C.J. Cummings is no ordinary 14-year-old kid. At the recent USA Weightlifting Senior National Championships in Salt Lake City, the 5’2″, 136-lbs. competitor set a new American men’s record in the clean and jerk for the 62 kg class with a 153-kg (337.3-lbs.) lift. Check out the record-breaking clean and jerk below:
Cummings’ ambition matches his prowess thus far in his young career. On his Twitter, he describes himself as an 2016 Olympic weightlifting hopeful. It’s been 32 years since the U.S. won a men’s Olympic weightlifting medal, but this prodigy might change that. After breaking the national record, Cummings tweeted:
The previous record in the weight class, which was a 132.5-kg (292-lb.) clean and jerk, was set in 2002 by LeGrand Sakamaki, who was 25 at the time.The Washington Post made the following video report on Cummings, who lives in Beaufort, SC, with input from his family and training team:
