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Raising the bar

Iranian sets world records to win gold

Iranian weightlifter Hossein Rezazadeh celebrates his record-breaking effort. Emmanuel Dunand/AFP

SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) -- Hossein Rezazadeh surprised even himself when he outlifted the world's strongest men to win the Olympic super heavyweight gold.

But even with his Olympic feat, he didn't win instant recognition.

"I still don't know his name and I can't even quite tell you what he looks like," two-time silver medalist Ronny Weller of Germany said. "But he is a very surprising competitor."

Rezazadeh watched as one world record, then another fell Tuesday. Then he calmly stepped to bar, looked to the heavens for help and set two records of his own to earn Iran's second weightlifting gold medal by a man named Hossein in as many days.

Hossein Tavakoli won Monday at 231 1/4 pounds (105 kilograms).

Rezazadeh lifted 1,040 pounds (472.5 kg.) -- the equivalent of three Cheryl Haworths, plus more than 100 pounds to spare -- to overtake Weller of Germany and bronze medalist Ashot Danielyan of Armenia.

"They're the best in the world, but my preparation was very good," the 22-year-old Rezazadeh said. "The level was very high. I did not expect to win a medal."

At different points of a competition that had the sellout crowd cheering as if it were a down-to-the-wire basketball game, each of the top three held a world record.

But Rezazadeh, whose hobby is listening to Turkish music, had the biggest lifts of all. He set a world record of 468 1/4 pounds (212.5 kg) in the snatch, then raised 573 pounds (260 kg) on a single lift in the clean and jerk to break Weller's overall record of 1,025 1/4 pounds (465 kg).

"The way the weights kept going up ... it was like a lottery," Weller said.

Just as in Atlanta in 1996, Weller (1,030 1/2 pounds, 467.5 kg), who raised 567 1/2 pounds (257.5 kg) in the clean and jerk, was beaten out by a record lift by the gold medalist. And, just as in Atlanta, Russia's Andrei Chemerkin had the final lift.

However, Chemerkin, who made a record lift to win in Atlanta, trailed by 22 pounds after the snatch. That forced him to try to raise 600 3/4 pounds (272.5 kg) on his final attempt in the clean and jerk -- or 27 1/2 pounds more than any other lifter converted. He barely got the bar to his waist before dropping it, and finished fourth.

"It was Chemerkin in '96," Weller said. "And it was tough again this time."

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The 385-pound Chemerkin -- Russia's Andrei the Giant -- essentially lost his gold when his best lift of 446 1/4 pounds (202.5 kg) trailed Rezazadeh by 22 pounds (10 kg) going into the clean and jerk.

During the snatch, it quickly became clear that it would take a world record to take the lead -- and it did. Three times in the snatch alone.

Rezazadeh set the record of 468 1/4 pounds (212.5 kg), but only after Danielyan (457 1/4 pounds, 207.5 kg) and Weller (462 3/4 pounds, 210 kg) broke it before him.

"When you realize what the weights are ... it's like I'm lifting on a different planet," Weller said.

Before Tuesday, Rezazadeh owned the snatch record of 453 3/4 pounds (206 kg) set in November 1999.

Weller now has three Olympic medals since he was seriously injured and his wife was killed in a car accident in 1989. He got the gold at 242 1/2 pounds (110 kg) in 1992.

U.S. champion Shane Hamman set national records for the snatch and total lift while finishing 11th.

Hamman broke his U.S. record in the snatch, lifting 429 3/4 pounds (195 kg) -- or 161/2 pounds more than the record 413 1/4 pounds (187.5) he raised during the Olympic trials in July.

However, Hamman could not break his record of 507 pounds (230 kg) in the clean and jerk set during the trials, raising 496 pounds (225 pounds) before missing twice at 512 1/2 pounds (232.5 kg).

Hamman's total lift of 925 3/4 pounds (420 kg) broke his U.S. record of 9201/4 pounds (417.5 kg), also set during the trials.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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