Ilya Ilyin

Sport: Weightlifting

Nation: Kazakhstan

DOB: May 24, 1986

Career Highlights: Ilyin heads back to the Olympics after taking gold at the 2008 Beijing Games. At last November’s World Weightlifting Championships, Ilyin won gold when Ukraine’s Artem Ivanov failed in his bid for a world record total of 413 kilograms. Ilyin and Ivanov each finished with lift totals of 407 kilos, but the Kazakhstan native won gold by virtue of being lighter than his competitor. It was Ilyin’s third worlds gold overall but first since 2006. He was also a gold medalist at the Asian Games in 2010.

Olympic History: 2008