Rostami wins Iran’s 1st Rio medal with weightlifting gold

EghtesadOnline: Iranian weightlifter Kianoush Rostami wins the gold medal in the men’s 85-kg category at the Rio 2016 Olympics Games on August 12, 2016.

News ID: ۷۳۵۷۹۵

13 August 2016

Iran win their first medal of the Rio 2016 Olympics Games as weightlifter Kianoush Rostami grabs gold in the men's 85-kilogram category with a world record after lifting a total of 396 kilograms, reports ISNA.

Rostami eclipsed his own world mark set in May by one kilogram, and beat Tian Tao of China, who snatched the silver medal with a total lift of 395 kilograms.

The 25-year-old Iranian athlete lifted 179 and 217 kilograms in snatch and in clean and jerk respectively.

Romanian Gabriel Sincraian grabbed the bronze medal with a lift of 390 kilograms.

Back in February, Rosstami said, “It’s nearly a month that I have been training intensely for Olympic Games. I know my body much better than anyone else, and have been training both personally and as a member of Iran’s national team for years… I have gained a lot of experience over the past years.”

Rostami finished second in the 85-kilogram class both in the London 2012 Olympic Games and in the 2015 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Weightlifting Championships in Houston, the United States.

Rostami’s medal is Iran’s sixth weightlifting gold in Olympics.