London – 94kg Battle?

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I took notice of how 2008 gold medalist Ilya Ilin (94kg) had charisma at the 2011 World Championships. I couldn’t decide if I liked him because he seemed to have a good time, but I could see him acting kind of like a dick towards his opponents. At one point, he hit a lift (I think it was his first or second clean and jerk) and as he was walking off the platform he gestured to an opposing lifter by throwing his palms upward as if to say, “What ya got, SON?!” He then smoked the hell out of a 226kg clean and jerk on his second attempt to win the world championship on body weight (because Artem Ivanov missed a WR 227kg clean and jerk on his third).

The other day I posted a video of Ilya hitting some shit-hot snatches (below), working up to 192.5kg (which I think is 4.5 above the WR). He looked ridiculously solid, but lifters typically do in training. They have the luxury to weigh more than their competition weight, but they are probably in the middle of some kind of drug cycle that inevitably has to be tapered for a competition. Nevertheless, it’s a significant improvement over his 181kg second attempt snatch from the 2011 World Championships.



Kevin P. commented on the video and said that the Ilya vs. Artem Ivanov battle would be a good one. He cited that Ivanov hit 190/230 in a competition recently in the Ukraine. I don’t know if there is video, but that’s a scary improvement over what he did at World’s in 2011. Watch this video and you’ll see his 186kg snatch, which was kind of hard, and his crack at 227 on his third CJ (there was no chance on the jerk, maybe because of the jump). Now watch his second attempt CJ at 221 and you’ll see an unstable jerk. It’s surprising that he can make such a stark improvement. However, maybe the “meet in Ukraine” didn’t drug test, and he’s humming on a cycle? I mean, c’mon, a 406 total to a 420 total?

I’d expect Ilya to improve upon his World Championship total because he missed a 184 snatch on his third, yet he cranked the hell out of his snatches up to 192.5 in the first video (shown above). I’d expect him to go at least 186, maybe 188? I guess it depends on what Ivanov is hitting. However, Ilya’s strength is in the CJ, and his potential wasn’t tapped in the World Championship last year. It’s almost scary how nonchalantly Ilya hits his CJs; this video shows him easily hitting 230 (allegedly in response to Ivanov’s recent 190/230 meet). He’ll go for whatever he needs, and I think he’ll make it. I just don’t think Ivanov is going to have enough to beat Ilya.

If we base it off their performance at last year’s World’s and their potential to improve, Ilya clearly had weight left on the bar and Ivanov was clearly maxing out his potential. If they both have improvements, it would seem that Ilya will still have the edge. If Ivanov can hit similar numbers as his 190/230 meet (he won’t), it will be close, yet I think Ilya would still edge him on CJ after they go toe-to-toe on snatch. If Ivanov wins, it’d be a hell of an upset, but I don’t see it happening. There’s something about Ilya’s attitude about enjoying competition and training that will have me rooting for him when the showdown occurs in London. Can’t wait.

17 thoughts on “London – 94kg Battle?”

  1. What’s the word on Shankle for London? Anyone hear?

    He has to perform exceptionally well at the Pan American Championships soon. It’s a tall order given that Kendrick Ferris improved his total at the Arnold. I’ll try and get some solid information and put up specifics.

    –Justin

    In order to edge out Kendrick for the #1 spot, Donny needs to hit a 388 total. This is an 18kg PR competition total, and he would realistically have to hit a lifetime PR in one lift and a competition PR in the other. Keep in mind, he also has to do this in the third world. It’s possible, but it’s going to take the best day of lifting Donny has ever had.
    -Tsypkin

  3. its pretty cool how well Ilin turns it on and off. He’s all dancing around having a good time, then flicks the switch and is instantly serious about the lift, and then right back to having fun.

    A stark contrast to Klokov’s style definitely, but I think for myself its more relative in that I tend to lift better when I’m having a good time vs. being angry, hyped up, etc.

    I think it’s somewhat of an exhibition of different styles of mental prep, where some “summon the demons” and others seem to just lift. I was joking with my friend Yasha about units of anger when lifting, and he said he lifts “in the negative [units]” that he operates on “100% happiness”. Of course he trolls more often than speaks, but watching him lift in training and at meets, a case could be made for his explanation.

  8. “its pretty cool how well Ilin turns it on and off. He’s all dancing around having a good time, then flicks the switch and is instantly serious about the lift, and then right back to having fun. ”

    Smith, funny thing about our sport is during competition you don’t have 5 minutes to pump yourself up for a big lift. Also, Our mind and body must be relaxed to perform our best in weightlifting.

  10. Notice how illya breathes out on the way up from his clean recovery every time. I recently started doing this, it helps a ton. I notice some lifters hold their breath through the entire clean recovery and don’t breath out until they’ve stood up and adjusted the bar. I used to do this and always got light-headed at the top.

  13. Dont discount Saeid Mohammadpourkarkaragh from Iran.

    The most recent developments are that the Iranian went 182/226 at the Iranian Nationals which is a 6kg improvement from the World’s and would have won the Gold there. Artem Ivanov went 190/230 for unofficial world records in the snatch and total at a Ukrainian meet.

    The World record in the snatch is in play here at just 188kg. Anatoli Ciricu won the Europeans with 178/224, Total 402kg and is a medal chance.

    Ilan, the two Ivanov’s, one from Russia, one from the Ukraine plus the Iranian will make this an epic battle.

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