(23 July 1996; Day 4)
A lot of the excitement generated in the Georgia World Congress Center lately has come from Hall E, the site of the weightlifting competition. It could be called the "Hall of Fame" after the performances from the first four days of competition where a world record has been set in each weight class. And tomorrow should be no different.
Pablo LARA of Cuba owns two world records in the 76kg weight class. His marks, set in the clean and jerk and overall total just three months ago in Szekszard, Hungary, make him the prohibitive favorite for a gold medal in Atlanta. But by no means does it make him a shoe-in.
Tomorrow night LARA will look to surpass his silver-medal performance in Barcelona at the 1992 Games, where he competed in the 82kg class, and will attempt to dethrone the dominance of the Chinese, who have captured two gold and four total medals at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad.
Over his career, the 28-year old LARA has won seven world titles and in the last several years has risen in the ranks. He is looking to peak in Atlanta and take home his first-ever gold medal.
Yet, as is no surprise, LARA is not the only favorite to win the gold, and as the past four days have indicated, his world-record marks are in jeopardy.
One of those who expects to challenge LARA and his records is yet another member of the talented Chinese team, LIN Shoufeng. LIN's personal best overall total is 365.0kg, 7.5kg under LARA's record.
Other medal candidates include Khachatur KYAPANAKSIAN of Armenia and JON Chol of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, both with personal bests equaling that of LIN.
Twenty-seven athletes will compete in three different sessions of the 76kg class, with Group C beginning at 10:00, Group B at 12:30 and finally, Group A at 16:00. Medal ceremonies will commence at the conclusion of the day at approximately 18:00.
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Brad Laux.
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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. |