Van Ulft becomes the youngest person to wash & jerk double their body weight in competition.
In some ways, Canadian athlete Rory van Ulft could be one in all the strongest competitors for her age that weightlifting and powerlifting have seen in a while. At just 9 years old, van Ulft has developed a status, particularly along with her deadlift, for having impeccable pulling power and an “iron will” with a barbell in her hands (literally and figuratively). The athlete’s latest official addition to her weightlifting rap sheet, featuring a noteworthy overhead lift, could be one other entry within the growing lore of her budding profession.
On Jan. 21, 2023, van Ulft captured a 66-kilogram (145.5-pound) clean & jerk in the course of the 2023 Variety Village Open in Toronto, Canada. In keeping with the caption in a video of the feat from van Ulft’s Instagram, facilitated by a parent/manager, van Ulft had a body weight of 32.8 kilograms (72.4 kilos) on contest day. In turn, that makes van Ulft the youngest person ever, no matter gender, to successfully finish a clean & jerk that was double their body weight during a sanctioned competition. To not be outdone, a final total of 254.39 Sinclair — the International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) primary tool for contextualizing an athlete’s strength by weight class — van Ulft officially notched the all time performance by a 40-kilogram female competitor.
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A mind-bending achievement for somebody of her young age aside, van Ulft’s clean & jerk wasn’t her only major accomplishment from the Toronto contest. Per the identical Instagram caption, the athlete broke six Canadian provincial 15U and 17U records on previous lifts in the course of the competition. The ultimate double-body weight clean & jerk appeared to act more like gravy layered over an already prolific day for the youthful elite competitor.
The parent/manager of van Ulft’s Instagram credited a number of people for training van Ulft to enjoy such a productive day while concurrently making history. They included the athlete’s coach, Spencer Moorman, who will be seen within the background of the clip of van Ulft’s milestone encouraging the lifter. Others receiving praise included trainers like “Cierra” (last name undisclosed) and the CANAM Strength and Conditioning team from van Ulft’s native Ottawa, Canada. The Ontario Weightlifting Association (ONWA) also earned a shoutout.
“An unlimited thanks to Coach [Moorman] (who deserves to win Coach of the Yr in at the very least one country for this!), [Cierra], and your complete [CANAM Strength and Conditioning] team for his or her incredible support at this event, in addition to to the [Ontario Weightlifting Association] for putting on such a fun and welcoming event!”
For context on an American scale regarding van Ulft’s latest achievements and results, the athlete’s 66-kilogram (145.5-pound) clean & jerk is eight kilograms (17.6 kilos) greater than the USA Weighlifting (USAW) Youth Women’s record for the 40-kilogram weight class. Kendra Hoover holds the mark with a clean & jerk of 58 kilograms (127.8 kilos). Nevertheless, Hoover notched her lift when she was 12, roughly three years older than van Ulft.
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The yr 2023 has only just begun, and van Ulft is already acting as a lifting pioneer for her age group and beyond. If that is how the athlete starts a fresh latest calendar, time will only tell as to what other sparkling heights she might achieve through the following 11 months.
Featured image: @roryvanulft on Instagram