Super Showdown in Sydney Shaping Up
by Randall J. Strossen, IronMind Enterprises, Inc. © 2000
(Sydney) The superheavyweight class in weightlifting at the Sydney Olympics has all the signs of producing a great battle, perhaps the best of all time. With a handful of legitimate contenders for the gold medal, speculation about who will leave as the winner is building as the big day draws near.
A couple of days ago in the training hall, Ronny Weller (GER) cleaned and jerked 240 kg like it was an empty bar. Later the same day, Hossein Rezzazadeh (IRI) power cleaned and power jerked 200 kg for two singles, very easily. Razzazadeh finished off his workout by front squatting 270 kg x 2 without much effort. Earlier in the week, Jaber Salem (QAT) stunned onlookers when he snatched 212.5 kg in the training hall.
Is the lifting likely to be good? Not really. It should be super.