Talakhadze breaks records to conquer super heavyweight class
TOKYO: Lasha Talakhadze pumped everyone up with three world records on the final day of Olympic competition in weightlifting.
The defending champion from Georgia lifted 223kg in the snatch and 265kg in the clean and jerk for a total 488kg on Wednesday. All three figures broke his own world records in the over-109kg men’s superheavyweight category.
Ali Davoudi of Iran was left in second place by the vast margin of 47kg. Syria’s Man Asaad took the bronze with 424 kg.
Even Talakhadze’s starting lifts were more than anyone else attempted, which meant he had to lift three times back-to-back in each half of the competition.
Talakhadze immediately pledged to return for a third Olympic gold in 2024, and his feat in Tokyo raised the question of whether he could become the first man to lift the once undreamed-of total of 500kg.
Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2021
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