260 kilograms—it felt like both sides were packed full!

During the domestic trials, Meng Fan had lifted 258 kilograms, and everyone could see that wasn’t his limit. In truth, that lift hadn’t been his limit back then, and for him now, 260 kilograms was still easy. Not to mention the increase in raw strength, the added buff bonuses alone were far stronger than before. Besides, he had learned weightlifting from the God Zhan for so long, and his technique for exerting force was far superior to the old days.

To outsiders, he seemed a bit reckless, but in reality, he was quite conservative.

Meng Fan bowed as he stepped onto the platform, bent over, and struck the barbell with his tiger’s mouth grip. Without any superfluous movements, he cleanly and decisively lifted the barbell off the ground. Then, with a flip, he rested the bar across his chest while simultaneously dropping into a full squat.

The full squat clean—this was the God Zhan’s signature move. Since the God Zhan, many Chinese weightlifters had also adopted this technique. Its hallmark was that after flipping the barbell up, it was slowly pressed upward from the lowest position, demanding immense absolute strength. Its greatest advantage was an exceptionally high success rate.

Meng Fan’s full squat clean had been personally taught by the God Zhan. There was no flaw in the technique, no issue with his absolute strength, and naturally, no problem with the success rate.

What Meng Fan worried about most was the success rate. Due to his lack of competition experience, fouls or other mistakes could easily lead to a nullified lift. But the God Zhan’s squat clean had perfectly resolved this issue.

As Meng Fan slowly rose to his feet, as the barbell was steadily pressed to its highest point, three white lights appeared, signaling a valid lift.

This lift broke the world record in the clean and jerk, shattered the total world record for the 109+ kg category, and also crushed the illusions of those waiting for Meng Fan to fail on all three attempts.

This lift also locked in the Olympic gold for this event—unless Tarahadze, on his third attempt, increased the weight to 273 kilograms and successfully lifted it, only then could he force Meng Fan again.

That was impossible in reality.

After Meng Fan left the platform and declared a second attempt of 262 kilograms, it was Tarahadze’s turn to attempt 261 kilograms. He simply forfeited the lift—lifting it would have been meaningless, and besides, he couldn’t manage it. Increasing the weight further was even more pointless, as Meng Fan still had two attempts and four opportunities to change the weight.

Tarahadze forfeited; Meng Fan won the gold!

By claiming the weightlifting championship, Meng Fan smoothly became an Olympic champion across the three disciplines of weightlifting, wrestling, and judo—the first athlete in Olympic history to achieve such a feat across three events. It was a historic achievement!

“Champion, an undisputed champion!”

“The snatch raised the original world record by 16 kilograms! The clean and jerk increased the world record by 3 kilograms! The total surpassed the original world record by 19 kilograms!”

Commentator Zhou Yingjie’s voice grew impassioned once more, heaping double the praise onto Meng Fan.

The crowd in the arena erupted, and viewers in front of their televisions were equally thrilled.

Yet, the competition wasn’t over!

The display screen showed Meng Fan’s second attempt weight: 267!

Once again, it exceeded the newly set world record by 7 kilograms!

Compared to Meng Fan’s earlier snatch, where he added 10 kilograms in one go, this seemed modest, but those familiar with weightlifting knew exactly what this number signified!

Meng Fan’s snatch was already 233 kilograms. If this second attempt of 267 kilograms succeeded, his total would be 500 kilograms!

The five-hundred mark!

For weightlifting enthusiasts and those in the field, the five-hundred mark was a once-in-a-lifetime milestone!

It was a feat that might never be witnessed in a lifetime!

The previous world record for the 109+ kg category was 474 kilograms. In national-level competitions and above, the highest total ever recorded across all categories was 481 kilograms—a result from a domestic competition, not recognized by the International Weightlifting Federation.

Now, Meng Fan was charging toward the five-hundred mark!

Everyone was electrified, including Dean Zhan, who knew Meng Fan’s strength best, and even Tarahadze, whose psyche had been shattered by Meng Fan.

Today is New Year’s Eve. I’m grateful for your support over the past year, dear readers. Chong2 bows in gratitude! Wishing you all a happy Spring Festival and great fortune in the upcoming Year of the Pig!

(End of chapter)