Matthias Steiner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Matthias Steiner |
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| Men's Weightlifting | |||
Competitor for  Germany |
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| European Championships | |||
| Silver | European 2008 | + 105 kg | |
Matthias Steiner (born 25 August 1982 in Vienna, Austria) is a German weightlifter. At the 2008 European Weightlifting Championships he won silver in the over 105 kg category, gold in snatch, and bronze in clean and jerk.
Matthias Steiner hails from Obersulz in Lower Austria. He started with weightlifting in his youth. As a profession he was trained as a plumber. At the age of 18 he was the best Austrian weightlifter. At the 2000 European Youth Championships in Rijeka, Croatia he came into 8th place in the 94 kg category, with 320 kg (142.5 kg snatch and 177.5 kg clean and jerk).
At the 2001 European Youth Championships in Kalmar, Sweden he won bronze in the 105 kg category, with 360 kg (165 kg and 195 kg). At that time he competed for the AC Woge Bregenz weightlifting club. At the 2002 European Youth Championships in Havířov, Czech Republic again he won bronze in the 105 kg category, with 380 kg (172.5 kg and 207.5 kg).
Until 2005 he competed regularly in World Championships and European Championships for Austria, as well as in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. He continued to increase his performance, at the Olympic Games he lifted 405 kg (182.5 kg and 222.5 kg) and went into 7th place in the 105 kg category.
At the 2005 European Championships in Sofia he had serious differences with his team, and didn't lift the three snatch attempts. In consequence he left the Austrian weightlifting federation, and moved to Germany. He married a German female from Zwickau in Saxony, and applied for German citizenship. During the three years this took, he was not allowed to compete in international competitions. Since moving to Germany he competes for the Chemnitzer AC weightlifting club, and trains in the German Federal Weightlifting Center in Leimen near Heidelberg.
On July 16 2007 his wife died in a car accident. Despite the tragic loss he was able to continue his training, received German citizenship in early 2008, and started to compete internationally again, for Germany.
At the 2008 European Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy in the over 105 kg category he was the only lifter to snatch 200 kg, winning gold. In clean and jerk he won bronze with a personal best of 246 kg. All his six attempts were successful. With a total result of of 446 kg he won silver behind Viktors Ščerbatihs from Latvia, who lifted 447 kg.
