Weightlifting 64kg / Preliminary Round Group A
Suleymanoglu Captures Record Gold in Dramatic Fashion
: Naim "The Pocket Hercules" SULEYMANOGLU became the greatest weightlifter in Olympic history Monday evening at the Georgia World Congress Center when he bested rival Valerios LEONIDIS of Greece with his Olympic and world record lift of 335.0kg at the 1996 Games. The two competitors provided a great duel throughout the event, breaking a total of four world records. With the victory, SULEYMANOGLU became the first-ever weightlifter to capture three consecutive gold medals. SULEYMANOGLU gained the early lead after the snatch with a 147.5kg lift, with LEONIDIS sitting only 2.5kg behind.
After nearly everyone else had dropped by the wayside, SULEYMANOGLU and LEONIDIS each attempted to outdo the other with their final two clean and jerk lifts. Both passed on a weight to maintain the advantage, then SULEYMANOGLU snapped the world record in both the clean and jerk and over total with his 185.0kg lift to give him a two-lift mark of 332.5kg.
Not to be outdone, LEONIDIS rebroke the clean and jerk record with a mark of 187.5kg, which he earned because he has a lighter bodyweight than SULEYMANOGLU. With mayhem reigning, SULEYMANOGLU forever etched himself in history as he muscled 187.5kg into the air to post his world-best total. An uproar from the crowd came as LEONIDIS was only able to raise to his waist his final attempt of 190.0kg, giving SULEYMANOGLU the gold. On a surprising note, WANG Guohua of the People's Republic of China--a world record holder in the snatch and a strong medal contender-- faulted on all three of his snatch lifts to disqualify himself from the competition. Gold, World Record: Naim SULEYMANOGLU (TUR), 335.0kg; Silver, Valerios LEONIDIS (GRE), 332.5kg; Bronze, XIAO Jiangang (CHN), 322.5kg.
"I am used to competing against him," said Valerios LEONIDIS on his battle with Naim SULEYMANOGLU. "You have to compete at world-record levels. I was shooting for the gold medal."
OKHRAMENKO leads after Group C:
A sparse crowd witnessed Aleksandr OKHRAMENKO of Kazakstan post a two-lift total of 287.5kg to take the early lead in Monday's opening competition of the 64kg weight class at the Georgia World Congress Center on the third day of the weightlifting competition at the Centennial Olympic Games. The Group C session's outcome was in doubt until the clean and jerk portion of the competition, in which OKHRAMENKO lifted 160.0kg on his second attempt. Oleg EM of Kazakstan led after the snatch, notching a lift of 130.0kg, but fell into fourth overall after only raising 150.0kg in the clean and jerk. Meanwhile, OKHRAMENKO sat in second after the snatch with a 127.5kg lift. The Group B session this afternoon features Russian Umar EDELKHANOV and Romanian Lucian MAXINIANU, both with personal bests of 305.0kg, and will begin at 12:30. The afternoon's final session (Group A) will take place at 16:00 and is headlined by Naim SULEYMANOGLU of Turkey, the reigning World Champion and world record holder, who will be going for an unprecedented third consecutive Olympic gold medal. The medal ceremonies will take place after the conclusion of the Group A competition at approximately 18:00. Group C top finishers:: Aleksandr OKHRAMENKO (KAZ), 287.5kg; Gustavo MAJAUSKAS (ARG), 285.0kg; Vernon PATAO (USA), 282.5kg.
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| Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium. |