Ruslan Nurudinov brought the crowd to their feet at the IWF World Championships in Bahrain when he became one of the oldest weightlifters ever to break a world record. Now Nurudinov, 33, is reconsidering his decision to retire from the sport.
The Uzbekistan hero, Olympic champion at 105kg in 2016, won the 109kg contest by 20kg after bettering his own clean and jerk record.
Nurudinov, an Olympic champion for Uzbekistan in 2016, had already won with two attempts to spare. He lifted 230kg to warm up for the big one, 242kg to better his own clean and jerk world record set three and a half years ago.
“I’ve done 240 but I’ve never made 242 in training since then,” said Nurudinov, who has a big decision to make.
At his last competition in February, Nurudinov declined his final attempt after struggling to 382kg to win his fifth Asian title in his home country. He was flat out with ice packs on his back before the medal ceremony.
“That was painful, my body has had enough,” he said at the time, vowing to retire in Bahrain. “I’m 32, I have a back injury and I’m feeling my age. I will continue until the World Championships and try to finish with a medal.”
He did more than that. Nurudinov improved that February total by 42kg on 182-242-424, then stayed on the platform for a while to celebrate while the spectators roared their approval.
Lu Xiaojun set a world record aged 35 this century. Vasiliy Alekseyev did it at 35 in the 1970s, and the American Norbert Schemansky at 37 in the 1960s. Might Nurudinov stay around a while longer and try to match them?
“I really don’t know, I can’t say now but it’s possible I will continue,” he said. “My preparation for this competition was the best for three years. No injuries, very good training.”
