London, Aug 8: Iran’s Behdad Salimikordasiabi won gold in the headline event of the London weightlifting competition to claim the title of strongest man at the Olympics.
 The 22-year-old, known as “Salimi”, lifted a total of 455kg in the over-105 kilogram weight category, comprising a 208kg snatch lift and a 247kg clean and jerk.
 That put him 6kg ahead of silver medallist and fellow countryman Sajjad Anoushiravani Hamlabad who joined him on the platform at the end of the competition to hoist an Iranian flag in front of a raucous crowd.
 Russia’s Ruslan Albegov won the bronze with 448kg. Beijing Olympic champion Matthias Steiner did not finish the event after receiving a blow to the head from the falling bar when his arms buckled on a 196kg snatch attempt. Germany’s Steiner left the stage on his feet, raising a hand to acknowledge the cheers of the crowd.Salimi was tied with Russia’s Albegov at the halfway stage after both completed snatch lifts of 208kg, but the Iranian proved too strong in the clean and jerk lift where his first lift proved enough to beat off the rest of the field.
 The crowd roared their approval as Salimi then attempted a 264kg clean and jerk that would have taken the world record from two-time Olympic champion Hossein Rezazadeh, who was cheering on from the sidelines in his role as president of the Iranian weightlifting federation.
 However the lift proved too much and after failing his first attempt, and with gold already secured, he unbuckled his belt and remained on the platform to lap up the applause of a crowd featuring a large and noisy Iranian contingent. REUTERS

Lastupdate on : Wed, 8 Aug 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 8 Aug 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 9 Aug 2012 00:00:00 IST