Leonidas Sabanis
Silver medal, July 21, 1996, Leonidas Sabanis, cat. 59k. Atlanta 1996
Leonidas Sampanis had emerged as the World Champion in China in November 1995, in his first participation in this institution with the Greek colors. So, in Atlanta, everyone expected that the Greek champion would have a hard time not to be on the podium. The fight for the medals was tough and four athletes shared the same hopes, every mistake was costly. In the snatch, Sabanis, Pechalov (Bulgaria) and Tang (China) shared the first place with a performance of 137.5 km, which was also a new Olympic record. The Greek champion, whose specialty is the snatch, lost 140 kg in his 3rd attempt and with it the advantage he would have had over his opponents in the clean and jerk. So everything was decided in the movement of the clean and jerk and winning a medal was at stake. Sabanis lifted 162.5 kg in his first attempt, while his opponents were known to manage 165 kg a little later. His second attempt at 167.5 kg was unsuccessful, and tension gripped not only Sabanis but also the entire Greek delegation, which was seeking its first medal in Atlanta. Two attempts remained until the end of the bout, one for Sabanis at 167.5k and one for China’s Tang, who had declared he would try at 170k. If the Greek champion failed to make his last attempt, he would be out of the medal ranks, fourth to lift the bar and win the silver medal. Nervousness had reached its peak. He lifted the barbell and his hips began to flex under the weight. Finally, he managed to keep his balance and with a gigantic effort kept the weight up. So he won the silver medal and Chinese Tang won the gold medal with six successful attempts out of six. The final ranking: Tang (China) 307.5 Sabanis(Greece) 305 Pesalov (Bulgaria) 302.5 Ikehata (Japan) 297.5 Vargas (Cuba) 297.5 Dong Xu (China) 295 Sarkisian (Australia) 280 Farkas (Hungary) 280.
Silver medal, September 17, 2000, Leonidas Sabanis Cat. 62k. Sydney 2000
In a race where the Turkish Olympic champion of Seoul, Barcelona and Atlanta, Naim Suleimanoglu, was disqualified in the snatch, the Bulgarian gold medalist Sevdalin Minchev first finished 4th and then was disqualified for doping, the Chinese gold medalist Le Maosheng finished 4th, the Greek Leonidas Sabanis was awarded a silver medal for the second time in his career. He started with the advantage of his low body weight, with which he outweighed all his opponents except Maosheng, and he took full advantage of this element. He finished the snatch with 147.5 kg, missing an attempt with 150 kg and having five kilograms difference with his competitors, except for the former Bulgarian and current Croatian Nikolay Pechalov, who lifted two and a half kilograms more. In the clean and jerk, where it is theoretically not even Sabanis’ best movement, there was a great struggle, which was essentially decided by the fact that all but Minchev could not lift 177.5 kg. The Greek champion’s 170 kg was enough to secure the silver medal, although he failed twice at 175 kg. With a total of 317.5 kg, he edged out Gennady Oleshchuk of Belarus, who, like Minchev, was 380 g heavier before the doping results were announced. Sabanis temporarily set a new Olympic record in his second attempt in the snatch with 147.5 kg. Final ranking: Pesalov (Croatia) 325 Sabanis(Greece) 317.5 Oleshchuk (Belarus) 317.5 Le (China) 315 Panzvan (Iran) 302.5 Ikehata (Japan) 300 Popov (Moldova) 295 Suleymanov (Azerbaijan) 292.5.
