Here is a Blast from the Past …
Lu Xiaojun winning the 69kg category at the 2004 Junior World Championships in Minsk, Belarus.
Snatch: 142.5, 147.5, 152.5
Clean & Jerk: 175, 175, 180
After this he didn’t compete iternationally for another four years until he made his comeback debut in the 77kg at the 2008 Asian Championships.
Why the long pause after Jr. Worlds? From his Interview:
In 2004 alone he was able to get two first-place titles, one in the World Junior Championships men’s 69 kg class champion the other in the “China-Japan-Korea” weightlifting tournament where he won the 69 kg title.
However, long periods of heavy, intense weight training resulted in his body beginning to warn him.
Lu: “Yes, by the end of 2006 my body hurt, shoulder and legs both hurt because of a ligament injury. After the ligament injury I could not move, it hurt to move it slightly.”
After many treatments with no effect, in desperation, he chose to leave the national team.
Lu: “I could not sleep the night before I would leave the national team and my heart was very painful, you know, it’s that some of my goals and dreams would not be realized. Like “bam” my dreams shattered and my future finished, then my mind went blank. It seems I never dared to think about my future life goals and dreams, this is real pain!”
So Lu Xiaojun with injuries and pain decided to leave the national team and returned to his hometown in Hubei Qianjiang to recuperate.
Lu Xiaojun returned to the national team in 2008 and opened his brilliant life journey.
<- was hoping for split jerks.
Today Lu snatches that c&j.
And looks a bit more buff too. 🙂