Olympic champion Lasha Talakhadze in running for top lifter award
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Georgia’s Olympic champion Lasha Talakhadze is in the running to be named Weightlifter of the Year via an online fan survey.
Organised by the International Weightlifting Federation, the poll was announced on January 13 and will run through January 31.
Talakhadze is among six nominees up for voting on the federation’s official website.
Voting is now open! LIFTER OF THE YEAR 2016 Who is your Fav'? #weightlifting#wonderlifters#whowhowhowhowhohttps://t.co/gP5YK3eo7lpic.twitter.com/hhhdmKTrEK
— IWF weightlifting (@iwfnet) 13 January 2017
The shortlist of male weightlifters also includes Kazakhstan’s 2016 Olympic gold medallist Nijat Rahimov and China’s two-time Olympic champion Long Qingquan.
The organisers of the online poll ask weightlifting fans to select both male and female athletes, in separate categories, before submitting their vote.
Talakhadze was named Georgia’s 2016 Sportsperson of the Year at the annual Sport Awards of the Year ceremony in Tbilisi last month.
The occasion honoured the Olympic and European champion for his achievements in the domestic and international arenas throughout 2016.
The 22-year-old weightlifter claimed Georgia's first gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August of 2016, setting a new world record for the clean and jerk discipline in the process.
Earlier in the year Talakhadze also became the European champion as he lifted the continental record 212kg in the snatch discipline in Norway.
In addition, the young athlete took the European Under-23 Champion title earlier this month in Eilat, Israel and won Georgia's domestic championship.
Georgian weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze has been crowned the country's 2016 Sportsperson of the Year in a special ceremony on Monday that also distinguished other athletes and supporting organisations for their contribution to Georgian sport throughout the year.
Georgia has done exceedingly well at the Junior and Under 23 European Weightlifting Championships in Eilat, Israel. Georgian weightlifters won 22 medals at the competition.
Georgian weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze, 22, has won the first gold for his country at the Rio Olympic Games and set a new world record in the clean and jerk.
Georgian weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze has won a gold medal and beaten a continental record in a heavy weight category at the European Weightlifting Championships in Norway yesterday.
Georgian weightlifter Lasha Talakhadze has made history by snatching 217kg at the European Weightlifting Championships in Split, Croatia last night.
Georgia’s weightlifting world champion and record-breaking athlete Lasha Talakhadze was named the International Weightlifting Federation’s Lifter of the Year via an online poll. Talakhadze, who broke three world records in competition last year, was one of five male weightlifters shortlisted for the title.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) will award weightlifters of 2017 in Tbilisi on May 8, which will be the first international sport award ceremony in Georgia.
Georgia has won its second gold medal at the ongoing World Weightlifting Championship in the city of Pattaya, Thailand earlier today.