Beijing - The 105-kg class in weightlifting isn't short of entertaining lifters - whether it's Dimitry Klokov (Russia), and his primal screams, Ramunas Vysniauskas (Lithuania), who's one step shy of a pro-wrestling persona, or Dmitriy Lapikov (Russia), who looks likes he's ready for a casting call.


Andrei Aramnau quietly takes care of business: This 200-kg snatch was an Olympic record, a junior world record and a senior world record. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

But the 105s also have a competitor who says it all with his lifting - if you look closely, you might see some clenched teeth, or if he's really getting wild, there might be a quick fist pump, but the message from his lifts is deafening: Tonight, Andrei Armanau (Belarus) won the gold medal, breaking five Olympic records, five junior world records and three senior world records. And even if you knew that he went six for six, unless you were there to see it, you might never guess that Aramnau seemed to be lifting well within his capabilities.

Lapikov and Klokov both nailed their openers in the snatch, 185 kg for Klokov and 190 kg for Lapikov, the same weight that Klokov then made on his second attempt. Aramnau opened with an easy 193 kg, and Klokov made the same weight on his third attempt. Marcin Dolega (Poland), who held both the junior and the senior world records in the snatch, made 195 for his opener and Lapikov missed the same weight on his second. Lapikov is stronger in the snatch than in the clean and jerk, so he could ill afford this miss and things got worse for him when he missed, even if just barely, the same weight again on his third attempt.

Aramnau nailed 197 kg on his second attempt for his first Olympic record of the evening. Dolega took 200 kg on his second attempt, going for the Olympic record and the senior world record, and while he got the bar overhead and ran forward trying to save the lift, he couldn't. Aramnau nailed the 200 on his third attempt, so keep those record books open because that reset the Olympic record, the senior world record and the junior world record. Dolega jumped to 201, but he couldn't fix the bar overhead.

Klokov, very restrained, made 222 kg on his opening clean and jerk. Dolega made 225 kg on his opener, as did Aramnau, which moved him into the gold medal position he would never relinquish. Aramnau's lift was conspicuously easy, with a very quick jerk polishing things off, and it broke the junior world record in the total. Lapikov was making up ground in the clean and jerk and, having opened with a good 222 kg, he made a very nice 226 on his second attempt, to move into bronze medal position, but then Klokov made the same weight, bumping Lapikov.

Dolega missed the jerk on 228 on his second attempt, and then he did the same thing on his third attempt - a success would have put him in silver medal position. Aramnau stuck 230 kg on his second attempt, good for an Olympic record and a junior world record in the total, and then Lapikov made a great success with the same weight, good enough to put him in silver medal position. Lapikov didn't have long to savor what he'd just done, because, once again, Klokov had the same idea, made the same weight, and that gave him silver medal position.

Aramnau finished off his evening with a 236-kg clean and jerk - breaking the Olympic, senior and junior world records in both the jerk and the total, and the lift can be described in three words: easy, easy, easy.