Valerios Leonidis

Silver medal, July 22, 1996, Valerios Leonidis, cat. 64kg. Atlanta 1996

in 1992, in Barcelona, Valerios Leonidis finished 5th behind the Turkish gold medalist Naim Suleymanoglou with a power difference of 25 kg. in 1993, at the World Championships, the difference decreased to 10 kg, in 1994, at the European Championships to 7.5 kg, in the same year at the World Championships to five kg. in 1995, at the World Championships, their difference was reduced to zero, but Naim won the gold medal because he had 200 grams less body weight. So in Atlanta, everyone knew that there would be a very tough fight for the victory, and Valerios Leonidis, with the right diet, made sure that this time he was lighter. But the race ended with a lead of 2.5 kilos for Naim after he lifted 147.5 kilos, a weight that the Greek champion lost.

In the clean and jerk, the two competitors started successfully at 180 kg, with the world record being set by Naim at 183 kg. The Turk put the barbell at 185 kg and set a new world record, while Valerios, to make up the difference of two and a half kilos from the snatch, asked to put the barbell at 187.5 kg. He lifted it and immediately became the world record holder and at that point also the world record holder in the total. Naim also had to lift 187.5 kg if he wanted to hope for victory, which he achieved with great effort, although he did not risk putting half a kilo more on the barbell to take back the world record. Leonidis scored the last attempt of the competition, which is not so common, since it usually belonged to Naim. The Greek champion did not make it. The bar, on which was 190 kilos, came up to his chest, but finally fell down and the silver medal remained in his hands. He paid for a back injury he suffered a few days before the start of the Olympics. The ranking Suleymanoglu (Turkey) 335k Leonidis (Greece) 332.5 Jiangang (China) 322.5 Tzelilis (Greece) 322.5 Popa (Hungary) 307.5 Iliev (Bulgaria) 305 Yagci (Turkey) 302.5 Kecskes (Hungary) 302.5