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Greek Dimas grabs third consecutive Olympic gold with herculean effort
ATTENTION - ADDS quotes /// SYDNEY, Sept 23 (AFP) - 'Golden Greek' Pyrros Dimas, fired by a tongue-lashing from his coach after nervously missing his opening two lifts, won his third straight Olympic weightlifting gold medal on Saturday and promptly declared he could make it four-in-a-row at the 2004 Athens Games. Dimas took the 85kg title with a herculean lift of 215kg in the clean and jerk and beat Germany's Marc Huster, also second to the Greek at the Atlanta Games four years ago, and George Asanidze of Georgia on lower body weight after all three lifters totalled 390kgs. Huster fought off the effects of cramp to lift 212.5kg to take the lead before the 29-year-old Dimas sent the flag-waving Greek supporters into raptures with his successful effort which saw him join Turkey's Naim Suleymanoglu in weightlifting's exclusive "hat-trick" club and become the first Greek athlete to grab three Olympic golds. He returned to the stage for a world record attempt of 218.5kg but, with his golden mission already successful, was not focused and failed. Dimas took a curtain call in response to raucous chants from the crowd and he danced with delight on the winner's podium after receiving his medal. "I think I am the first athlete from Greece to win gold in three successive Olympic Games and this gives me great encouragement to go on to Athens in 2004," he said. "I think Suleymanoglu (who failed earlier in the competition to win his fourth gold) made a mistake to retire and then make a comeback. I do not plan to do something like that. I plan to continue training and competition and, yes, I can win a fourth gold medal in Athens." Dimas has been a superstar in Greece since fleeing there from Albania a decade ago. Born into the Greek ethnic minority, he switched his allegiance to the land of his father after a promising early career in weightlifting. Back to back victories in the 1992 Barcelona and the 1996 Atlanta Games ensured sporting icon status in Greece. Dimas, dubbed the 'Golden Greek' despite being born in Albania, was at the centre of a dramatic opening snatch discipline. The defending Olympic champion missed his first attempt at 175kg as he was timed out just as he bent to lift the bar. Obviously ruffled, he failed in his second attempt and was manhandled by his coach on the way back to the warm up room where he lambasted him. A few minutes later a more composed Dimas came to the stage and successfully hoisted 175kg, glancing right and then left in his trademark fashion with the bar still raised above his head. Dimas was near to tears of relief as he strode off the stage. His two failures opened the door for his rivals and world record holder at the snatch, Asanidze, lifted 180kg to take a 2.5kg lead over Germany's Huster. "I felt very stressed during the competition as I had to win a third gold medal for my country," said Dimas. "I felt a lot of pressure from the (Greeks) in the audience and I ran out of time for my first left. I was still anxious for the second but my coach talked to me and I found myself for the third lift and was successful. But the 175kg was 10kg lighter than I had hoped to lift and that put further pressure on me." One of the favourites, world champion Shahin Nasirinia of Iran retired hurt after just one attempt. Nasirinia, the surprise winner of last year's World Championships, grimaced in pain while trying to snatch 175kg and grabbed his right elbow which appeared to be dislocated. He was helped from the stage by his coach and took no further part in the competiton. Bulgaria's Georgi Gardev, ranked second in the world, was denied the opportunity to compete after his country's weightlifting squad was kicked out of the Olympics after three of their medallists tested positive for taking diuretics.
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