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China top the table again and USA end long wait for medal

By Brian Oliver at Riocentreo, Rio de Janeiro The United States won their first weightlifting medal in 16 years when Sarah Robles finished third in the final women’s event of Rio 2015, the +75kg. In that same time span China have won 38 medals, 28 of them gold. They have finished top of the weightlifting medals table five times in a row. Meng Suping confirmed their superiority again at Rio 2016 when she won China’s fifth gold of the Games ahead of Kim Kuk Hyang of North Korea, and Robles. No other team can catch them. The bronze probably meant as much to the Americans as Meng’s gold did to China. “Obviously we’re very very pleased with that,” said Phil Andrews, chief executive of USA Weightlifting. “At the beginning of the 2012-2016 period we were looking to get two in the top eight in Rio. We had a team of four here and they finished 111th, sixth, sixth and third. “We’re in a very good period for growth, especially in women’s weightlifting, and this will help. At the time of the last Olympic Games we had 11,000 members, now we have 26,000, and 36% of them are women.” At 143kg Robles was 20kg or more heavier than her rivals and she turned that to her advantage to become the first American on the podium since Tara Nott won at Sydney 2000. Robles totalled 286kg, behind Meng by 21kg. Robles, 28, said, “This means a lot, to be on the podium and give exposure to our sport at a time when it’s already growing. “It’s good not just for me, but for women of size, for women who want to get up off the couch and do something different. “Women's weightlifting is definitely becoming more popular, not just in the United States but internationally. It’s good to show women they can be in a strength sport.” Both Robles and Kim have served two-year doping bans. Robles said her positive test was a result of unknowingly taking an over-the-counter supplement that contained a banned substance. Life was hard for Robles at the time. She lost her funding, took three or four menial jobs, kept training and strove to return. “I know I’m a good and honest person and if I put hard work in I would be able to reach my goals,” she said. Meng had to make her last clean and jerk of 177kg to edge out Kim, who lifted more than 300kg for the first time. Meng did it and justified her late selection for the Rio team. Meng, 27, was drafted in just before the Games and did not arrive in Rio until the day after the opening ceremony. She occasionally looked shaky, missing her first snatch and her first clean and jerk, but did enough. “I was at home in China training hard when I heard I had been selected,” she said. “It was a personal challenge for me and I know there was a lot of weight on me, but it was my duty to perform well for my country and I did it. “I was a bit nervous on my first lift but I stabilised. I didn’t think about how much I had to lift, I just followed my coach’s directions and the end result was pretty good.” Meng’s gold takes China’s tally to 28 in the five Games this century. They have never won fewer than five in a single Games since women’s contests were added to the schedule in 2000. Their tally in Rio is five golds and two silvers with one lifter yet to compete, Zhe Yang in the men’s 105kg on Monday. A knee injury to the 48kg favourite Hou Zhihui prompted the decision to call for Meng. Hou thought she had recovered sufficiently in a pre-Games training camp in Sao Paulo but China’s head coach of the women’s team, Wang Guoxin, made the change. His decision was influenced, he said, by the absence of Tatiana Kashirina of Russia, the world record holder. Kashirina had beaten Meng in the past two IWF World Championships but she was excluded when the entire Russian team was banned from Rio for “bringing the sport into disrepute” through state-sponsored doping. The ban was not confirmed until the week before the Games started. Kashirina’s world record total of 348kg is way beyond the winning total in Rio. “It’s a pity she was not here,” said Meng. “She is a very strong competitor.” Kim was in tears at the finish. “I was happy to win silver but sad it was not gold,” she said. Venezuela’s Isabel Espinosa made six out of six in the B Group to total 273kg and finish seventh, ahead of three lifters in the A

Two down, one to go for record-chasing Iran

By Brian Oliver at Riocentro, Rio de Janeiro The men’s 94kg featured a vegan who finished 11th, a man wearing a hat for perhaps the first time in Olympic weightlifting, and a flying somersault from a Lithuanian bronze medallist. The glory, though, went to Iran, who won their second gold medal in two days. Sohrab Moradi finished well clear of his rivals and now his big hope is that favourite Behdad Salimikordabiasi retains his super-heavyweight title on Tuesday. If he does Iran will have three weightlifting golds at a single Games for the first time. When Kianoush Rostami broke a world record in winning the 85kg on Friday he predicted more glory to come for Iran. It arrived in the very next event. Moradi won by 8kg, and with two lifts to spare, from Vladzim Sraltsou of Belarus and Aurimas Didzbalis of Lithuania. Moradi, 27, had two attempts at a world-record clean and jerk of 234kg after his victory was assured, but never came close with either of them because, he said, he felt a strain in his right thigh. His total of 403kg was 15kg more than Moradi had lifted before a two-year doping ban in 2013. “During those two years I was on my own at home training very, very hard,” he said. “People laughed at me, they said ‘You’re retired, you’re banned’ but I had a goal and I worked hard for it.” Moradi tested positive for methadone and said it must have been administered to him as a painkiller without his knowledge. Didzbalis, who has also served a two-year ban, might have mounted a stronger challenge but for missing his first two snatch attempts. He also failed with his final clean and jerk, but he followed it with a flying somersault anyway, as he was assured of a place on the podium. Asked if he had been a gymnast in his youth he said,”No. But I know how to do the somersault for sure, I have had plenty of practice. I only do them when I win a medal. If I had finished fourth you wouldn’t have seen it.” There were two Iranians in the eight-man field and plenty of their countrymen to support them in a crowd of more than 5,000. Hasem Ali, 24, made only two good lifts for a total of 383kg and seventh place. The original entry list was shorn of three lifters because of doping. Two Polish brothers, Adrian and Tomasz Zielinski, were sent home after samples taken before the Games came up positive. The Georgian Rauli Tsirekidze was excluded after testing positive in the reanalysis of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. Kendrick Farris, who finished 11th for the United States, was competing at the Olympic Games for the third time, and for the first time as a vegan. Farris, 30, made the switch two years ago after the birth of his second son. Despite the high protein levels needed to compete in the sport he has improved his performance and said, “I feel lighter, more focused. “My wife laughed when I told her I was switching to a vegan diet but I am a very determined person. I wanted to return to the purest form of life because of my Israelite ancestors and that started with the food. “Other athletes will come and ask me about it. If you pay attention to what you put into your body you will have a clearer mind and a better quality of life. “Sure, I loved burgers before but I love them still, made from mushrooms or beans. Bro, it actually tastes better. You take protein from all sorts of food and I take plenty. I can go couple of days now without eating and as long as I stay hydrated I’ll be fine. “I will eat though, because tomorrow I will be training again. I feel good, and having been to three Olympics I hope there will be a fourth.” Farris’ coach Kyle Pierce, a professor of kinesiology and health science at Louisiana State, in Farris’ home town of Shreveport, said, “His becoming a vegan didn’t concern me in terms of his performance. “He knows about mixing beans and rice and so on, about amino acids. His best total was two months ago so it clearly hasn’t had an adverse effect.” Farris, who holds four United States national records and won the PanAmerican Games gold last year at 94kg, made only two good lifts in totalling 357kg. “It went OK,” he said. “I could have had a better performance but it’s very tough to even make a total.” His point was borne out by the fact that at one point in the clean and jerk, there were 10 misses in 12 attempts by various lifters. “So many missed lifts – maybe somebody turned up the gravity!” he said. There was a huge crowd for the session even though it was a B Group. Farris said, “The atmosphere was amazing, electrifying, they gave so much energy I just wanted to give the proper energy back. “Before the competition started I thought something was wrong, that people must be running from the building. Bu it was just the noise, the stands shaking.” There was another rarity in the B Group when Britain’s Sonny Webster competed in a hat. “How about that, I might not have made a great total but I must be the first Olympic weightlifter to wear a snapback,” said Webster, 22, who finished 14th. He had to wear it backwards because if the bar had touched the peak it would have been a no-lift. Webster made 333kg and said, “The noise was amazing, the whole building was shaking. The last 11 years of my sporting life flashed by out there when I made my total. It was the most amazing day of my

Jong Sim RIM (PRK) W75kg

There was no stress. I just tried really hard. I was really overwhelmed with happiness that I won this gold medal so I can send this honour to my

Kianoush ROSTAMI (IRI) M85kg

I wasn't thinking I was going to win. Sometimes the weights change and sometimes the bodies change. If I have more time in the future I will set more Olympic records and more world

World record for Rostami, and Valentin’s bronze ‘feels like gold’

By Brian Oliver at Riocentro, Rio de Janeiro Kianoush Rostami broke his own world record, Iran and PRK won their first gold medals of the Games, a Romanian had a six-out-of-six bronze, and Lidia Valentin finally got her chance to stand on the Olympic podium on an exciting day of action at Riocentro. Rostami won the 85kg when he lifted 217kg with his final clean & jerk for a total of 396kg, better than his record by 1kg. He predicted more gold for Iran, who have favourites in the 94kg and +105kg in Sohrab Moradi and Behdad Salimikordabiasi. “We will see more gold medals, and more world records for Iran,” he said. “Now that I have won I’m sure to others will win too.” In her third Olympics Valentin finished third in the women’s 75kg behind Rim Jong Sim of PRK and Darya Naumava of Belarus. Naumava, 20, was winning her nation’s first medal of the Games in any sport, only five years after giving up the shot put to become a weightlifter. The popular Valentin, 31, is the 2012 champion by default but was not on the podium in London as she finished fourth. The three who finished ahead of her recently tested positive in reanalysis of samples. “It may be a bronze medal but it feels like gold,” said Valentin. “I’m really really excited that I could stand on the podium after so many years. I am going out tonight to celebrate with my parents, who are here, and my coach. “I will keep competing too, and hopefully I will be in Tokyo in four years. That’s my long-term target, but next for me is the 2017 European Championships. I’m only 31 and I feel good. My experience gives me a good foundation, and my motivation is still strong. I’m doing fine.” Rim won by 16kg with a total of 274kg. She was cheered not just by a large group of North Korean athletes wearing national team tracksuits, but by a number of Brazilians who mingled with the North Koreans to sing, dance and wave a borrowed flag. Weightlifting is by far the strongest Olympic sport for North Korea and the team expected to have at least one gold before Rim’s victory. Instead they suffered a string of defeats. “I was very sad that my comrades did not win a gold medal,” said Rim, 23. Did those failures put Rim under pressure, she was asked. “No, I did not feel any pressure, I just focused on each lift,” she said. “The first thing I thought when I knew I had won was that I had made our Beloved Leader (Kim Jong Un) happy. “Training was very hard and sometimes I was crying when I finished. But I knew that whenever that happened I was a step closer to the gold medal.” Silver medallist Naumava said she took up weightlifting fairly late after she struggled with an increase in weight of the shot put as she grew older. “I just fell in love with it straight away,” she said. Rim suffered a bad hip injury at the IWF World Championships in Houston, Texas last November. She continued to lift against doctors’ advice, finished second and had to be lifted on to the podium. “I could train again after about two months,” she said. “We have very good medical and rehabilitation facilities in our country.” Rostami’s gold was Iran's first medal of the Games in any sport. Tian Tao of China took silver despite making only two of his six lifts, and Romania's Gabriel Sincraian, with six out of six, took bronze, edging out Kazakhstan’s Denis Ulanov. “Six out of six!” said Sincraian. “It must be the first time I’ve done that for about 10 years. I’m very happy with that.” Rostami looked supremely confident throughout. When he made his first two snatches with apparent ease he bowed and gestured to the crowd as if to say “How good was that?” He missed his third attempt, though, and finished the snatch only 1kg ahead of his main rival Tian. Tian, 22, came desperately close to being eliminated. While Rostami cruised through those first two lifts Tian failed at 173kg, went up by 5kg for his next attempt and missed that too. On his third snatch, also at 178kg, he looked beaten. He wobbled on his right knee, then his left, but found the strength to make the lift. The crowd loved it and roared their approval. A group of Iranians took the noise to another level when they performed the ‘Iceland haka’ that made such an impression at the recent Euro 2016 football. Tian missed his first two clean and jerks too, which brought back memories of the IWF World Championships in Houston, Texas last November. He missed all three attempts then, and having led after the snatch he failed to register a total. “I was too confident and didn’t keep calm in the World Championships,” he said. “Tonight I was over-excited in the first two lifts but I always thought I would make the third one. “I offer my congratulations to the winner and hope we have many more chances to compete against each other. I am confident I can beat him.” Rostami said, “He (Tian) is very good, he’s younger than me. We can have some good contests.” Rostami coaches himself, a point he made several times to the media afterwards. “The Iranian coaches are good but I want to make my own decisions,” he said. “Nobody thought it was possible to come to Rio without a coach but here I am. “All the time I train alone, just me in a training camp. Nobody sees me. It can make your mind go a bit crazy. But I will be here again the next time (in Tokyo) for sure.” Of the two French lifters the one from the B Group, Giovanni Bardis, finished 7kg clear of teammate Benjamin Hennequin, who lifted in the A

Records tumble but Egypt take the honours after long wait

By Brian Oliver at Riocentro, Rio de Janeiro Kazakhstan had one gold, one silver and one world record. China had one gold, one silver and one world record. But the stars of day five of weightlifting at Riocentro were the nation who finished third in both events, Egypt. For the first time since the 1948 Games in London an Egyptian man won a weightlifting medal – Mohamed Ihab in the 77kg. A few hours earlier Sara Ahmed, aged 18, had become the first Egyptian woman in any sport to stand on the Olympic podium after taking 69kg bronze. They both agreed that for Egypt, the future is very bright. “By the time of Tokyo 2020 Egypt’s status in world weightlifting will be completely different,” said Ihab, 24. The world records came in the men’s 77kg. Lyu Xiaojun, wearing gold shoes provided by his confident sponsors, broke his own snatch world record with a lift of 177kg. After his third clean & jerk he stripped off his top and screamed in triumph. But Lyu reckoned without Nihat Rahimov. With two lifts left Rahimov, who was born in Azerbaijan and lifted for them until 2013, had to make up 12kg to match Lyu’s total of 369kg and win on bodyweight. Unbelievably, he did it at the first attempt, beating the clean & jerk world record by 4kg. It finished Kazakhstan gold, China silver, the opposite of the women’s 69kg in which Xiang Wanmei beat Zhazira Zhapparkul. But the bronze medallist was the star of that show. Sara Ahmed, from Ismailia, was not only the first Egyptian woman to stand on the Olympic podium, she was the first Arab woman to be presented with a medal in weightlifting. “This is such a big honour,” said Ahmed, who won the Youth Olympic Games title two years ago. “All Egypt was waiting for one or two medals from our team.” Technically, Abeer Abdelrahman preceded Ahmed. At London 2012 Abdelrahman finished fifth in the women’s 75kg but because of two doping cases ahead of her, revealed by recent retesting, she becomes a silver medallist. “But I was the first to be on the podium,” said Ahmed, who took up weightlifting because her brother competed in it. She went to cheer him on and later trained and competed herself. Her father died in a motor accident last year and Ahmed, who has two brothers and two sisters, said she would use her reward from the state (500,000 Egyptian pounds, worth $56,000) to help her family. “My father was an agricultural engineer and he was the only breadwinner in the family,” she said. “Now it can be me. I intend to win more medals.” Before the International Weightlifting Federation changed the rules in 2011 to allow muslim women to wear a full-length unitard, very few females practised the sport in the Arab world as they considered the clothing immodest. Ahmed, who wore a full-length unitard and a sports hijab, said, “I have worn the hijab only for a year. It is not compulsory, but I like it. “I hope this medal will encourage other girls to take up the sport. A new weightlifting generation can be born, a new beginning.” Weightlifting and handball were the most popular sports for Egyptian girls, she said. “I hope I can help to reestablish Egypt as a successful weightlifting nation.” Ahmed made six good lifts and had an anxious wait when Colombia’s Leidy Solis Arboleda made her last clean & jerk attempt at 146kg. Had she made it she would have edged Ahmed out of the medals, but she failed and Egypt’s coaches celebrated loudly. Xiang won with a lift to spare, totalling 261kg. Zhapparkul made 259kg. Xiang thanked her parents for helping her through her career “My parents raised four daughters and it was very difficult for them, especially my father,” she said. Zhapparkul won the contest for most sisters. She is the youngest of seven girls. There was an interesting contrast in speed of lifting during the two sessions. Darya Pachabut, of Belarus, took so long she was timed out on her first snatch attempt. Earlier, in the B Group, Britain’s Rebekah Tiler had 52 seconds on the clock when she made one of her clean & jerks. “I like to get on with it,” said Tiler, 17, who finished 10th and is already looking forward to Tokyo. Egyptian men had won nine weightlifting medals, including five golds, when Ahmed won her bronze. A few hours later the 68-year wait for a tenth male medal was over. Ihab Mohamed totalled 361kg for third place, 18kg behind Rahimov and Lu. He said, “There are Egyptian athletes waiting to be promoted into medal positions because of the doping [at 2008 and 2012]. I hope this was a 100% clean competition.” Ihab, from Al-Fayoum, is one of six brothers, all weightlifters. He is the only one competing at this level and he is assured of a hero’s welcome after the Games, he said. Kazakhstan won their first gold of the 2016 Games through Rahimov, who served a two-year doping ban after testing positive at the 2013 Universiade. At the time he competed for his native Azerbaijan. When Rahimov made the lift the Kazakhstan national coach, Aleksey Ni, ran on to the platform to hoist his hero off the ground. Ni then fell on to his back and kicked at the air. On the basis of that record Rahimov was asked, “What would you say to Olympic fans who doubt the validity of your medal?” His reply was, “I am not aware of the problem so that is what I would tell them.” Lyu, who had broken his own snatch world record with a lift of 177kg, said of Rahimov, “I met a stronger competitor. I admire him.” Lyu’s sponsors gave him a pair of specially made gold shoes in the expectation that he would retain his Olympic title. After he made his sixth and final lift he clearly thought he had done enough to win. But Rahimov had the final