On August 10, the medals were contested in the 102 kg weight category in weightlifting at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The representative of the Armenian team, Garik Karapetyan, fought for a medal until the last moment, but unfortunately, he finished in 4th place.
For the 21-year-old Armenian weightlifter, this was his first Olympics. He arrived in Paris ranked second in the world and was a medal contender. In the snatch, Karapetyan performed very well, showing his career-best result of 186 kg. After the snatch, he was leading alongside the Chinese lifter Liu Huanghua.
However, in the clean and jerk, Garik Karapetyan had to take risks. He confidently lifted 212 kg, and on the second attempt, he had to order 218 kg, although his career-best is 216 kg. The reason was that the Belarusian lifter, Yevgeny Tikhontsov, had ordered 219 kg, and Garik needed to lift 218 kg to at least secure third place. But Garik could not fix this weight in two attempts, although he was very close.
Yevgeny Tikhontsov managed to lift 219 kg and took third place in the total.
The gold medal was contested by the Chinese Liu Huanghua and Akbar Jurayev from Uzbekistan. For them, the clean and jerk is their signature lift, and both started their attempts after everyone else with 219 kg. Both managed only their first attempt. Jurayev lifted 219 kg, while Huanghua lifted 220 kg, which was enough to become the champion.
Liu Huanghua brought China its fourth gold medal in weightlifting at the Paris Olympics.
Results in the 102 kg category (weightlifting):
- Gold: Liu Huanghua (China) — 406 kg (186+220).
- Silver: Akbar Jurayev (Uzbekistan) — 404 kg (185+219).
- Bronze: Yevgeny Tikhontsov (Belarus) — 402 kg (183+219).
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- Garik Karapetyan (Armenia) — 398 kg (186+212).
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- Irakli Chkheidze (Georgia) — 393 kg (179+214).
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- Lesman Paredes (Bahrain) — 392 kg (181+211).
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- Mora Romero (Refugee Team) — 376 kg (166+210).
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- Wes Kitts (USA) — 374 kg (172+202).
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- Chan Yonghak (South Korea) — 373 kg (173+200).
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- Davranbek Hasanbayev (Turkmenistan) — 370 kg (180+190).
