Nurudinov smiles his way to gold and heads for the beach
By Brian Oliver at Riocentro, Rio de Janeiro Ruslan Nurudinov put a smile on the face of his sport when he won the men’s 105kg and gave Uzbekistan their first Olympic weightlifting medal of any colour. Every time he lifts, the shaven-headed Nurudinov smiles. “It helps to fight the stress,” he said. He also lolls his tongue every time. Asked if he had ever bitten it, he said, “No, not yet.” After months of hard work, and a year out recovering from a knee injury, Nurudinov is now looking forward to sleep – and the beach. “I am so tired, so very tired, I just want to sleep,” he said. “Then I want to swim. If I’m lucky, man, I might go to the beach here in Brazil.” He had knee surgery on a damaged meniscus twice in the past two years, and thanked the German doctor whose operation rescue his career. In lifting 431kg and winning by 14kg he lived up to his title of “Pride of Uzbekistan”. “I was given that award, Pride of Uzbekistan, in 2013,” said Nurudinov, 24, who won Asian, World and Universiade titles that year. “There is one higher award, Hero of Uzbekistan, but that is very hard to win. For this gold medal, I don’t think so. But if I win in Tokyo…” Simon Martirosyan of Armenia put in a remarkable performance to take silver at the age of 19, finishing ahead of two men who had beaten him at the European Championships in April with a career-best 417kg. That was 14kg behind Nurudinov. It was Armenia’s first medal in any sport in Rio. “I am the happiest man in the world,” said Martirosyan, who became the youngest medallist ever in this weight category. The bronze went to Kazakhstan’s Alexandr Zaichikov. If Zaichikov’s third clean and jerk had not been overruled it might have been closer. Zaichikov was called up for a press-out by the jury so Zaichikov dropped from first place to third. Nurudinov still had two lifts to come at that point. “I thought it was a good lift but the jury decided otherwise,” he said. Nurudinov had not competed at this weight since he finished third at the 2014 IWF World Championships in one of the most famous contests in weightlifting history. Nurudinov, Kazakhstan’s Ilya Ilyin and the Russian David Bedzhanyan all broke world records in the clean and jerk in a memorable contest at 105kg in Almaty. Ilyin and Bedzhanyan are absent from Rio because of doping bans. Three months before the 2014 Championships Nurudinov had his first surgery. “Somehow I managed to perform in Almaty, and then my knee went bust,” he said. He had a full year of rehabilitation. After a second operation in Germany he had nine months to prepare for Rio. Before last night his only competition since Almaty was in this year’s Asian Championships, where he finished fourth at +105kg. The contest started at 3am in Uzbekistan but “most people would have been watching” said Nurudinov. The hero of the B Group was David Katoatau, who had already become a social media hit at these Games when he carried the flag, or rather danced with the flag, at the opening ceremony. Katoatau raised more cheers than any other lifter, including a Brazilian, throughout the session. Katoatau’s dances became a trademark of his victory in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland two years ago. That was the first gold medal in any global sporting event for Kiribati. “Most people don’t know where Kiribati is,” Katoatau said. “I want people to know more about us so I use weightlifting, and my dancing, to show the world.” Kiribati is suffering “extreme coastal erosion not just of the beaches but also of the land” according to its government. Some scientists have predicted a rise in sea level of 2.3metres, which would have a catastrophic effect on Kiribati’s 21 inhabited islands. “I wrote an open letter to the world last year to tell people about all the homes lost to rising sea levels,” he said. “I don’t know how many years it will be before it sinks.” That letter was distributed at a Commonwealth Games federation meeting by Katoatau’s coach, Paul Coffa. “We don’t have the resources to save ourselves,” Katoatau said. Kiribati also lacks the resources for basic sports facilities. “There was no gym when I started training as a boy, and there is no gym now,” said Katoatau, 32. Katoatau moved to the Oceania Weightlifting Institute when he was 16 and has been coached by Coffa since then. He lives and trains at the Institute is Noumea, New Caledonia. His next target is defending his Commonwealth title in Gold Coast, Australia, in 2018. He won a state reward of $A11,000 ($US8,400) for his Commonwealth gold and used it to build a home for his parents on Tarawa island. It was destroyed in a cyclone soon after being built, he said. “We have built another one, but it’s close to the sea so there is always a worry.” Katoatau, who finished 15th on his Olympic debut in 2008, finished 14th this time with 349kg, 1kg more than his Commonwealth Games effort. “I am 32 but still improving,” he said. Richard Mason, the Canadian who is announcer at every session in Rio, said "Good lift" 13 times in a row at the start of the B Group. The first fail was Giorgi Chkheidze on 173kg. There was another big celebration for the German Jurgen Spiess, who finished with a personal best clean & jerk of 220kg for a total of 390kg. It matched his joy in the European Championships when Spiess made his last lift to earn a place in the team for Rio. “I hope to be back again in four years,” said Spiess, who is looking forward to seeing more of his infant son, Ben. “It has been a very hard time for my girlfriend Julia, because of my training,” said Spiess, 32. “Now I can spend some time at
