News / Sports

Russia’s Lovchev breaks weightlifting world records

Sunday, 29 November 2015 2:08 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 29 November 2015 2:09 PM ]

Aleksei Lovchev of Russia competes in the men’s +105 kg weight class during the 2015 International Weightlifting Federation World Championships at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas, the United States, on November 28, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

Russian weightlifter Aleksey Lovchev has established new world records in the clean and jerk and aggregate in the 2015 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Weightlifting Championships in the United States.

On Saturday, the 26-year-old pocketed all three available gold medals in the over 105-kilogram weight category at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

Lovchev raised 211 kilograms overhead to claim the snatch gold medal. Georgian sportsman Lasha Talakhadze, 21, took the silver with a lift of 207 kilogram. Gor Minasyan from Armenia elevated 203 kilograms to pick up the bronze.

The Russian athlete topped the clean and jerk podium with 248 kilograms. Estonia’s Mart Seim finished second and won the silver with 248 kilograms. Talakhadze scooped up the bronze with a lift of 247 kilograms.

Lovchev clinched the world overall title after recording a winning total of 475 kilograms. Talakhadze claimed the silver medal with 454 kilograms in the total lift. Seim seized the bronze with a total of 438 kilograms.

Iranian weightlifter Hossein Rezazadeh goes for gold during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. (File photo)

With the outstanding results, Lovchev managed to break the world records previously held by the retired Iranian Olympic weightlifter Hossein Rezazadeh.

Rezazadeh set a world record of 263.5-kilogram lift in the clean and jerk at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. His total mark of 472.5 kilograms was 17.5 kilograms more than Latvian silver medalist Viktors Scerbatihs.

“When I was little I used to watch Rezazadeh on television, lifting enormous weights. He was an example to me and I never imagined I would one day take his records,” Lovchev said.

“I could never have done it without the support of my parents. My father is my coach and he introduced me to weightlifting. My mother passed away in 2012 and I dedicate this victory and the records to her,” the Russian sportsman said.

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