Djuraev wins men's 109kg weightlifting gold at Tokyo

Akbar Djuraev gave Uzbekistan its third Olympic medal in weightlifting as he beat world champion Simon Martirosyan of Armenia to win the men's 109kg gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games here on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

The final was billed as a battle between Djuraev and Martirosyan, and it proved to be just that. The European champion Martirosyan snatched the most of 195kg with breeze, and was being chased by the 21-year-old Djuraev, who sat behind by two kilos.

Martirosyan, world champion both in 2018 and 2019, was not as competitive as he jerked up 228kg with a total of 423kg, while Djuraev jerked 237, totalling at 430kg to nail the title.

"I didn't think I could get this medal, so I'm very confused right now. It's not only my medal, it is Uzbekistan's medal," said Djuraev.

"I could realise my father's dream, too. I'm very happy to be here today. I appreciate all my supporters, they came all the way to cheer me up, and I'm very happy for that."

Arturs Plesnieks of Latvia, ninth-place-winner in the 2019 worlds, took the bronze medal with 410kg.

"This medal means 20 years of effort. I have many medals from juniors, from world competitions but this is my first medal from the Olympics, and I'm very happy to have it," the 29-year-old veteran told the press.

"Djuraev is a very calm athlete. Actually, we went to a training camp together to the Ukraine. He's young and he has good prospects. Of course he inspires me, his technique is good, and I think he has more than a few more Olympics ahead."