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London 2012: Olympic flame handover ceremony

The Olympic flame has officially been handed over to organisers of the London 2012 Games at a ceremony in Athens. The event was held at the Panathinaikos Stadium, the home of the first modern Olympics in Greece in 1896. The Hellenic Weightlifting Federation President, three times Olympic Gold medallist and Greek weightlifting hero Pyrros Dimas together with the Chinese gymnast Li Ning lit the cauldron with the Olympic flame. They had been chosen to symbolise the continuity from Athens to Beijing to London. It was carried around Greece after being lit on 10 May in Olympia. 300 journalists from all around the world to cover the handover and more than 40.000 spectators got excited in the Stadium when Pyrros Dimas and Li Ning lit the cauldron. The public screamed in unison “Hellas, Hellas”. Right after the ceremony, Pyrros said “When I heard the crowd’s pride and energy, immediately I had a similar feeling as in 2004 during my last competition. I will never forget those moments. The power of weightlifting was with me and in me again”. Pyrros signed at least 2.000 autographs. The flame was than passed by the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos to Princess Anne who represented the UK in her role as president of the British Olympic Association. At this moment the flame became London 2012's official

Last competition day in Antigua – The Battle of the Titans

Men’s 105kg After winning a gold medal in the Snatch with 180kg and a gold medal in the Total BERSANOV Ibragim from Kazakhstan became Junior World Champion in the Men’s 105kg bodyweight category. With 391kg, he ameliorated his Total since the 2011 JWC Penang with 16kg. Second place went to PLESNIEKS Arturs (LAT) who also won the silver medal at the 2011 JWC right after ARROYO VALDEZ Jorge David ultimate winner of the Pan-American Senior competition this year. However, the Latvian lifter won the gold medal in the Clean & Jerk. The Iranian Lifter SAYAR Saied won a gold medal in the Snatch and without being on the podium for the Clean & Jerk, he managed to grab the bronze in the Total. JEON Dae-Un (KOR) and NANIEV Timur (RUS) both achieved 212kg in the Clean & Jerk and received respectively the silver and the bronze medal. Men’s +105kg No one managed to take the victory away from the Russian lifter ABUEV Magomed who won the gold medal in the Snatch, Clean & Jerk and also in the Total with 426kg. Even though he showed an impressive strength, the title holder MOULAEI Bahador (IRI) won a bronze medal in the Snatch, silver in the Clean & Jerk and with a Total of 417kg, a second silver medal. The Armenian lifter MINASYAN Gor ended the competition with the same result as MOULAEI (417kg), but as the Iranian lifter was lighter, MINASYAN won a bronze medal in the Total besides a silver in the Snatch and a bronze in the Clean & Jerk. Men Team Classification: CHN, RUS, IRI, TKM, USA, MEX. Junior Men’s points: WU Chao (CHN) in the 69kg bodyweight category with a Total of 342kg won the Sinclair competition with 459.8735 points. Within Men, the following countries obtained 1 Olympic Quota: ECU, BRA, MEX, USA, GUA, VEN,

Competition of the giants

Women’s +75kg In the Total, YAO Chi-Ling the lifter from Chinese Taipei won the gold medal with 240kg. This performance is 3kg less than the one she achieved at the 2011 Junior World Championships Penang, Malaysia where she grabbed the silver medal. She stood up on the first place of the podium with silver in the Snatch and only a 4th place in the Clean & Jerk. The 6 available medals in the +75kg were won by 6 athletes which shows the strength of all athletes present in this bodyweight category. Lifting 1kg less than YAO, the Venezuelan athlete PEREZ Naryuris won the silver and with another 1kg less than the silver medallist AMAECHI Chioma Madonna (USA) was awarded the bronze. Women categories ended at the Cesar Branas competition hall, updates are as follows: Team Classification: RUS, CHN, THA, TUR, MEX, POL. Junior Women’s points: AKHMETOVA Diana (RUS) in the 63kg bodyweight category with a Total of 237kg won the Sinclair competition with 298.1605 points. Within Women, the following countries obtained 1 Olympic Quota: MEX, BRA, CHI,

Strong field and balanced performances

Women’s 75kg No surprises in the Women’s 75kg bodyweight category. The performances of the top 3 were well-balanced. ZUBOVA Olga (RUS) started her attempts both in the Snatch and in the Clean & Jerk after all her opponents ended their competition. She competed against herself trying to push her limits further and further. Each and every consecutive attempt she took was successful. With 115kg, 145kg and a Total of 260kg she earned 3 gold medals and dominated the field. Second place went to the other Russian lifter HARLOVA Maria while SANDRA MILENA Perea (COL) ended up third and won 3 bronze medals. Men’s 94kg In the Snatch, the Iranian lifter MOHAMMADPOURKARKARAGH Saeid came out after everyone and started at 171kg. He escaladed to 178kg, earned the gold in the Snatch and took 8kg advantage over his competitors. Second place went to KLIMONOV Egor (RUS) who lifted 215kg in the Clean & Jerk – just like MOHAMMADPOURKARKARAGH – but due to a lighter bodyweight he grabbed the first place. The Kazakh lifter KYDYRBAYEV Zhassulan ended the competition on the third place of the podium with a Total of 363kg and 3 bronze medals. MOHAMMADPOURKARKARAGH Saeid stood on the first place followed by the strong Russian lifer KLIMONOV who ended up second after 6 successful

Accentuated tactical fights

Women’s 69kg In the Snatch and even in the Clean & Jerk only a couple of kilos separated the gold medal winner from lifters winning the silver or bronze medal. In the Total, ZHAPPARKUL Zhazira (KAZ) gold medallist of the 2010 Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore stood up on the first place of the podium with 239kg. Surprisingly, the title holder from 2011 the Russian lifter TURIEVA Tima only ranked 4th. The change of bodyweight category (from 63kg to 69kg) must have been a disadvantage for her; however she won the bronze medal in the Snatch. SUWANNARATANA Wiriya from Thailand achieved 4kg less than the gold medal winning Kazakh while the Chinese lifter TIAN Wenju ended up third. With her last attempt in the Clean & Jerk TIAN had a chance to grab the victory, but she missed to lift 137kg. She won the silver medal due to a lighter bodyweight than TURIEVA. Men’s 85kg A strong, intense and exciting tactical fight opposed the Russian OKULOV Artem to the Chinese ZHANG Huacong in the Men’s 85kg bodyweight category. ZHANG ended the competition with outstanding performances dominating the weights and the barbell. With 6 good lifts and 3 gold medals achieved, he is the ultimate winner of the category. The Russian lifter OKULOV tried to take the lead, but none of his Clean & Jerk attempts were sufficient enough to precede his opponent. He missed the two first lifts and was fighting to have a Total result at the end. His third Clean & Jerk gave him salvation and two other gold medals. The fight for the third place between MALIGOV Adam (RUS) and MORADI Ayoub (IRI) was finally won by the Iranian lifter who manifested to be

Russia makes its début

Women’s 63kg Russian lifters entered the competition in a very remarkable way in the Women’s 63kg category at the 2012 IWF Junior World Championships in Antigua Guatemala. AKHMETOVA Diana performed at her best and her outstanding 6 good lifts brought Russia on the top of the podium. Following her second attempt of the Snatch with 105kg, she opened the way to secure her impressive victory. With two bronze medals for the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk the Chinese lifter LONG Dingling won and unexpected silver medal in the TOTAL. She lifted 126kg in the Clean & Jerk - 1kg more than her personal best. The silver medallist of the 2011 IWF WWC Paris, France GORICHEVA Karina (KAZ) missed her last two lifts in the Clean & Jerk and fell back into third position with a Total of 225kg - same Total as the Chinese lifter, but due to a lighter bodyweight LONG preceded her. Men’s 77kg The first two places of the podium showed the same setup as in the Women’s 63kg category. Russia and China got first and second place in the Total. KHOMYAKOV Dmitry (RUS) was confident and showed impressive strength during the entire competition. Preceded by GUO Zhimin (CHN) in the Snatch, he won with only 2kg in the Total because of a better result in the Clean & Jerk. The Chinese lifter GUO Zhimin ended up 6th in the Clean & Jerk, but with the advantage gained in the Snatch, it was a great achievement for him to take the silver. MATA Andres from Spain excelled with a silver medal in the Clean & Jerk and a bronze in the