LOUTRAKI, GREECE – Bulgaria's Galabin Boevski came back with a bang last night, posting a convincing win at the European Weightlifting Championships.

Avenging his loss at last year's World Weightlifting Championships, Boevski opened with a somewhat shaky 150-kg snatch, made 155 with an adjustment on his second attempt, and then hit 157.5 kg on his final attempt, for the gold medal in the snatch. 

After opening with a 185-kg clean and jerk, Boevski won the gold medals in the clean and jerk, and in the total with his second attempt, 190 kg.  To emphasize his return to top form, Boevski then called for 197 kg, in an attempt to break his own world record in the clean and jerk.  He racked the weight, but could not stand up with it. Boevski had come to the competition hall looking relaxed and confident, but when asked about a world record performance, he said, "I don't know—it is very hard to break a world record."

His attempt to do just that was no bluff, however: Boevski later said that in training, coming into this contest, he had cleaned and jerked 200 kg, although he was weighing about seven kilos over his body weight limit.  Following Boevski's winning 347.5-kg total, Turan Murzayev (AZE) was second, at 340 kg, and Ekrem Celil (TUR) was third, at 325 kg.