Uplifting Experience for Kakhiashvilis

Akakide Kakhiashvilis, so tired of war he moved to the country of his mother’s birth, has worn three uniforms in four years, but the thread through all of this is that he has won gold medals in each.

Kakhiashvilis, now lifting for Greece after winning at 198 1/4 pounds in Barcelona for the Unified Team and in the world championships for war-torn Georgia, set two world records in the 218 1/4-pound weight class in his gold-medal performance. They came in the clean-and-jerk (518 pounds) and total lift (925 3/4 pounds). He also lifted 407 3/4 pounds in the snatch.

Five of the eight gold medalists in these Olympics have set world records.

Only one lifter has been more successful in the five most recent major competitions, the two Olympic Games and three world championships: Turkey’s Naim Suleymanoglu, who won gold in all five.

Kazakstan’s Anatoli Khrapaty, an Olympic gold medalist in 1988, lifted 903 3/4 pounds to win the silver medal. Denis Gotfrid of Ukraine lifted 887 1/4 pounds to win the bronze.

Pete Kelley of St. Joseph, Mo., set American records in the clean-and-jerk at 435 1/4 pounds and total lift at 788 pounds to finish 14th among the 28 competitors. He lifted 352 1/2 pounds in the snatch.

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MEDALISTS / Weightlifting

219 POUNDS

Gold: Akakide Kakhiashvilis, Greece

Silver: Anatoli Khrapaty, Kazadhstan

Bronze: Denis Gotfrid, Ukraine