Weightlifting - Champions
Throughout the year, umpteen weightlifting tournaments are organized across the globe. Among these, only a selected number of tournaments are undertaken, organised and supervised by the International Weightlifting Federation (IFW). These tournaments implement the set of rules and regulations laid down by the IFW. Out of all tournaments, The World Weightlifting Championship and Weightlifting at Summer Olympics are of prime stature and importance.
The World Weightlifting Championship is held annually, whereas Weightlifting at Summer Olympics takes place in every Summer Olympics, i.e., once in four year. However, the tournaments held during Summer Olympics in 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 were considered as World Weightlifting Championships of the corresponding year
Weightlifting – Champion of Champions
There are many weightlifting champions who have won gold, silver, and bronze medals in various categories and tournaments. The details of some of them is given below.
Halil Mutlu
Halil Mutlu is a Turkish weightlifter who has won gold medals in three Olympics consecutively. He has created 20 world records. Along with this, he has also won five world and nine European championships.
He took part in 1992 Olympics and got fifth rank. In 1996, he broke the world record and won a gold medal. In 2000 Olympics also he won gold medal in snatch and clean and jerk categories. He was banned in 2005 for taking steroids and in 2008 Olympics, he informed that he could not lift the targeted weight so he was expelled.
Liao Hui
Liao Hui is a Chinese weightlifter who is an Olympic champion and has also created record in 69 kg category in snatch and clean and jerk and in the combination of both.
He broke junior world record in 2007 and won a gold medal in 2008 Olympics. The world championships held in 2009 and 2013 were also good for him as he won gold medals in both of them.
Liao was banned in 2011 for taking banned drugs. The ban was lifted in 2012 and he again broke the record in 2013 world championship in snatch, clean and jerk and in the combination of both.
Hafız Süleymanoğlu
Hafız Süleymanoğlu is a retired Turkish weightlifter having the origin of Azerbaijan. He started his weightlifting career in 1985 in Azerbaijan and got a place in Soviet Union team.
He won the World championship and the European championship titles for Soviet Union in 1989. After that, he immigrated to Turkey and won a gold in 1990 World Championship and 1991 European championship.
He has also taken part in Olympics but could not win any medal. He was also unsuccessful in 1998 and 1999 world championships so he was taken out of the national team by Turkey weightlifting championships.
Naim Suleymanoglu
Naim Suleymanoglu is a Turkish weightlifter who has a record of lifting weight of 190 kg in clean and jerk category. He set his first record at the age of 16 and after that he joined the Soviet boycott. Then he moved to Turkey and got its citizenship.
He took part in Seoul Olympics in 1988 and won a gold medal. He also took part in 1989 world championship and won gold medal. He won his second Olympic gold in 1992. After winning gold in 1996 Olympics he retired.
Tigran Gevorg Martirosyan
Tigran Gevorg Martirosyan is an Armenian weightlifter who won his first gold medal in 2004 European Championship in junior category. The next year, he won a gold in the same championship in juniors.
In 2006, he made a debut as a senior player and got sixth rank in world weightlifting championships. In 2007 World Championships, he won silver and the next year, he won gold in World Weightlifting Championship.
In 2008 Olympics, he won a silver medal for his country and became the youngest Olympic medallist from Armenia. In 2009 World Championship, he won silver medal but again won a gold in 2010 in World Weightlifting Championship. He couldn’t take part in 2012 Olympics because of his back injury.
Nurcan Taylan
Nurcan Taylan is a Turkish weightlifter who has got six world records. She has won a gold medal in Athens Olympics in 2004. She also has made five world records in 48 kg category.
In World Championships, she won one gold, two silver, and two bronze medals whereas in European championships she has won seven gold medals. She was banned in 2011 for four years as her doping test was positive.
Zulfiya Chinshanlo
Zulfiya Chinshanlo is a weightlifter from Kazakhstan. She has set a world record in 2012 Olympics She has also won a gold in world championship held in 2014.
In London Olympics she lifted the weight on 92kg in snatch lifting and 131kg in clean and jerk which was totalled to 226kg. This let her got the first rank and a gold medal. Besides this she got gold medals in world championships and silver medals in Asian games and Youth Olympic Games.
Karnam Malleswari
Karnam Malleswari is an Indian weightlifter who was national champion for nine years. She was champion for two years in 52 kg category and for seven years in 54 kg category.
She started her career in 1992 and won three silver medals in the Asian games. She has also won bronze medals in world championships.
Besides this, she also has got a bronze medal in 2000 summer Olympics held in Sydney. She has received Rajiv Gandhi khel ratna award, Padma Shri, and Arjuna award. In 1995 World Championship and Asian Games, she won gold medals. In 1998 Asian Games, she won a silver medal.
Aleksandra Klejnowska
Aleksandra Klejnowska is a Polish weightlifter who won many medals for her country. She first appeared in 2000 Olympics and got fifth rank.
In 2001 World Championship, she became the world champion as she lifted the weight of 202.5kg. In 2002, she was tested for doping and the results were positive so she was banned for two years.
In 2004, 2008, and 2012 Olympics, she couldn’t won any medals. She won the world championship in 2008 by lifting 212 kg.
Cao Lei
Cao Lei is a Chinese weightlifter who started her career in 2001 and won gold in Asian championship. In 2002, she won junior world championship. In 2005, she took part in East Asian Games and got a gold medal.
In 2006, she won two golds one in world weightlifting championship and other in Asian games. In 2007 World Weightlifting Championship she again won a gold medal and in 2008 she won a gold medal in 75 kg division where she lifted a weight of 128 kg in snatch 154 kg in clean and jerk which results in total of 339kg.
