Lasha Talakhadze

Lasha Talakhadze, born October 2nd, 1993, is a Georgian weightlifter known for holding all-time world records in the snatch (225 kg), the clean and jerk (276 kg), and the total (492 kg). He’s a two-time Olympic champion, seven-time world champion, and seven-time European champion, competing in the super-heavyweight category. Talakhadze is also a three-time winner of the IWF Male Lifter of the Year award. 

His lifting journey started to gain traction when he represented Georgia at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships, where he first finished second, but he was later awarded the gold after the original winner was disqualified for doping. His breakthrough came at the 2016 Olympics, where he broke the world record with a 215 kg snatch and a 258 kg clean and jerk, totaling 473 kg. In 2017, he set a new snatch record at the European Championships with 217 kg, breaking the all-time highest snatch record. At the 2017 World Championships, he broke his own snatch record with 220 kg and set a new total record of 477 kg. 

In 2018, after the IWF restructured the weight classes, Talakhadze competed in the +109 category and continued his record-breaking spree. At the 2018 World Championships, he set world records in snatch (217kg), clean and jerk (257 kg), and total (474 kg). He continued to break records at the 2019 European and World Championships, setting new benchmarks on a consistent basis. His total of 484 kg at the 2019 World Championships is still one of the highest scores ever recorded. 

His success continued into the 2020s. At the 2021 World Championships, he broke his own records again when he lifted 225 kg in the snatch, 267 kg in the clean and jerk, and totaling 492 kg. Despite getting injured in 2022, he still managed to win first place at the European Championships and has continued to win at the 2022 World Championships in Bogota. In 2023, he won gold at the European Championships in Yerevan with a total of 474 kg and claimed his seventh world title at the World Championships in Saudi Arabia with a total of 473 kg. 

Another big thing that marked his career is a doping ban he received in 2013, after testing positive for stanozolol, which prevented him from competing for 2 years. But even with that, he still managed to come back stronger and more determined. He received numerous accolades for his achievements, like the President’s Order of Excellence and multiple Sportsperson of the Year awards from the Georgian National Olympic Committee.