While Iran’s Sohrab Moradi was unable to establish a new World record in the men’s 94 kg weightlifting competition, he did managed to win his nation’s second Olympic medal of these Games.
Moradi essentially clinched gold on his first attempt in the clean and jerk, as he lifted 221 kilograms to push his weight total up to 403 kilograms (approximately 888.5 pounds). Moradi lifted 182 kg in the snatch portion of the competition, hitting that mark on his third lift. In the clean and jerk Moradi made two attempts at 234 kilograms, which would have broken the world records in that lift and the overall weight total, but was unable to even attempt a catch on the clean portion.
Taking silver was Vadzim Straltsou of Belarus with a total weight lifted of 395 kilograms, with Lithuania’s Aurimas Didzbalis taking bronze at 392 kilos. Following his final attempt of the evening Didzbalis showed his appreciation for the crowd by making a heart and doing a back flip on the platform. All three medalists are the first ever for their respective nations in this weight class, and in the case of Didzbalis he is Lithuania’s first-ever weightlifting medalist.
WATCH: Lithuanian weightlifter celebrates bronze with backflip
Moradi joins countryman Kianoush Rostami as Iran’s medalists in Rio, with Rostami taking gold in the 85 kg weightlifting competition.
American Kendrick Farris, who lifted in Group B, finished 11th with a total weight lifted of 357 kilograms. Of the ten lifters in Group B, only Ukraine’s Volodymyr Hoza (375 kg) and South Korea’s Han-Woong Park (367 kg) lifted more weight than Farris.
