Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia three-peats as Olympic weightlifting champion

By: The Associated Press Posted: 11:13 AM CDT Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024 Last Modified: 5:24 PM CDT Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024

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PARIS (AP) — Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia has won his third consecutive Olympic title in the heaviest weightlifting division, taking gold in the men's +102 kilograms on Saturday.

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PARIS (AP) — Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia has won his third consecutive Olympic title in the heaviest weightlifting division, taking gold in the men's +102 kilograms on Saturday.

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PARIS (AP) — Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia has won his third consecutive Olympic title in the heaviest weightlifting division, taking gold in the men’s +102 kilograms on Saturday.

Talakhadze won gold in the men’s +102 kilograms after winning at +109 kilograms in Tokyo three years ago and +105 kilograms in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro. He won with a total of of 470. Varazdat Lalayan of Armenia got silver with 467 and Gor Minasyan of Bahrain took bronze with 461.

Norway’s Solfrid Koanda won the women’s 82-kilogram division and China’s Liu Huanhua won the men’s 102 kilograms. Each is a new after the weight divisions were reclassified and reduced for the Paris Games.

Liu Huanhua of China competes during the men's 102kg weightlifting event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

China has won four weightlifting gold medals and has a chance at a fifth Sunday when Li Wenwen competes in the women’s 81-plus kilograms.

Liu beat Tokyo champion Akbar Djuraev of Uzbekistan in a reclassified division, as weightlifting was reduced from 14 to 10 events. Djuraev won gold three years ago at 109 kilograms and had to cut down from 240 to 224 pounds (109 to 102 kilograms) for the Paris Games.

“It was a little difficult to lose the weight,” Djuraev said. “That’s why I (only got) the silver medal. For the next Olympics, maybe there will be another change to the weight (categories), so maybe I can get a better result.”

China won seven gold medals in weightlifting at the Games three years ago. But the country had never won at a level above 100 kilograms.

“I believe the gold medal is a great proof, and it is also a breakthrough for the Chinese weightlifting team,” said Liu, who was making his Olympic debut at age 22. “It will give more confidence to the heavyweight weightlifters from China that we can win gold and achieve great results on the world stage.”

Medalists, from left to right, Akbar Djuraev of Uzbekistan, silver, Liu Huanhua of China, gold, and Individual Neutral Athlete Yauheni Tsikhantsou, bronze, celebrate on the podium during the medal ceremony for the men's 102kg weightlifting event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Liu won with a total of 406. Djuraev got silver at 404 and Belarusian Yauheni Tsikhantsou, who is competing as a neutral athlete, took bronze at 402. Ramiro Mora, a Cuba native living in Britain and representing the Refugee Team, was seventh.

The U.S. has its first gold since 2000 after Olivia Reeves won in the women’s 71 kilograms, and two medals total with Hampton Morris taking bronze in the men’s 61 kilograms.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games