Weightlifting: Armenia’s Varazdat Lalayan Wins World Super-Heavyweight Gold

MANAMA – The 2024 World Weightlifting Championships in Manama, Bahrain, concluded on Sunday with the men’s and women’s super-heavyweight categories.

Armenia’s Varazdat Lalayan became the first world champion in the men’s +109 kg category, ending the era of Georgian Lasha Talakhadze’s dominance.

The Paris 2024 silver medalist, Lalayan, 25, was the main contender for gold. His strongest competition came from Paris 2024 bronze medalist Gor Minasyan, now representing Bahrain, while Iran’s Ali Davoudi and Alireza Yousefi were potential threats with their powerful clean & jerk lifts.

Lalayan was flawless in the snatch, successfully completing all three attempts and finishing with an impressive 215 kg. Minasyan, who holds the second-best snatch record in weightlifting history (217 kg) behind Talakhadze, failed on his third attempt at 215 kg and settled for 210 kg.

In the clean & jerk, Lalayan demonstrated his resilience. He opened with 245 kg, missed his second attempt at 252 kg, but succeeded on his third try, matching his career best of 467 kg from Paris. This performance earned him bronze in the clean & jerk and gold overall, making Lalayan the first Armenian to win a world title in the super-heavyweight category.