[LONDON 2012] IRANIAN EASILY LIFTS SPIRITS OF HIS COUNTRY

[Hundreds of Iranians, many of them living in England, came to cheer their hero. “Inshallah,” if God is willing, they called out every time he approached the weights. Hundreds of Iranian flags waved. Chants of “Behdad! Behdad!” followed each successful lift.] 

By Barry Bearak

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Behdad Salimikordasiabi of Iran, who lifted 459 pounds in the snatch 
portion of the super-heavyweight event, won the gold medal.

LONDON — The strongest man in the world, if hoisting heavy barbells is the measure, is a 22-year-old Iranian who Tuesday won the Olympic weight lifting gold medal among super-heavyweights, hoisting 545 pounds above his head, more than the heft of a baby grand piano.

His name is Behdad Salimikordasiabi, a 6-foot-6 tower of muscle who weighs 364 pounds. He was before, and certainly is now, the biggest sports hero in his country.

“Everyone in the streets of Iran are partying now,” he said through an interpreter. “This is a very happy time. Everyone is proud.”

Hundreds of Iranians, many of them living in England, came to cheer their hero. “Inshallah,” if God is willing, they called out every time he approached the weights. Hundreds of Iranian flags waved. Chants of “Behdad! Behdad!” followed each successful lift.

Many others in the crowd had come to support Matthias Steiner, the German who won gold in 2008. But he lost his balance on his second lift, falling down as he attempted to hoist 432 pounds.

The barbell hit him on the neck, and the gasping crowd quickly became silent as Steiner rolled around awkwardly with his legs pinned under the heavy bar. A plastic banner was placed between him and the audience as he was helped to his feet. He left for precautionary X-rays and later was said to be without serious injury.

“Of course, he was disappointed,” said Michael Vesper of the German Olympic Committee. “He was not happy with the situation.”

Salimikordasiabi, though young, was the favorite. He already has been the Asian champion four times and the world champion twice. He won the Asian title in 2010 despite entering the competition with the swine flu, which caused him to collapse from exhaustion during one lift.

In the last few days, other lifters in the practice area stopped to gape at the Iranian. “I was in awe seeing what he could do,” Damon Kelly of Australia said. “The man is amazing.”

The weight lifting competition consists of two events. First is the snatch, in which the athletes have three attempts to lift as much weight as possible in one continuous motion. Next is the clean and jerk, where the bar is first lifted to the chest and then, after a pause, raised above the head, usually after a shift of the feet for more leverage.

Salimikordasiabi holds the world record in the snatch at 472 pounds. But he attempted only 459 pounds Tuesday, the same as Ruslan Albegov of Russia. He seemed to be preserving his strength.

Salimikordasiabi’s first effort at the clean and jerk was 545 pounds, which gave him a combined total that was unapproachable. Sajjad Anoushiravani Hamlabad of Iran won the silver medal, with Albegov earning the bronze.

Salimikordasiabi was entitled to two more attempts. The bar was loaded with 582 pounds, enough for a world record in the clean and jerk, eclipsing the mark set by his mentor Hossein Rezazadeh, who is president of the Iranian Weight Lifting Association.

The crowd of 6,000 stomped and clapped as he walked on the stage. He stood before the bar and hunched his shoulders. Then he leaned down, placed his hands on the metal and squatted low. He bellowed as he pulled up the bar, but managed to raise it only a few feet.

The crowd expected another effort. But Salimikordasiabi simply saluted them and called Hamlabad, his teammate, to join him on stage. They hugged and then held up an Iranian flag as the crowd cheered.

“We are so proud of this man, I almost have no words to explain it,” said Dawud Tawakoli, an Iranian handball referee. “He is the greatest sportsman in Iran, a star beyond what can be imagined.”

The announcer at the event said there was still time if Salimikordasiabi “wants to give it another shot.” But he went backstage instead and wrapped a towel around his immense shoulders.

Later, he said he had “rested too long” in between lifts and had gotten cold. Besides, there would be other times for world records.

“I’ve lifted more many times in practice,” he said.

@ The New York Times

FROM MANIPUR TO LONDON, MARY KOM PUNCHES HER WAY TO A MEDAL

[Kom kept boxing a secret from her family - until she won a state championship in 2000, and everyone, including her parents, discovered what she had been up to. Her father goaded her to give it up. Boxing is too dangerous, he told her. Members of her clan disapproved. The boys in her hometown ridiculed her. She held out.]

By The New York Times

Dennis M. Sabangan/European Pressphoto Agency

M.C. Mary Kom, left, celebrates after defeating Maroua Rahali 

of Tunisia in the Women’s Flyweight (51kg) boxing quarterfinal 

at the London Olympics 2012 on Monday.

Mary Kom, who for years kept her passion for boxing a secret, has a chance on Wednesday to win a rare Olympic gold medal for India when she faces Nicola Adams of Britain.

Ms. Kom, a five-time world champion, guaranteed herself at least a bronze medal when she won the quarterfinal of the women's flyweight boxing event in London on Monday. (The losers of the semifinals are each awarded a bronze.)

Ms. Kom's chance for Olympic gold began in August 2009, when the International Olympic Committee announced that women's boxing would be added at the 2012 London Olympics.

"This is my dream come true," Ms. Kom had told Somini Sengupta of The New York Times days after the announcement.

For the boxer who was born Mangte Chungneijang Merykom, the journey from a small town in India's northeastern state of Manipur to the Olympics in London has not been easy.

When she broke into a sport that Indian women have largely shunned, she found little support from her family or community. Ms. Sengupta wrote:

At 17, she left home to join a government-run sports training center in Imphal, the capital of her home state, Manipur, and begged the boxing coach to let her enter the ring.

"She was so small, I told her no," the coach, L. Ibomcha Singh, said. Tears rolled down her face. The coach relented.

Kom kept boxing a secret from her family - until she won a state championship in 2000, and everyone, including her parents, discovered what she had been up to. Her father goaded her to give it up. Boxing is too dangerous, he told her. Members of her clan disapproved. The boys in her hometown ridiculed her. She held out.

"One day, I will show you who I am," she recalled thinking.

"The tales of my struggles have no end. I did not have enough money to afford my basic needs like sports kits and a proper diet," she told India Ink in a recent interview.

The stumbling blocks she faced, including a lack of basic training and adequate facilities, encouraged her to create in 2006 a boxing academy in her home state for aspirants like her.

Ms. Kom's greatest test, however, was getting back into the ring after the birth of her twin boys in August 2007. "It was hard to wean the boys off her breasts, harder still to leave them at home and go off to camp for a month at a time," Ms. Sengupta wrote in 2009.

On Sunday, just as her twins celebrated their fifth birthday, their mother was busy punching her way to victory in her first match at the London Olympics.

Ms. Kom has been fighting in the 46-kilogram and 48-kilogram weight slots for most of her boxing career, but she trained hard to gain weight to qualify for the 51-kilogram category, the lowest of the three weight classes established for female boxers at the London Olympics.

"I will pray to God to keep my body fit," she told Ms. Sengupta. "Because if my body is fit, I can do anything."

@ The New York Times