Varazdat Lalayan (Armenia) Secures Silver after a Tightly Contested Men’s 102+ kg Weightlifting at the Paris 2024 Olympics

Varazdat Lalayan of Armenia had his debut at this year’s Olympics in Paris where he claimed the silver medal in the men’s superheavyweight category, after lifting an impressive 467 kg.

This remarkable achievement at Lalayan’s first ever Olympics underscores his rapid rise in his career.

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Snatch

Lalayan began the snatch section strong, keeping up with Talakhadze at every attempt. On his first go, Lalayan lifted 210 kg effortlessly. On his second attempt, he went for 215 kg and secured the snatch with confidence. 

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For his third attempt, Lalayan chose 218 kg which proved much too challenging for the Armenian lifter. With two out of the three attempts successful on the snatch, it was time to go to the C&J.

Clean and Jerk

In the clean and jerk, Lalayan again went for the same weight as Talakhadze on the first attempt, securing the 247 kg lift with style. On his second attempt, however, Lalayan upped the weight to 252 kg instead of the 255 kg that the Georgian chose. Varazdat lifted that weight successfully, but at that point, he was 3 kilos short in total. 

After careful strategic deliberation, Lalayan chose 256 kg for his final attempt, aiming to clinch gold. This would put significant pressure on Talakhadze’s last attempt, as Lalayan would have a +1 kilo advantage. Unfortunately, Lalayan’s third attempt was too much for the Armenian to handle.

In the end, the gold went to Lasha Talakhadze from Georgia, who lifted a total of 470 kg, while the bronze medal was claimed by Gor Minasyan of Bahrain with a total of 461 kg. That was one of the closest battles in the superheavyweight division for the last decade. We hope to see more such sessions at the major weightlifting events in the near future.