The Colombian Yeison Lopez gave the country the second medal in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, by winning the silver medal in the 89-kilogram weightlifting category.
According to the criteria of
Born in Chocano, López placed second in total with 351 kilos, surpassed by the Bulgarian and big favorite, Karlos Nasar, who broke stereotypes, because at 404 kilos he won gold and set a world record.
(Fernando Gaviria takes a dig at the Colombian Olympic Committee and the Cycling Federation: ‘Let the support not only be in the last year of qualification’)
What was expected
The bronze medal went to the Italian Antonino Pizzolato, with 384 kilos. On a memorable day for López.
The start was very difficult. López lifted 180 kilos in his first attempt and failed in the second with 180, which he lifted in the third to finish second.
Bulgarian Nasar, the world’s top-ranked athlete, was also first at 180kg and looked solid, he didn’t fail. Third was Robu from Moldova at 175kg.
Nasar and Lopez finished with the same weight, but the Bulgarian is first because he was the one who made the first move.
In the clean and jerk, López was unable to lift 205 on the first attempt, but did so on the second and on the third he lifted 201 kilos, equalling the Olympic record for the moment.
López arrived in Paris as one of the athletes most likely to win a medal and he did so in weightlifting, a sport that has already won 109 medals in the history of the games for the country.
Yeison López, 24, from Chocó, told EL TIEMPO that he came to the competitions in search of his ultimate goal: a medal in weightlifting, the sport on which he bet everything.
Bulgarian Karlos Nasar was his great rival, as he is first in the division ranking with 396 kilos, second was Lopez with 392 and followed by the Egyptian Karim Abokahla, with 381 and the Italian Antonio Pizzolato, who weighed 380 kilos.
López did not complete a full Olympic cycle, only taking part in the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, where he won the silver medal.
Lisandro Rengifo
Special correspondent from EL TIEMPO in Paris
@lisandroabel
#Yeison #López #spectacular #silver #medal #kilo #weightlifting #category #Olympic #Games
