Vancouver, British Columbia - Saif Assad (Qatar) won the 105-kg category tonight at the World Weightlifting Championships with 195/227.5 as the string of injuries continued. Denis Gotfrid (Ukraine), one the pre-contest favorites, dislocated his arm on his third attempt snatch (195 kg), opening the door for the other top competitors. Vladimir Smorchkov (Russia), lifting in the A-session for a change, won the gold medal in the snatch with 195 kg, bumping Assad on body weight, and Gotfrid got the bronze for his 192.5 kg second attempt. Alan Tsagaev (Bulgaria), who had missed 185 kg three times in the snatch, opened with a strong 230 in the clean and jerk, and his second attempt 235 held up for the gold medal in the clean and jerk.

Vancouver, British Columbia - Hossein Rezazadeh (Iran) might have missed his attempts at breaking his own world records in the snatch and in the clean and jerk, but he left the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships as the King of the Hill. Ronny Weller (Germany) didn't start, so that immediately changed the field in the snatch. Salem (Qatar) took the gold in the snatch with 210 kg, beating Udachyn (Ukraine) on bodyweight. Both lifters had made three good attempts (200, 205, 210), and Rezazadeh, after making 200 and 207.5, called for 213.5 but he couldn't lock it out. Going into the clean and jerk, it looked like it might come down to the final clean and jerk between Jaber and Rezazadeh, but Jaber pulled out, leaving Rezazadeh to open at 250 before moving to 263.5 in a bid to break his own world record in the clean and jerk. After an easy clean, though, he missed the jerk and passed up his third attempt. Even with the attrition in the field, it was a super ending to the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships, with a packed house cheering loudly, showing incredible support for the defending Olympic champion, Hossein Rezazadeh.

Vancouver, British Columbia - Coming in as favorite, Milen Dobrov (Bulgaria) didn't disappoint as the picked up the gold medal in the snatch (185 kg), the silver in the clean and jerk (220 kg), and the gold in the total (405 kg) in the 94-kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships. Also producing a very impressive performance, Hakan Yilmaz (Turkey) went six for six, ending up with 180/220, for a bronze in the jerk and a silver in the total. Bronze in the total went to Vadim Vacarciuc (Moldavia), via 177.5/222.5. Alexei Petrov (Russia) attacked his opening snatch, 180 kg, ripping the bar overhead, but had to run forward to save it and stepped off the platform. He came back to make it, and then 185 kg on his third attempt, so appeared to be in the hunt for gold medal in the total, but he missed all three jerks (220, 220, 222.5). Earlier, in the women's 75-kg category, Shang Shichun (China) broke the world records in the snatch (120 kg), the clean and jerk (153 kg) and the total (272.5 kg), for a dominating sweep of the gold medals.

Vancouver, British Columbia - Providing all the excitement you could ask for, Valeriu Calancea (Romania) won the gold medal in the jerk (215 kg) and the total (382.5 kg) on the final lift of 85-kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships. With two attempts left, Yuan Aijun (China) took 212.5 for his final clean and jerk, which would put him in the lead in both the clean and jerk, and in the total, and he made a good lift, but Calancea came roaring back on his final attempt, to knock Aijun out of gold medal position on bodyweight. Earlier today, Liu Chunhong (China), a junior, not only swept the gold medals in the women's 69-kg category, but also set a total of ten junior and senior world records in the process, ending her performance with 120/150. Lifting in the B-session of the men's 85-kg category, Georgi Gardev, who was a reserve lifter for Bulgaria, suffered a serious leg injury, and Oscar Chaplin (USA), lifting in the C-session, hit 165/190 for 13th place overall.

Vancouver, British Columbia - On paper it looked like it would be a battle down to the last lift, producing a big total, but the 77-kg category proved to be a battle of attrition and the last man standing was Hossein Falahati of Iran. Bombouts quickly reduced the field tonight, and even the winner of the snatch, Li Hongli (China), only made one lift, his opener of 162.5 kg. Hossein Falahati won the gold medal in the clean and jerk, with his second attempt, 202.5 kg, which also gave him the gold medal in the total (357.5 kg). He followed with a shot at the world record with 210.5 kg, but he only deadlifted the weight. Armenian junior Gevorg Davtyan took the silver medal in the clean and jerk (195 kg) and in the total (355 kg). Reyhan Arabacioglu (Turkey) got the bronze medal in the total with the same 355 kg. Unfortunately, the string of serious injuries continued as Hossein Barkah (Iran) dislocated his arm on his second attempt snatch, 165 kg.

Vancouver, British Columbia - Zhang Guozheng (China) won the 69-kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships today with a 152.5 kg snatch and a 192.5-kg clean and jerk, and Vladislav Lukanin (Russia), got the silver medal, along with Junior World Records in the jerk (192.5 kg) and the total (340 kg). Lee Bae-Young (Korea) got the bronze with 150/190.

Vancouver, British Columbia - Galabin Boevski arrived today and met with members of the press to discuss the events surrounding his reported suspension. While no official announcement has been made, multiple sources originally said that Boevski, along with his teammates Georgi Markov and Zlaten Vanev, had been suspended from the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships as a result of irregularities in a recent drug test. Today, members of the Bulgarian press and the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation said that Boevski had been banned for life and that the other two lifters had received two year suspensions. In the meeting with the press, Boevski said that he is appealing his suspension.

Vancouver, British Columbia - Halil Mutlu (Turkey) won the men's 62-kg category today at the World Weightlifting Championships with a 147.5-kg snatch and a 175-kg clean and jerk. Mutlu didn't look to be his usual sharp self, and in the post-competition press conference, he mentioned being concerned about his shoulder, after his surgery, and that it had not yet been decided whether he would compete in the 56-kg or in the 62-kg category at the Athens Olympics next year. Shi Zhiyong (China) was second, with 147.5/170, and Henadzi Alisashcuk (Bella Russe) was third, with 142.5/175. In the women's 48-kg category, Wang Mingyuan (CHN) won with 90/110, and had to withdraw after appearing to injure her left knee on her second clean and jerk. Tara (Nott) Cunningham, defending Olympic Champion, went five for six, finishing in seventh place with 77.5/97.5.

Vancouver, British Columbia - Wu Meijin (China) kicked off the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships by sweeping the men's 56-kg category with a 127.5 kg snatch and a 160-kg clean and jerk. On his third attempt, Wu cleaned 165 kg, but missed the jerk. Adrian Jigau (Romania) was second in the total, with 125/155, and Artur Sedat (Turkey) got the bronze medal in the total, via 125/152.5.

Vancouver, British Columbia - In a sudden development, three Bulgarian weightlifters have been suspended from the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships. Although no official statement has been issued yet, Galabin Boevski, Georgi Markov and Zlaten Vanev were suspended from this year's World Weightlifting Championships following a meeting last night that cited irregularities in the results of a recent doping control which did not find them positive but that indicated what has been described as unsportsmanlike behavior occurred. Galabin Boevski is reportedly still coming to Vancouver and is said to be planning to hold a press conference tomorrow to address this situation.

Vancouver, British Columbia - Even before the competition has begun, there is big news in terms of who is lifting and who is not. Three-time Olympic gold medalists Pirros Dimas and Kakhi Kakiashvili (both from Greece) will not be competing - both had been listed as starting in the 94-kg category. Jaber, a leading superheavyweight, will be competing (for Qatar), and is reported to be ready for world-record level lifts. Other big news is that two-time Olympic gold medalist Zhan Xugang (China) has come out of retirement and will be competing -putting even more heat on the already red hot 77-kg category.

As part of "the largest indoor agricultural show in the world," Scotty Pirsak has invited five of the top Canadian and five of the top American IFSA professional strongmen for the first ever North American team-format strongman competition to be held in western Canada. Hugo Girard, Geoff Dolan, Ryan Green, Steve Bourgeois and Brad Provick will represent Canada, and Ken Brown, Steve Kirit, Jon Andersen, Walt Gogola and Jared Spybrook will represent the U.S. This three-day event is scheduled for November 23 - 25 in the Agridome at the Regina (Saskatchewan) Exhibition Grounds. Full details are available at http://www.dieselpowerplus.com/ and http://x-tremestrongman.com/contestMenu.html .

Earlier today, Dave Morton mashed a No. 4 Captains of Crush® gripper in front of the person who we had selected as his official witness, and we expect to receive all his materials required for certification shortly. Given the significance of closing a No. 4 Captains of Crush gripper, we had, once again, made a special effort to select a judge with unimpeachable credentials and this time we chose no less than John Brookfield to do the honors. John said that Dave closed the No. 4 "convincingly," and that "he's the real deal."

"This will be the first competition since the World's Strongest Man that these guys will come face to face," said Jim Davis, IFSA-USA president, reinforcing just how huge he expects next weekend's MHP X-treme Strongman Challenge to be. As part of the GNC Show of Strength, Jim Davis Productions has brought together five of the top American strongman competitors to face off with five of the top European strongmen. Steve Kirit, Phil Pfister, Mark Philippi, Jesse Marunde and Don Pope will represent the US; and Mariusz Pudzianowski, Svend Karlsen, Zydrunas Savickas, Hugo Girard and Jarek Dymek will represent Europe. All ten are WSM competitors and both Karlsen and Pudzianowski have won that title; Savickas won the strongman competition at this year's Arnold Classic, and Kirit is the current IFSA-USA national champion, so here's your chance to see the best strongmen in the world. This year's GNC Show of Strength is November 7 - 9, in Atlanta, Georgia, and you can follow all the MHP X-treme Strongman details on the official IFSA-USA web site: http://x-tremestrongman.com/mainPage.html .

The North American Strongman Society (NASS), which hosts the strongman competitions that lead the top American amateurs to IFSA-USA and the World's Strongest Man show, will be hosting IronMind® Rolling Thunder� competitions starting with the first Pro-Card qualifier of the new season. Scheduled for December 6th in St. Louis, Missouri, The Monsters of the Midwest is a national qualifier for NASS, and it will include a Rolling Thunder contest that will allow anyone who would like to enter to qualify for the US amateur Rolling Thunder National Championships, which, for the first time, will be held in conjunction with the NASS National Championships. For full details on NASS events, and the IronMind Rolling Thunder competitions at NASS competitions in the 2004 season, check the official NASS web site: http://www.nastrongman.com/news/index.htm .