Since 2016, weightlifting fans all over the world have expected major competitions to close out with a bang. Georgian super-heavyweight and two-time Olympic Champion Lasha Talakhadze, who lifts in the final event of every weightlifting meet in the Men’s +109-kilogram division, has routinely ensured that things end on a high note.
Lasha must retain the feeling of the podium.
Georgi Asanidze, Team Georgia head coach
On Wednesday, Apr. 10, 2024, sources close to BarBend informed that Talakhadze will not compete in the Men’s +109-kilogram event at the 2024 IWF World Cup on Apr. 11. The multi-world-record holder will weigh in at the Cup to meet Olympic qualification criteria and guarantee his ticket to Paris, but will not return to the stage after athlete introductions.
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Talakhadze’s team did not specifically indicate why he won’t perform at the Cup this year. Speaking to BarBend from Phuket via text, Weightlifting House founder and lead event commentator Seb Ostrowicz remarked on Talakhadze’s status:
“I spoke with Lasha after he watched his teammate compete today. He said Paris was his ultimate goal, but said he wouldn’t lift [at the Cup].”
Ostrowicz refers to the Men’s 109-kilogram session, which took place on the evening of Apr. 10 in Phuket. Talakhadze’s teammate Zaza Lomtadze won the bronze medal in the Total there, placing behind Azerbaijan’s Dadash Dadashbeyli and 2020 Olympic Champion from Uzbekistan Akbar Djuraev.
Furthermore, Ostrowicz also indicated that Bahrain’s Gor Minasyan, the world’s number-two ranked super-heavyweight, won’t perform at the Cup either: “[Gor] put in a 60-kilogram entry Total, an international signal that he intends to only weigh in.”
Can Lasha Talakhadze Win the 2024 Olympics?
Talakhadze is the world’s most dominant male weightlifter by a wide margin. He’s won every single weightlifting meet he’s attended since 2013, including seven European Championships, seven World titles, and two Olympic golds (2016, 2020). He also holds the snatch, clean & jerk, and Total world records in his category.
Talakhadze’s lead over the rest of the world’s best super-heavyweights has begun to shrink in recent years as he’s battled several significant injuries throughout the Paris qualification cycle. Talakhadze withdrew from the 2024 European Championships in February as well — at the time, his coach had declared their intent to compete in Phuket to, “retain the feeling of the podium.”
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Despite his recent stint of stage-shyness, Talakhadze remains the favorite to win gold this August at the 2024 Olympics. At his last competition, the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships, Talakhadze won with a 473-kilogram Total and a 13-kilo lead against silver medalist Varazdat Lalayan.
When the two met at Talakhadze’s peak at the 2021 World Championships, Talakhadze won by a 35-kilogram margin (492 to Lalayan’s 457). The Georgian giant’s decade-long grasp of the +109-kilogram category may be loosening, but a third gold medal in Paris remains a safe bet.
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Featured Image: @talakhadzelasha_official on Instagram
