The Stefan Botev shows continue in the training hall at the 1995 World Weightlifting Championships (Guangzhou, China) and things end with landmark footage and commentary on the Chinese Provincial Team training.
1995 World Weightlifting Championships Training Hall, Part 2 (No. 1323)
Chapter 1 0:00
Stefan Botev (Bulgaria/Australia) in a morning workout that includes an 180-kg power clean for a double, and 240 kg x 2 in the back squat.
Chapter 2 8:13
Pick up Botev’s afternoon workout that same day, as he knocks off 14 sets with 180 kg or more the snatch (8 sets at 190 kg or higher).
Chapter 3 18:49
Continuing on, Botev’s workout has drawn the likes of Aleksey Medvedev to watch, and for good reason: Botev works up to a 250-kg clean and 320-kg back squat.
Chapter 4 26:37
Rare footage of Anatoly Khrapaty (Soviet Union/Kazakhstan) in a light snatch workout, and a little more Stefan Botev, too.
Chapter 5 31:39
Rare footage of Manfred Nerlinger (Germany), who snatches up to 170 kg and does some push presses and jerk complexes from the rack (working up to 220 kg for a triple)
Chapter 6 39:41
Also rare, watch Ronny Weller (Germany) blister snatches up to 180 kg, do some clean pulls and then do the same sort of push press-jerk complex as Nerlinger.
Chapter 7 51:03
Continuing with rare footage, watch Sergey Syrtsov (Soviet Union/Russia) and see another snatching machine in action, although Sergey’s one day out from competition so he’s only loosening up with some light snatches (120 kg) and clean and jerks (140 kg).
Chapter 8 59:22
Back with Ronny Weller now, the next afternoon after the snatch workout, and you can see some of the stretches he used, and then Ronny power snatches up to 160 kg and ends the workout with a very easy 250 kg x 2 in the front squat.
Chapter 9 1:06:26
Kakhi Kakhiashvili (Soviet Union/Greece) and Pavlos Salsidis (Greece) hit the training hall.
Chapter 10 1:25:05
Now we’re up to Friday and with his competition on Sunday, Stefan Botev snatches up to 170 kg, cleans and jerks 190 kg and back squats 230 kg for a triple.
Chapter 11 1:30:05
Extremely rare footage of the Chinese Provincial Team training: Watch young, light guys banging away on big weights, displaying the talent and discipline that produces champions in one highly motivating display after another . . . 50-kg 14-year olds doing things like 90-kg snatches, 115-clean and jerk and jerks and 170-kg back squats. A decade later, Chinese entrepreneurs would begin offering training camps aimed at Western lifters seeking to gain from the Chinese experience in the sport, but in 1995, a behind-the-scenes view like this was rarer than a 210-kg snatch and just as inspiring.