Athens – If you needed some 25-kg plates, yesterday afternoon was a bad day to find them in the training hall—with four of the world's top +105-kg weightlifters hitting the gym, most of the biggest bumpers were on bars, getting banged around by the biggest bodies.

Ronny Weller (Germany), considered to be an absolutely phenomenal talent in the sport, broke from the pattern of his earlier workouts in Athens. After his typical, very extensive warm up, Weller started with snatches, rather than an assistance movement, and he worked up to an easy single with 180 kg. Clean and jerks were next, with Weller going up to 190 kg for a single, before switching to clean pulls. Weller worked up to 250 kg for a double in the pulls. Weller's final preparation for the Olympics was hampered by a groin injury, but he still hopes to make history by winning his fifth Olympic medal in weightlifting.

Hossein Rezazadeh (Iran) focused on the core movements again, rapidly working up to 170 kg in the snatch for two easy singles. Why strip down the bar at this point if you are going to do clean and jerks next? No need to if you are Rezazadeh, because he started with 170 kg, for two easy singles, jumped to 220 for another single, and then squatted: 120 kg x 3, 220 kg x 2 and 220 kg x 2. Favored to win his second Olympic gold medal, Rezazadeh seemed relaxed, and the head of the Iranian Olympic Committee was among the well-wishers surrounding him.

Across the training hall, lifting on adjacent platforms, Viktors Scerbatihs (Latvia) and Ashot Danielyan (Armenia) rounded out the top talent. Scerbatihs began with his usual stretching routine, which relies heavily on his coach assisting him as he loosens up his wrists, elbows and shoulders. Scerbatihs worked up to an easy single with 160 kg in the snatch, and Danielyan went up to an easy 150 kg.

Moving into clean and jerks, Scerbatihs once again went through his typical stretching with his coach, aimed at loosening him up for racking the bar. Danielyan hit singles, working up from 120 kg to 180 kg, and seemed to be done, but with an eye on Scerbatihs, who had progressed from 70 kg to 190 kg, Danielyan threw on another 10 kg, and finished off his clean and jerks with the same 190 kg. Scerbatihs ended his workout with squats, going up to two singles with 230 kg. Danielyan had hit two singles in the squat with 220 kg when I had to leave for the men's 94-kg competition, but if he went higher, it wasn't likely to be by much.

Today might well be a rest day or feature some very light training for the supers, because tomorrow is show time.