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+105 KG: WHO IS THE STRONGEST MAN ON EARTH?

After Hossein Rezazadeh, who has dominated this category since the late 1990s and pocketed two Olympic gold medals (2000, 2004), announced his withdrawal decision shortly before the start of Beijing 2008, the door was suddenly wide open, and every top lifter had a shot for the title of "world's strongest man." Viktors Scerbatihs (LAT) Most heavily favored is Latvia's Viktors Scerbatihs, a 33-year-old lawmaker who finished second at Athens. Freshly crowned in last year's World Championships, in-form Scerbatihs is considered the front-runner for gold. Germany's Matthias Steiner (Winner of the test event in Beijing), Russia's Evgeny Chigishev and Artem Udachyn (UKR) are also liable to give Scerbatihs a run for his money. Qatar's Jaber Saeed Salem announced his withdrawal decision shortly before the Games started. Also worth mentioning is Maama Lolohea of Tonga, because he is the oldest male weightlifter at the Beijing Olympic. the 40-year-old Tongan is competing in his first Games.

Men’s 105 kg press conference quotes:

Andrei Aramnau (BLR), gold medalist: "I have been preparing for a long time for this and there could not have been a different result, This medal comprises all 20 years of my life. My first coach told me that I would become an Olympic champion at the age of 20, and that's what happened." Dmitriy Klokov (RUS), silver medalist: "That was the emotion that came naturally because I spent a lot of time preparing for this moment and I just couldn't hold back my tears," Dmitry Lapikov (RUS), bronze medalist: " My coach said to do 230 kg, so that is what I did. I told my coach that in theclear and jerk I would lift as much as I need to in order to win a

Men’s 105 kg: Aramnau (BLR): One lift equals six new records

It was a perfect day for Andrei Aramnau (BLR) as he won the gold medal of this class. Aramnau, 20, did not miss a lift and he became the first lifter in this category to snatch 200kg, a junior and senior world record. Marcin Dolega (POL) who held the old record at 199kg, tried to reclaim it with his third attempt but failed with 201kg. Clean and jerk of 230kg won the gold medal for Aramnau. He then claimed all the world records with his last attempt, 236kg for the clean and jerk mark and 436kg for the total.By one attempt he set up 6 new records: World record, Olympic record and junior world record both in clean and jerk and in total. A tight battle developed for the silver and bronze medals. Dolega's 195kg snatch had him just ahead Dmitriy Klokov (RUS)on 193kg, Bakhyt Akhmetov (KAZ) on 190kg, Dmitry Lapikov (RUS) also on 190kg and last Olympic's silver medallist Igor Razoronov of (UKR) a further 3kg behind on 187kg.   Dolega only success with 225kg gave him a total of 420kg.   Lapikov edged him out for the bronze on lighter bodyweight when he jerked 230kg for the same total and then Klokov passed them both with 230kg for a 423kg total and silver.   Razoronov, a 38-year-old veteran tried for the bronze with 234kg. He cleaned this weight but the jerk proved to be beyond him.   Aramnau's victory was Belarus' first gold medal in Beijing, and its first ever in weightlifting as an independent nation.

Men’s 105 kg: the great challenge for world champion Aramnau

2005 world champion Dmitriy Klokov (RUS)  is favored to win. The 25-year-old has performed quite consistently for the past few years, grabbing a gold at the 2005 WC and bronze at both the 2006 and 2007 World Championships. Twenty-year-old Andrei Aramnau (BLR) is another possible winner. The young man lifted 423kg in the 2007 World Championships to claim the gold at the age of 19. If he wins he'll bring Belarus' their first ever Olympic weightlifting gold. 2006 world champion Marcin Dołęga (POL) comes to the Games with a favorable 430kg entry total weight, and is one of the medal-worthy finalists. Dołęga also holds the world record of 199kg in the snatch.   Other medal candidates include 2006 World Championships silver medalist Dmitry Lapikov (RUS), previous world cahmpion,  2005 World Championships bronze medalist Martin Tešovič (SVK) and Athens silver medalist Igor Razoronov (UKR).

Men’s 94 kg: Press conference quotes

Ilya Ilin (KAZ), gold medallist:   "In my second snatch I hurt my elbow and the doctor tried to fix it. I was worried that I could not compete, but my coach helped me and gave me confidence. He helped me stand up psychologically. In the clean and jerk I got 226kg. I began to congratulate myself because I had done my best. If others had lifted more than me, they are good boys. I would have been happy for them."   Szymon Kolecki (POL), silver medallist:   "I should have won by 6 good attempts, but I was able just for 5."     Khadzhimurat Akkaev (RUS), bronze medallist: (after his competition was over in group B):  "I think my 402 kg should be enough for winning the gold medal. I came just for gold and not for silver or bronze."   (after the competition was over in group A):  "It was my coach's greatest mistake he ever did by stopping me to start together with the highest quality of athletes in this class."

Men’s 94 kg: Kazakhstan’s first Beijing gold and at the same time the country’s first ever Olympic weightlifting gold medal

Ilya Ilin (KAZ), winner of the 2006 WC was among the favorites to win the gold, along with Szymon Kołecki (POL), world record holder in clean and jerkl and Nizami Pashayev (AZE), the world champion in 2005. Pashayev did best among the lifters in the snatch, reaching 181kg after three attempts. Ilin gave up his third attempt after lifting 180kg to reserve some energy. Kołecki lifted 179kg. The 2008 Asian champion, Asghar Ebrahimi of Iran, also lifted 180kg.They were so close to each other nothing was sure about the final outcome. The real battle came in the clean and jerk. Pashayev surprisingly failed his first two attempts at 215kg. He eventually succeeded with his last trial, but his chance of winning had slipped away. On the other hand, world recorder holder Kołecki only lifted a conservative 217kg with his first attempt. Pashayev AZE Ilin directly tried for 223kg with his first attempt but failed. His strategy forced Kołecki to increase his second attempt to 224kg. Both succeeded in their second attempts and tied at 403kg, but Ilin's 0.09kg less body weight put him in first place. Under huge pressure, Kołecki changed his weight for the last attempt and let Ilin lift first. Ilin completed 226kg successfully, then Kołecki asked for 228kg, 4kg less then his world record, but he failed. Khadzhimurat Akkaev (RUS) started in group B only snatched176kg, but an excellent 223kg helped him handed him the bronze medal. Kolecki POL Akkaev RUS