Lasha Talakhadze

Lasha Talakhadze
Talakhadze at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Native nameლაშა ტალახაძე
NationalityGeorgian
Born (1993-10-02) 2 October 1993 (age 30)
Sachkhere, Georgia
Height1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight183 kg (403 lb)
Sport
CountryGeorgia
SportWeightlifting
Event+109 kg
Coached byGiorgi Asanidze
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • Snatch: 225 kg (2021, CWR)
  • Clean and jerk: 267 kg (2021, CWR)
  • Total: 492 kg (2021, CWR)

Lasha Talakhadze (Georgian: ლაშა ტალახაძე; born 2 October 1993) is a Georgian weightlifter, holding the all-time world records regardless of weight category in the snatch (225 kg, 496 lb), the clean and jerk (267 kg, 589 lb), and the total (492 kg, 1,085 lb) since 2021.

Talakhadze is a two-time Olympic champion, seven-time world champion, and seven-time European champion competing in the super-heavyweight category (105 kg + until 2018 and 109 kg + starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories). He is a three-time winner of the IWF Male Lifter of the Year.

Career

Early career and +105 kg division

Talakhadze represented Georgia at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships, and originally finished second with a total of 454 kg. In December 2015, Aleksey Lovchev (the original gold medalist and world record holder in the clean & jerk and total) failed a drug test for Ipamorelin. The IWF stripped his gold medal and rescinded his world records, and as a result Talakhadze became world champion.

At the 2016 Olympics he completed a snatch of 215 kg to break the world record of 214 kg set by Behdad Salimi (who took the record back with 216 kg, equaling the all-time highest set by Antonio Krastev of Bulgaria in 1987). In the clean & jerk portion of the competition, Behdad Salimi initially completed a 245 kg lift on his second attempt, but it was overruled by the 5 member jury, and was unable to complete his third attempt of 245 kg. Lasha then completed his next lift of 247 kg, giving him the lead after Salimi did not make a lift. He then completed a clean & jerk of 258 kg to set a new world record total of 473 kg and won the gold medal by a 22 kg margin over silver medallist Gor Minasyan.

Talakhadze lifting 258 kg (clean & jerk) at the 2016 Olympics

In his first competition after winning the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, he set a new world record in the snatch at the 2017 European Weightlifting Championships with 217 kg, and in the process broke the all-time highest snatch of 216 kg set by Antonio Krastev in 1987, and matched by Behdad Salimi at the 2016 Olympics.

At the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships, Talakhadze broke his own snatch record with 220 kg, giving him a 9 kg lead over former world record holder Behdad Salimi. In the clean & jerk portion of the competition he lifted 257 kg which set a new world record for the total with 477 kg, also breaking the all-time highest total of Leonid Taranenko from 1988. In the competition he won all three gold medals, set 2 world records and had a 23 kg lead over the silver medalist Saeid Alihosseini.

+109 kg division

In 2018, the IWF restructured the weight classes and nullified the existing world records. The 2018 World Weightlifting Championships were the first international competition with new weight classes and Talakhadze competed in the +109 kg category. In the snatch portion of the competition he opened with 207 kg which placed him in the gold medal position with Gor Minasyan being the only competitor with another attempt. After Minasyan missed his third attempt, Talakhadze had the gold medal in the snatch secured. For his last two lifts, after securing the gold medal, he completed two world record lifts of 212 kg and 217 kg to put him 12 kg ahead of Minasyan after the snatch portion. In the clean & jerk portion of the competition he completed his first lift of 245 kg which set a new world record in the total, and would have won the gold medal in the total if he did not complete any more lifts. After Mart Seim failed to make a 251 kg clean & jerk, Talakhadze completed a world record lift of 252 kg for his second lift. He finished the competition with another world record lift of 257 kg, and finished with a 474 kg total, a full 24 kg over silver medalist Minasyan.

In 2019, he competed in the 2019 European Weightlifting Championships which was held in Batumi in his home country of Georgia. Apart from being the heavy favorite to win the +109 kg category, there were expectations that Talakhadze would increase upon his current world records. In the snatch portion of the competition he lifted 208 kg in his first attempt (which would have been good for a gold medal), and then set a new world record with a 218 kg lift. Coming into the clean & jerk portion he led fellow Georgian weightlifter Irakli Turmanidze by 12 kg, and his first lift of 245 kg secured him the gold medal in the total. His second lift of 260 kg set a new world record in the clean & jerk and in the total. His total world record of 478 kg set during the competition was the highest total ever achieved in weightlifting, the previous highest of 477 kg was set by himself in 2017.

Fresh off of his victory at the 2019 European Weightlifting Championships, he again looked like the heavy favorite to win his fourth World Championships. During the snatch portion of the 2019 World Weightlifting Championships he completed a 215 kg lift which secured him a gold medal, his third lift of 220 kg tied his performance at the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships, where he lifted 220 kg in the old 105 kg category, as the heaviest snatch of all time. During the clean & jerk portion he secured gold medals in the total and clean & jerk with his second lift of 255 kg. His third lift of 264 kg in the clean & jerk set a new world record in the clean & jerk and total, his total of 484 kg was the highest total recorded in international competition in history.

In 2021, he won the gold medal in the men's +109 kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, breaking his own records in the snatch —225 kg—, the clean and jerk —267 kg— and in the total —492 kg.

Awards and other information

World records

Throughout his career he has set 26 official senior world records.

Other awards

In 2016, due to his world record setting performance at the 2016 Summer Olympics Talakhadze was awarded the President's Order of Excellence by Giorgi Margvelashvili. In 2017 and in 2018, the Georgian National Olympic Committee awarded him the title of Georgia's Sportsperson of the Year. In 2018 he was named the IWF Male Lifter of the Year for 2017. In 2019 he was named IWF Male Lifter of the Year for 2018.

2013 doping ban

In 2013, Talakhadze was banned from competition for 2 years after testing positive for the performance enhancing drug stanozolol.

Major results

Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Olympic Games
2016 Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil +105 kg 205 210 215 2 242 247 258 1 473 OR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2021 Japan Tokyo, Japan +109 kg 208 215 223 OR 1 245 255 265 OR 1 488 OR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Championships
2010 Turkey Antalya, Turkey +105 kg 157 162 162 27 180 180 NM
2011 France Paris, France +105 kg 175 180 187 15 207 207 24 387 19
2015 United States Houston, United States +105 kg 200 200 207 1st place, gold medalist(s) 238 247 247 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 454 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2017 United States Anaheim, United States +105 kg 210 215 220 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s) 243 250 257 1st place, gold medalist(s) 477 WR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2018 Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan +109 kg 207 212 217 1st place, gold medalist(s) 245 252 257 1st place, gold medalist(s) 474 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 Thailand Pattaya, Thailand +109 kg 208 215 220 1st place, gold medalist(s) 247 255 264 1st place, gold medalist(s) 484 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2021 Uzbekistan Tashkent, Uzbekistan +109 kg 210 218 225 CWR 1st place, gold medalist(s) 247 257 267 CWR 1st place, gold medalist(s) 492 CWR 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2022 Colombia Bogota, Colombia +109 kg 208 215 220 1st place, gold medalist(s) 245 245 251 1st place, gold medalist(s) 466 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2023 Saudi Arabia Riyadh, Saudi Arabia +109 kg 208 215 220 1st place, gold medalist(s) 245 253 260 1st place, gold medalist(s) 473 1st place, gold medalist(s)
European Championships
2016 Norway Førde, Norway +105 kg 200 207 212 1st place, gold medalist(s) 235 241 251 1st place, gold medalist(s) 463 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2017 Croatia Split, Croatia +105 kg 203 210 217 1st place, gold medalist(s) 238 245 250 1st place, gold medalist(s) 467 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2018 Romania Bucharest, Romania +105 kg 200 210 221 1st place, gold medalist(s) 235 247 1st place, gold medalist(s) 457 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2019 Georgia (country) Batumi, Georgia +109 kg 208 218 1st place, gold medalist(s) 245 260 1st place, gold medalist(s) 478 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2021 Russia Moscow, Russia +109 kg 211 217 222 1st place, gold medalist(s) 245 253 263 1st place, gold medalist(s) 485 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2022 Albania Tirana, Albania +109 kg 208 212 217 1st place, gold medalist(s) 245 253 1st place, gold medalist(s) 462 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2023 Armenia Yerevan, Armenia +109 kg 210 217 222 1st place, gold medalist(s) 246 252 1st place, gold medalist(s) 474 1st place, gold medalist(s)
World Junior Championships
2013 Peru Lima, Peru +105 kg 185 190 195 1st place, gold medalist(s) 217 221 1st place, gold medalist(s) 411 1st place, gold medalist(s)
European Junior & U23 Championships
2011 Romania Bucharest, Romania +105 kg 175 180 185 1st place, gold medalist(s) 205 212 217 1st place, gold medalist(s) 402 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2012 Israel Eilat, Israel +105 kg 175 183 190 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 205 222 232 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 412 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2013 Estonia Tallinn, Estonia +105 kg 182 190 210 225 415 DSQ
2016 Israel Eilat, Israel +105 kg 193 200 205 1st place, gold medalist(s) 222 235 1st place, gold medalist(s) 440 1st place, gold medalist(s)
European Youth Championships
2010 Spain Valencia, Spain +94 kg 150 155 158 1st place, gold medalist(s) 175 182 187 1st place, gold medalist(s) 345 1st place, gold medalist(s)
IWF Grand Prix
2019 Belarus Grodno, Belarus
IWF Alexander Cup
+109 kg DNS DNS
Turkey Gaziantep, Turkey
International Naim Suleymanoglu Tournament
+109 kg 193 200 208 1st place, gold medalist(s) 227 242 1st place, gold medalist(s) 450 1st place, gold medalist(s)
2020 Italy Rome, Italy
Roma 2020 World Cup
+109 kg 200 210 215 1st place, gold medalist(s) 235 245 255 1st place, gold medalist(s) 470 1st place, gold medalist(s)

Table of world records

Discipline Result (kg) Location Competition Date
+105 kg
Snatch 215 Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Summer Olympics 16 August 2016
Total 473 Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Summer Olympics 16 August 2016
Snatch 217 Croatia Split, Croatia European Championships 8 April 2017
Snatch 220 United States Anaheim, United States World Championships 5 December 2017
Total 477 United States Anaheim, United States World Championships 5 December 2017
+109 kg
Snatch 212 Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan World Championships 10 November 2018
Snatch 217 Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan World Championships 10 November 2018
Total 462 Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan World Championships 10 November 2018
Clean & jerk 252 Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan World Championships 10 November 2018
Total 469 Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan World Championships 10 November 2018
Clean & jerk 257 Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan World Championships 10 November 2018
Total 474 Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan World Championships 10 November 2018
Snatch 218 Georgia (country) Batumi, Georgia European Championships 13 April 2019
Clean & jerk 260 Georgia (country) Batumi, Georgia European Championships 13 April 2019
Total 478 Georgia (country) Batumi, Georgia European Championships 13 April 2019
Snatch 220 Thailand Pattaya, Thailand World Championships 27 September 2019
Clean & jerk 264 Thailand Pattaya, Thailand World Championships 27 September 2019
Total 484 Thailand Pattaya, Thailand World Championships 27 September 2019
Snatch 222 Russia Moscow, Russia European Championships 11 April 2021
Total 485 Russia Moscow, Russia European Championships 11 April 2021
Snatch 223 Japan Tokyo, Japan Summer Olympics 4 August 2021
Clean & jerk 265 Japan Tokyo, Japan Summer Olympics 4 August 2021
Total 488 Japan Tokyo, Japan Summer Olympics 4 August 2021
Snatch 225 Uzbekistan Tashkent, Uzbekistan World Championships 17 December 2021
Clean & jerk 267 Uzbekistan Tashkent, Uzbekistan World Championships 17 December 2021
Total 492 Uzbekistan Tashkent, Uzbekistan World Championships 17 December 2021

This page was last updated at 2023-12-18 23:26 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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