By Junko Fujita
TOKYO (Reuters) – Uzbekistan’s Akbar Djuraev defeated Armenia’s world record holder Simon Martirosyan to win gold in the men’s 109 kg weightlifting category at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday.
The 21-year old Djuraev lifted 193kg for the snatch and 237 kg for the clean and jerk for a total of 430kg, five kilos short of Martirosyan’s record set in 2018.
Martirosyan took silver with 423kg after failing in his last two clean & jerk attempts. Latvia’s Arturs Plesnieks won bronze with 410kg.
“I didn’t think I could achieve this record and get the medal so I am very pleased right now,” Djuraev said through an interpreter.
Loud cheers echoed in the area as Djuraev completed his third clean and jerk of 237 kg to set an Olympic record. Djuraev bent down and put his head on the floor.
Then 24-year-old Martirosyan started his remaining two clean and jerk attempts at 238 kg, which could have broken Djuraev’s records. But he failed at both lifts.
In the snatch, Martirosyan lifted 195 kg to set an Olympic record but then failed to lift 198 kg in his final attempt.
Djuraev, who earned Uzbekistan a weightlifting medal at a third successive Olympics, put his right hand on his heart as his national flag was raised during the presentation ceremony and sang the national anthem with his lips sticking out above his mask.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Ken Ferris and Pritha Sarkar)
