Men’s 85 kg: A STORY OF 28 DKG
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| Rybakou BLR | Lu CHN | Martirosyan ARM |
Rybakou(BLR) took a silver four years ago in Athens. Holding the world record in the snatch and total weight, he went into the competition most favored to win. Before he stepped on the floor, China’s Lu Yong and Kazakhstan’s Vladimir Sedov both lifted 180kg in the snatch, followed by 177kg from Armenia’s Tigran Varban Martirosyan. Rybakou matched this weight with his first attempt, and went on to set a new Olympic record of 185kg with his last attempt.
However, the Clean and Jerk is Rybakou’s Achilles’ heel. He lifted 200kg with his first attempt, which was soon matched by Sedov. The heaviest blow came from Lu who lifted 208kg straight away. Rybakou answered with a 209kg lift on his last attempt, setting a new world record for total weight and leaving Lu, who has a lighter body weight than him, no choice but to lift at least 214kg.
Lu barely succeeded on 214kg with his second attempt. Then, after giving three white lights, the jury changed their minds and called his attempt a failure. With only one attempt left and two minutes to go, Lu shook off all the pressure and eventually lifted the 214kg with much more authority.
In the end, Lu won the gold medal thanks to a 0.28kg body weight advantage, event though his total weight of 394kg was the same as Rybakou’s.
Armenian Martirosyan lifted 203kg in the Clean and Jerk, tying with Sedov for 380kg in total weight. Martirosyan took the bronze medal by a 0.76kg body weight advantage. (BOCOG)
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