Legendary weightlifter Rezazadeh backs Iranians to restore superheavyweight dominance
Weightlifting great Hossein Rezazadeh tipped his fellow-Iranians Alireza Yousefi and Ali Davoudi to dominate the superheavyweight class for the coming years after the two bagged five medals between them at the IWF World Championships last week.
Former world junior champion Yousefi, 21, grabbed the clean & jerk gold before settling for the total silver in the men’s +109kg event in Manama, while Davoudi claimed the snatch and total bronzes.
Armenian Varazdat Lalayan, meanwhile, finished on a 215-252-467 record to bag the snatch and total golds, coupled with a C&J bronze – a first world superheavyweight champion other than Georgian Lasha Talakhadze since Russian Ruslan Albegov made a clean sweep of triple golds in 2014.
Talakhadze, who won a third consecutive Olympic gold in August, has been the dominant force in the weight division for a decade, but he fueled his retirement rumors when he decided to skip the event in the Bahraini capital.
“Talakhadze is 30 now, and the physical toll of training and competing is hard to manage for someone his age. I don’t think we will see him in competitive action ever again,” Rezazadeh said of the Georgian great.
The superheavyweight class was the Iranians’ territory for the best part of 15 years before Talakhadze made his breakthrough in 2015, as Rezazadeh collected double Olympic golds in 2000 and 2004, with Behdad Salimi winning the ultimate prize in London 2012.
Rezazadeh believes Yousefi and Davoudi will bring back the glory years of the category to Iranian weightlifting again.
“They did a great job in winning five medals in Manama and I am positive they will restore the superheavyweight reign for the country in the near future,” said Rezazadeh, who also has 10 world golds under his belt.
“Yousefi’s 262kg lift in the C&J discipline was truly exceptional and worthy of winning the gold medal. I even told him he is capable of shattering the world record [which belongs to Talakhadze with 267kg]. That’s what Talakhadze and I had done in the past and I’m sure he has what it takes to emulate that feat. He’ll just need to do better with his snatch efforts to boost his chances for the total gold.
“Davoudi was also in a decent form, though he will have to raise his records in both snatch and C&J categories,” Rezazadeh said of Tokyo Olympic silver medalist.
Asked about the two Iranians’ main rivals in future comeptitions, Rezazadeh named Lalayan and Iraqi prodigy Ali Ammar Rubaiawi, who bettered the snatch world junior record in the Paris Olympics and finished fifth in the total standing in Manama.
A total of 10 medals saw a rejuvenated, new-look Iranian squad collect 560 points to finish runner-up to China in the men’s competitions.
“Weightlifting has been among the most prolific sports for Iran over the years, and I’m confident this group of young talents will win several medals in the 2026 Asian Games and the 2028 Olympics,” Rezazadeh said.