Iranian weightlifter Sohrab Moradi collected three gold medals and set two new records in the 94kg division at World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim, California, December 4.
A total of 23 weightlifters competed in the 94kg division. Each had three attempts with the competitor choosing the lowest weight going first. Choosing a 220kg weight for his first attempt in the clean and jerk, Moradi, 29, was the last athlete to go on the platform since other rivals had finished all their three attempts lifting lighter weights.
After successfully handling the barbell, Moradi was assured of a gold medal and attacked the world record in his second attempt. Jumping 13 kg higher than the first one, he chose a 233kg weight and lifted it to beat the previous record which was held by Polish Szymon Kolecki for 17 years, improving it by 1kg. With the gold medal and world record in hand, he did not need to continue with the third attempt, Varzesh3 reported.
Before clean and jerk, Moradi successfully handled all his three attempts in snatch. Hitting 184 kg in his third, he edged the Uzbek rival who lifted 183kg to grab his first gold medal of the night.
At the end, he won all three medals of snatch, clean and jerk and the total. Moradi also improved the world total record, which he set in September in Turkmenistan, to 417 kg.
The Iranian took three gold medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics. At South Korea Asian Weightlifting Championships in 2012 he took silver in the snatch, came first in clean and jerk to set the highest total record of the games and also won the total gold medal.
Another Iranian weightlifter of 94kg division Seyyed Ayub Mousavi grabbed a bronze medal by lifting 214kg in the clean and jerk division. He stood third in total only with 3 kg short of the silver winner.
Cost of Injury
Kianoush Rostami, Iranian Olympics gold winner from the 85kg category, attended the games suffering from a chronic left knee injury which was refreshed during the training sessions. He could win only a silver medal in snatch after lifting 174kg -- one kilo behind Chilean Mendez who won gold with 175 kg.
Rostami lost his entire three attempts in lifting 212 kg (two times failed) and 215 (once) due to his injury.
Rostami has three gold medals from the 2016 Rio Olympics in his career. He also broke the Olympics record at the tournament. In London Olympics he took silver.
Given Rostami’s injury plus the absence of ten title holder countries at the games, Mendez passed a relatively easy path in winning gold medals in the 85kg division.
Iran’s squad has so far collected six medals (three gold, one silver and two bronze) at the competition.
The World Championships in the US will conclude December 5, at the Anaheim Convention Center.
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