Hossein Rezazadeh
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| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Iran |
|||
| Men's Weightlifting | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 2000 Sydney | + 105 kg | |
| Gold | 2004 Athens | + 105 kg | |
| World Championships | |||
| Gold | 2002 Warsaw | + 105 kg | |
| Gold | 2003 Vancouver | + 105 kg | |
| Gold | 2005 Doha | + 105 kg | |
| Gold | 2006 Santa Domingo | + 105 kg | |
| Bronze | 1999 Athens | + 105 kg | |
| Asian Games | |||
| Gold | 2002 Busan | + 105 kg | |
| Gold | 2006 Doha | + 105 kg | |
| Bronze | 1998 Bangkok | + 105 kg | |
| Asian Championships | |||
| Gold | 1999 Wuhan | + 105 kg | |
| Gold | 2003 Qinhuangdao | + 105 kg | |
| Gold | 2005 Dubai | + 105 kg | |
Hossein Rezazadeh (Persian: حسین رضازاده , born May 12, 1978 in Ardabil, Iran) is an Iranian weightlifter and the current world record holder in the sport. He is the third of seven children and at the age of 15, he took up weightlifting after being encouraged by his gym teacher.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Nicknamed "The Iranian Hercules", he currently holds the world records in weightlifting's super heavyweight class in the snatch, clean and jerk and total. He is the first Iranian athlete to have won two Olympic gold medals. He is also one of Iran's most noted celebrities, frequently appearing on television and in the news; his wedding, which was held in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, in February of 2003 was broadcast live on television in Iran.
In 2002 he was voted the "Champion of Champions" of Iran and was one of 16 Iranian athletes granted a badge of courage from Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. As a reward for setting a world record at the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships in Vancouver, Canada, Mohammad Khatami awarded him 600 million rials (a little more than 60,000 USD) to buy a house in Tehran. After his spectacular performance, he was offered by Turkey’s Weightlifting Federation a stipend of US$20,000 a month, as well as a luxury villa and US$10 million reward if he switches nationalities and wins gold for Turkey at the 2004 Athens Olympics, but he turned down their offers. Rezazadeh rejected the tempting offer saying, "I am an Iranian and love my country and people."[1]
He surprised many at the 2000 Summer Olympics, earning a gold medal and breaking the decades-old monopoly on the gold by the Soviet Union and then Russia. His gold medal was the first since 1960 by a non-Soviet or non-Russian athlete in the over 105 kg class at a non boycotted Games. He has since broken his own records on a number of occasions leading up to his world record 263.5 kg (580.9 pounds) lift in the clean and jerk at the 2004 Summer Olympics. His total (both lifts combined) at the 2004 Summer Olympics of 472.5 kg was 17.5 kg more than silver medalist Viktors Scerbatihs. He is the current IWF World Weightlifter of the Year, and was shortlisted for weightlifter of the century.
Rezazadeh's supremacy in the superheavyweight class has been virtually unchallenged in recent years. However, although he has not been pushed hard by his competition, he is still in pursuit of the all-time best IWF marks of 216 kg snatch (Antonio Krastev, 1987), 266 kg clean and jerk (Leonid Taranenko, 1988), and 475 kg total (Taranenko, 1988). Even though they exceed Rezazadeh's marks, these lifts are no longer the official world records due to the IWF's restructuring of weight classes.
Rezazadeh is also referred to by weightlifting commentators as "the strongest man in the world", primarily due to his world records in the olympics.
In 2006 the Rezazadeh Stadium was built in Rezazadeh's hometown of Ardabil. It was built to honour the achievements of Rezazadeh and is one of the most modern and innovative indoor arenas in Iran today.
[edit] Medals
- Gold - Olympic 2000 Sydney
- Gold - Olympic 2004 Athens
- Bronze - World Championships 1999 Athens (1 Silver, 1 Bronze)
- Gold - World Championships 2002 Warsaw (3 Gold)
- Gold - World Championships 2003 Vancouver (2 Gold, 1 Silver)
- Gold - World Championships 2005 Doha (2 Gold, 1 Silver)
- Gold - World Championships 2006 Santa Domingo (3 Gold)
- Bronze - Asian Games 1998 Bangkok
- Gold - Asian Games 2002 Busan
- Gold - Asian Games 2006 Doha
[edit] Statistics
[edit] Physical profile
Bodyweight: 156.6 Kg (2004 Olympics)
Height: 6 foot 1 inch (1.86 metres)
His Coach is: Dr. Mohammad Ali Shahi
[edit] Career Bests
Clean and Jerk (Official) 263.0 Kg (263.5 Kg)
Snatch: 213.0 Kg
Total: 472.0 Kg (about 475 sinclair points)
[edit] References
- ^ World's strongest man ready for more. Rediff.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
