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It took Ruslan Nurudinov ten years of weightlifting to add three kilos to his clean & jerk. At his age, that’s about all you can expect—about one good chance per year to put up a big total. In Manama at the ‘24 World Champs, Ruslan used it to hit the lift of the year.
- Nurudinov’s 242KG clean & jerk was a world record at 109. It was also the weight that Ilya Ilyin cast overhead a decade earlier to defeat Ruslan in, probably, the sport’s most iconic heavyweight showdown ever.
“I told my federation I could do this,” Ruslan said in Førde, referring to Worlds ‘25, “or the Islamic Games. Not both.”
The Uzbek contingent is dominant in the region, and at the Games, Ruslan would’ve easily gotten silver. But it’s hard to argue with an athlete who has put his country on international podiums since 2009.
Ruslan is one of a very, very small handful of internationally competitive weightlifters—think Kianoush Rostami, or Eko Yuli Irawan—from a bygone era of the sport.
Pre-COVID; pre-McLaren report.
Why is he still going? Because, for now, he still can.
Weightlifting House x Ruslan Nurudinov
Below is our interview with 2016 Olympic Champion Ruslan Nurudinov. We talked about his long and illustrious weightlifting career, how he's mentoring the world's next great heavyweight athlete, and whether he's got more records left in the tank.
Portions of this interview have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Weightlifting House (WH): You have a personal nutritionist. Should more weightlifters think about getting one?
Ruslan Nurudinov (RN): "Of course, it definitely helps! In today's reality, it's impossible to do without.
As for my teammates, I'm not sure if they work with a nutritionist on a regular basis, but before competitions, our federation will hire both a nutritionist and dietitian to help with preparation."
WH: What's the biggest change in how international events are run between now and when you started?
RN: "For the athletes, nothing has really changed, except that they've started judging press-outs more strictly."
WH: What's your favorite international training hall of all time?
RN: "I have three, all from the World Championships."
- 2014 Almaty, Kazakhstan
- 2023 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 2024 Manama, Bahrain
WH: What have you and Akbar learned from each other over the years?
RN: "That's a tough question! I wouldn't say he's learned anything from me, openly at least. Considering how reserved he is, it's hard to teach him anything—because that requires a dialogue, and when you don't get a response, you can't tell what stays with him, and what leaves his mind in an instant.
As for me, I've learned you should only teach those who truly want to learn."
WH: What's the ideal number of competitions per year at this stage of your weightlifting career?
RN: "It all depends on the timing. I need three to five months to recover, so I think I could handle three competitions per year—but only on the condition that, at two of them, I wouldn't be at 100%!
Of course, the optimal setup is two competitions, where you choose one and give your maximum effort there."
WH: What's the biggest change to how you approach weightlifting after 30?
RN: "Ha! Well, I don't make the changes. My age does it for me. The only thing I've done right was realizing it in time, and reducing both the intensity and volume of my training.
Nowadays, if I'm not training, I'm recovering (and undergoing therapy treatments). When I was 20 or 25 years old, I did up to fourteen training sessions a week. Now, no more than five."
WH: How have your motivations changed over the years?
RN: "When I was 20, I didn't even know what 'motivation' meant. I think that kind of thing has only become mainstream in the last few years.
I just enjoy what I do. I love my work. Yes, there are days when you want to give up, when you can't even lift your arms, but that passes, doesn't it?
If you truly love what you do and see real results from it—whether in kilograms or in health—I think that's enough to make you get up every morning and go train!"
WH: Do you think you can set more world records?
RN: "In 2024, I realized that all my fears are just fears. If Allah wills it, then even at 35, I can keep rising higher."
