Bucharest - Ihor Shymechko (Ukraine) had things his way in the +105-kg category at the European Weightlifting Championships, sweeping the gold medals.


Sticking this 203-kg snatch, Ihor Shymechko won his first of three gold medals in the super heavyweight class at the European Weightlifting Championships today. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen photo.


Opening after everyone else had finished in the snatch, Shymechko nailed 195 kg, 200 kg and 203 kg. Evgeny Pisarev (Russia) got the silver medal in the snatch with 193 kg, and Almir Velagic (Germany) got the bronze medal with 190 kg. Ruben Aleksanyan (Armenia) had looked to be a medal contender, but after missing 192 kg on his second attempt in the snatch, he dislocated his left elbow attempting the same weight on his third attempt.

Shymechko made 223 kg and then 230 kg, before missing 233 kg in the clean and jerk - not huge lifts by a world standard, but good enough for two more gold medals. Grzegorz Kleszcz (Poland) had a best jerk of 229 kg, for the silver medal in the jerk. After missing the jerk with 227 kg on his second attempt, Velagic made a good lift with 228 kg on his third attempt, good for the bronze medal in the jerk and the silver medal in the total. Pisarev got the bronze medal in the total.

Hats off to European Weightlifting Federation president Antonio Urso and to Romanian Weightlifting Federation president Nicu Vlad for an extremely well-organized competition.