Lasha Talakhadze maintained his iron grip on the title of “World’s Strongest Man” when he won his third consecutive Olympic heavyweight gold on Saturday.
The Georgian has remained unbeaten at major championships since his first world title in 2015, but unusually had to come from behind.
Gor Minasyan, an Olympic medalist for Armenia in 2016 but representing Bahrain in Paris, lifted 1 kg more in the first half of the competition.
On his second lift, Talakhadze turned and staggered around the stage before locking his arms and planting his legs to secure a total of 470kg.
Varazdat Lalayan of Armenia tried to pass it but failed and finished second, 3kg back.
Minasyan was third.
Previous medalists on Saturday spoke of the sacrifices they had to make to adapt to the changing Olympic weight classes – either fighting to cut weight or packing on.
Diet is irrelevant in the highest weight category. The floor may have dropped from 109 kilograms in Tokyo to 102 kilograms in Paris, but for the monsters in the final, this change is irrelevant.
Talakhadze weighed 178.45 kg (393 lb) at the Olympics. The lightest competitor was Ali Ammar Rubaiawa of Iraq, a youngster who, less than a week after turning 20, weighed 134.85 kg.
In Paris, weightlifting has four less gold medals. To compensate, the scales have moved further apart, forcing lifters to make tough decisions.
Saturday’s inaugural champion Liu Huanhua described the “torture” of piling on the pounds as he moved up several weight classes.
Liu lifted 406 kg, 7 kg short of his own world record in the 102 kg class, the second heaviest for men.
Liu explained that he had to “stuff a lot into my stomach” to jump 21kg from 81kg.
“In the beginning it was comfortable because I had a lot of food. There were a lot of things I was afraid to eat in the past,” he said.
“My weight went up to 98kg and then it stopped. I had to stuff a lot into my stomach. There was a lot of fat, so I had to increase my cardio training – a lot of running and cycling. It was torture.”
Uzbekistan’s Akbar Djuraev finished 2kg behind Liu with Yauheni Tsikhantsa, Belarus competing in Paris as a neutral athlete, bronze. In the women’s 81kg class, Norway’s Solfrid Koanda won with a total of 275kg, 7kg ahead of Egypt’s Sara Ahmed, who edged Ecuador’s Neisi Dajomes by 1kg.
