Hossein Rezazadeh

Hossein Rezazadeh

Hossein Rezazadeh (PerB| حسین رضازاده , born May 12, 1978 in Ardabil, Iran) is a former Iranian weightlifter and the current world record holder in the sport.

Career

Nicknamed "The Iranian Hercules", he currently holds the world records in weightlifting's super heavyweight class in the snatch, clean and jerk and total. He is the first Iranian athlete to have won two Olympic gold medals. He is also one of Iran's most noted celebrities, frequently appearing on television and in the news; his wedding, which was held in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, in February of 2003 was broadcast live on television in Iran.

In 2002 he was voted the "Champion of Champions" of Iran and was one of 16 Iranian athletes granted a badge of courage from Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. As a reward for setting a world record at the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships in Vancouver, Canada, Mohammad Khatami awarded him 600 million rials (a little more than 60,000 USD) to buy a house in Tehran. After his spectacular performance, he was offered by Turkey’s Weightlifting Federation a stipend of US$20,000 a month, as well as a luxury villa and US$10 million reward if he switches nationalities and wins gold for Turkey at the 2004 Athens Olympics, but he turned down their offers. Rezazadeh rejected the tempting offer saying, "I am an Iranian and love my country and people." [cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/sports/2004/aug/24oly-lift1.htm |title=World's strongest man ready for more |accessdate=2007-12-01 |year=2007 |publisher=Rediff.com ]

He surprised many at the 2000 Summer Olympics, earning a gold medal and breaking the decades-old monopoly on the gold by the Soviet Union and then Russia. His gold medal was the first since 1960 by a non-Soviet or non-Russian athlete in the over 105 kg class at a non boycotted Games. He has since broken his own records on a number of occasions leading up to his world record 263.5 kg (580.9 pounds) lift in the clean and jerk at the 2004 Summer Olympics. His total (both lifts combined) at the 2004 Summer Olympics of 472.5 kg was 17.5 kg more than silver medalist Viktors Scerbatihs. He is the current IWF World Weightlifter of the Year, and was shortlisted for weightlifter of the century.

Rezazadeh's supremacy in the superheavyweight class has been virtually unchallenged in recent years. However, although he had not been pushed hard during his career, he was in pursuit of the all-time best IWF marks of 216 kg snatch (Antonio Krastev, 1987), 266 kg clean and jerk (Leonid Taranenko, 1988), and 475 kg total (Taranenko, 1988). Even though they exceed Rezazadeh's marks, these lifts are no longer the official world records due to the IWF's restructuring of weight classes, but they still remain as the heaviest weights lifted.

Rezazadeh is also referred to by weightlifting commentators as "the strongest man in the world", primarily due to his world records in the olympics.

In 2006 the Rezazadeh Stadium was built in Rezazadeh's hometown of Ardabil. It was built to honour the achievements of Rezazadeh and is one of the most modern and innovative indoor arenas in Iran today.

In early 2008 Rezazadeh participated in a television commercial promoting a real estate agency based in Dubai. His participation surprised many of his fans and was seen as demeaning to both himself and his country, given the promotion of buying estates in a land deemed as a rival. This eventually led to the decision of the Iranian Majles to ban any sort of sponsorship from any high profile Iranian - i.e. athlete, actor, singer - for any sort of product or service, due to the direct encouragement of product consumerism.

In 2008, he was advised by physicians not to participate in 2008 Olympics due to his severe hand injuries. To his fans' surprise and disappointment he officially announced in a letter read via National Iranian Television that he has accepted the advice. [ [http://english.aljazeera.net/sport/2008/07/2008724145844470332.html "Iran's 'Hercules' out of Games"] , Al Jazeera, July 24, 2008] The next day he wrote another public letter announcing his retirement from professional weightlifting. He said "I am pretty sure that my fellow country men will repeat my accomplishments again and I hope my son Abulfazl will break my own records in future".

Right after his retirement he was appointed as the Prime Counselor for Iranian national weight lifting federation.Instead of him, young weightlifter Rashid Sharifi took part in 2008 Olympics gaining no place among the winners.

Rezazadeh's Controversies

When,Russian coach,Ivanof handed (now known to be of doping type) pills to Iranian weightlifters he avoided taking as if he knew the type of pills without informing others.He has also been criticized for connections to Iranian Conservative Government and using his name to enter Islamic Azad University without passing the "Konkoor" exams. In 2004 Athens Olympics he lost most of his out-of-country fan base (mostly nationalist opposition groups) by displaying a picture of present Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on stage after finishing first and this alone reduced his public image there to a so-called "Brainless Turk".He has been the subject of a vast amount of Persian jokes in recent years all attributing his strength to a special kind of bread named "Barbari" which Iranian Turks eat a lot or to Hazrat Abulfazl whom he maintains a lot of respect,had his name typed on his suit in every single tournament and named his son in his honor.

Statistics

Physical profile

Bodyweight: 156.6 kg (2004 Olympics)

Height: 6 foot 1 inch (1.86 metres)

His Coach is: Dr. Mohammad Ali Shahi

Career Bests

Clean and Jerk: 263.5 kg in Athens on August 25th, 2004; the current world record

Snatch: 213.0 kg in Qinhuangdao on September 14th, 2003; the current world record

Total: 472.0 kg (about 475 Sinclair Coefficients) in Sydney on September 26th, 2000 ; the current world record

Front Squat: 340.0 kg

Back Squat: <400.0 kg

References

External links

* [http://www.weightliftingexchange.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=39&topic=1349.0#top Hossein Rezazadeh - Hall of Fame at Weightlifting Exchange]


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