Olympian weightlifters are consistently some of the world’s strongest athletes. With her latest staggering feat in training, Katherine Nye is no exception. On April 22, 2022, the Team USA weightlifter — who competes in the 76-kilogram weight class — logged a new personal record when she squatted 186 kilograms (410 pounds).
Check out the stellar PR squat below, via Nye’s Instagram profile:
View this post on Instagram
Nye completed the squat while wearing a lifting belt, knee sleeves, and heeled weightlifting shoes. These shoes allowed her to use more of her ankle flexibility and better engage her quads.
In addition, Nye uses a women’s weightlifting bar, which is lighter (15 kilograms) than a traditional barbell (20.4 kilograms). Along those same lines, women’s weightlifting bars have more flexibility. That might explain why Nye’s bar bends and shakes a bit more as she finishes the PR rep.
Given that Olympic weightlifters only focus on the snatch and clean & jerk in competitions, Nye’s squat is an impressive mark. In context, amongst fellow strength sports competitors, Nye’s 186-kilogram squat (410 pounds) compares well. Per Open Powerlifting, her squat would rank as the eighth-heaviest raw squat in history by female powerlifters who compete around the approximate 76-kilogram weight class.
Here’s where Nye’s squat PR stands all time:
Highest Squats — Female Lifters (~76KG)
- Vilma Olsson (Sweden) — 209.9 kilograms (462.9 pounds)
- Rachel Torres (United States) — 199.9 kilograms (440.9 pounds)
- Amelia Mauritzon (Sweden) — 197.5 kilograms (435.4 pounds)
- Jackie Garzez (United States) — 192.5 kilograms (424.4 pounds)
- Agata Sitko (Poland) — 192.5 kilograms (424.4 pounds)
- Kristen Dunsmore (United States) — 187.4 kilograms (413.3 pounds)
- Alice Francis-Freeman (Scotland) — 187.4 kilograms (413.3 pounds)
- Katherine Nye (United States) — 186 kilograms (410 pounds)
- Jessica Buettner (Canada) — 184.9 kilograms (407.8 pounds)
Nye at a Glance
At only 23-years-old, Nye has built up quite the resume for an Olympic weightlifter. She last competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she captured a silver medal for Team USA. It was her first Olympic medal in her first career Olympic Games.
Since her debut in 2016, across the Youth, Junior, and Senior divisions, Nye has made a name for herself as one of the top names in Olympic weightlifting. She’s done so well, Nye even appeared in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2019.
Here are the best results on the snatch and clean & jerk from Nye’s career:
Katherine Nye — Best Olympic Lifts
- Snatch — 112 kilograms (246.9 pounds) | 2019 World Weightlifting Championships
- Clean & Jerk — 138 kilograms (304.2 pounds) | 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Nye has built up quite a baseline of finishes throughout her career. According to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), she has qualified for the podium in nine of 10 IWF events.
Here’s a tally of Nye’s overall medal tally to date:
Katherine Nye — International Medals
- Gold — 5 (2019 Junior World Championships; 2019 World Championships; 2019/2021 Pan American Championships; 2019 IWF Championships)
- Silver — 3 (2018 Junior World Championships; 2020 Pan American Games; 2020 Tokyo Olympics)
- Bronze — 1 (2019 Pan American Games)
Note: These medal counts are medals awarded in the Total, which is the total sum of the athlete’s top snatch and top clean & jerk.
The Road to Paris
In anticipation of potential drug-related offenses, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) — the organization for the Olympics — has reorganized its categories for Olympic weightlifters. Come the 2024 Paris Olympics, Nye’s 76-kilogram weight class will no longer be a division. Nye has previously stated over Instagram that she plans to compete at 71 kilograms again — her division prior to Tokyo 2020.
Nye will undoubtedly be looking to improve upon her silver medal finish approximately two years from now. She’ll likely have to overcome the Neisi Dajomes — the reigning 76-kilogram Olympic Champion who beat Nye for the gold medal in Tokyo. If Nye’s new all-time powerful squat is any indication, she’s well on her way toward that ambitious goal.
Featured Image: @katherineenye on Instagram
