Georgian’s Lasha Talakhadze claims 7th European Weightlifting Champion title

Georgia’s Weightlifting World Champion, Olympic Champion and record-breaking athlete Lasha Talakhadze earned his seventh European Weightlifting Championships title on Sunday in Yerevan.

Talakhadze claimed two gold medals after lifting 222 kg in snatch and 252 kg in clean and jerk, with the results also leading to a combined 474 kg in his 109+ kg weight category - enough for him to be crowned the Champion.

He clinched the honour ahead of home favourites Simon Martrosyan and Varazdat Lalayan, who missed some of their lifts.

The Georgian athlete said in comments to the result he “enjoyed competing here, I enjoyed winning my seventh European title and I hope to be back for my seventh world title too”, in reference to Armenia potentially hosting next year’s World Championships.

The title-winning result was compounded by the 2022 European Weightlifter of the Year award he received at the opening ceremony of the Championships, making Talakhadze the first Georgian athlete to earn the honour.

His medals were among 17 earned by Georgian competitors at the competition, including seven of the top sort.

The Championships ran between April 15-23.