Taimazov Sets World Record

Timur Taimazov had sort of disappeared after the 1994 world championships after two years as the best in the world.

“I decided to take it easy, get some rest,” he said, and that rest continued through the 1995 world championships in China because he had injured his wrist.

Taimazov is back, and in a big way, winning the gold medal in the 238-pound class, lifting 947 3/4 pounds with a personal-best effort in the clean-and-jerk.

Taimazov was in third place after lifting 429 3/4 pounds in the snatch, but he clinched the gold medal by succeeding at 501 1/2 pounds on his first clean-and-jerk lift. He later set a world record of 520 1/4 pounds, beating his own record of 519.

The total only goes up by 5 1/2-pound increments; hence, the total was 947 3/4 pounds instead of 950 pounds.

Sergei Syrtsov of Russia won the silver medal with 925 3/4 pounds. Nicu Vlad of Romania also lifted 925 3/4, but won the bronze because he weighed more than Syrtsov.

American Wes Barnett of St. Joseph, Mo., finished sixth with an American-record total of 870 3/4 pounds, and Russian immigrant Konstantine Starikovitch of White Plains, N.Y., was 12th with a lifetime-best 854 1/4 pounds.

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WEIGHTLIFTING

238 pounds

GOLD--Timur Taimazov, Ukraine

SILVER--Sergey Syrtsov, Russia

BRONZE--Nicu Vlad, Romania