The Unofficial 2008 Beijing Olympics Blog

On his final lift, Matthias Steiner of Germany pulled ahead of Russia’s Evgeny Chigishev to win the Men’s Over 105 kilogram Weightlifting final on Tuesday, August 19. Steiner lifted a total of 461kg, 203kg in the Snatch and 258kg in the Clean and Jerk, to beat Chigishev by one kilogram for the gold.

Viktors Scerbatihs of Latvia finished with a total of 448kg for the bronze medal.

Steiner lifted 198kg on his first Snatch attempt, followed by 203kg and then an unsuccessful 207kg attempt. Chigishev had a perfect performance all night, beginning with three successful lifts ending with 210kg in the Snatch. Latvia’s Scerbatihs finished third place after the Snatch with 206kg, as Ukraine’s Artem Udachyn finished 1kg better with 207kg.

Jeon Sang-guen from the Republic of Korea bombed-out in the Snatch.

These rankings were all changed by the Clean and Jerk portion of the competition. Udachyn could only succeed on his second attempt of 235kg and finished with a 442kg total. Scerbatihs, meanwhile, succeeded right off the bat with 242kg, but could not manage another lift and ended at 448kg in the total, enough to beat the Ukranian Udachyn out of third place.

Steiner missed his first attempt of 246kg, but succeeded in lifting 248kg on the second try. Chigishev breezed through the Clean and Jerk, going from 240kg to 250kg for a total finish of 460kg. Germany’s Steiner needed a final lift of 258kg, 10kg more than his second attempt, to edge the Russian lifter for the gold. In a dramatic Olympic moment, Steiner lifted exactly what he needed to clinch his victory.

Steiner finished seventh in the 2004 Olympics in the 105kg weight category, and took the gold in the 2008 European Championship over 105kg Snatch competition, bronze in the Clean and Jerk and silver overall with a total weight of 446kg.

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Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics Gymnasium hosted The Women’s Weightlifting 63kg final on day four of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Pak Hyon-suk of the of Korea (DPRK) lifted a total of 241 kilos to win the gold medal. Also Irina Nekrassova from Kazakhstan took the silver as she managed to lift while only 240 kgs. Her effort by no means to be belittled. Ying-chi from Chinese Taipei got the bronze with 231kg . I am sure there will be much more excitement in days to follow.

The competition’s favorite and defending Olympic holder, Chen Yanqing, didn’t have any problems winning the gold in the Women’s 58 kilogram Weightlifting final on August 11, with a total of 244kg. Chen’s stellar performance confirmed her unparalleled status in this weight class. The 29-year old is the current world record holder for the Snatch (111kg) and total weight (251kg).

Russia’s Marina Shainova lifted 129kg just six seconds before the time ran out and took the silver medal with a total weight of 227kg. O Jong-ae of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea lifted 131kg with her last attempt, tying her total weight with Thailand’s Wandee Kameaim and taking the bronze medal thanks to a slightly lower pre-competition weigh-in.

Seventeen-year-old Long Qingquan of China became the new Olympic champion of the Men’s Weightlifting 56 kilogram class after lifting a total weight of 292kg, out-lifting competition favorite, Cha Kum Chol of the Democratic People’s Republic of Koreajust.

Long won the final with a total weight of 292kg, which is another world junior record. Runner-up Hoang Anh Tuan became the second Vietnamese athlete ever to win an Olympic medal, and bronze medalist Eko Yuli Irawan grabbed the third Olympic Weightlifting medal in his country’s history.