World record holder weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze crowned Georgia’s Sportsperson of the Year

Georgian weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze has been crowned the country's 2017 Sportsperson of the Year.

He was honoured with the title at a special ceremony organised by the Georgian National Olympic Committee today.

The award recognised Talakhadze’s achievements throughout the year that included becoming the World Weightlifting Champion and setting a new world record and improving his own record.

"This recognition of our hard work inspires me to work harder for future successes”, Talakhadze said.

Talakhadze, 24, was named the best sportsperson of the year in 2016 too.

Georgian weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze, 24, won a gold medal at the World Weightlifting Championships in the United States earlier this month and set a new world record, improving his own record.

In the snatch Talakhadze was able to complete 210, 215 and 220 kg lifts and in the clean and jerk - 243, 250 and 254 kg lifts at the latest World Championships in the United States earlier this month.

His total score was 477 which was a new world record. With the achievement Talakhadze broke his own record that was 473 kg.

Talakhadze represented Georgia at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships finishing second with a total of 454 kg. However, after Russian weightlifter Aleksey Lovchev failed a doping test, Talakhadze was promoted to first position.

At the 2016 Olympics, Talakhadze completed a snatch of 215 kg (breaking the world record of 214 kg set by Iranian weightlifter Behdad Salimi (who then took the record back with 216 kg) and then completed a clean and jerk of 258 kg to set a new world record of 473 kg and win a gold medal.

Talakhadze set a new world record in the snatch at the 2017 European Weightlifting Championships with 217 kg, exceeding Salimi's previous record set at the 2016 Olympics.