In the first Olympic qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Games, the weightlifter from Ghilarza Sergio Massidda lived up to expectations. The blue, among the youngest on the platform at the World Championships in Bogotà in Colombia , finished in fourth place, resulting in one of the protagonists of a great race that puts him at the foot of the podium, with a total of 293 kg. Among other things, the Sardinian athlete obtains the new Italian record, which projects him into the world elite in the running for the next Olympics.
The competition was won by the Chinese Li with a total of 312 (137 + 175), who also obtained the new world record, ahead of the Indonesian Irawan with 300 kg (135 + 165) and his compatriot He with 296 (136 + 160 ).
The race . A heartbreaking tear for Sergio Massidda, who enters the race with 130 kg. The blue manages to lift them but is unable to fit them well and is forced to "let go" of the balance wheel; his opponents, starting with the Georgian Mishvelidze, instead manage to raise the bar, further raising the bar. Not being able to leave anything behind, the athlete from the Army sports center is forced to raise again with 133 kg, to try to overcome the Chinese He with 132, but even these don't work. With great determination he leaves his two mistakes behind, he knows that you have to be daring to remain among the "greats", that's what he does: he asks for 135 kg on the barbell, amid cheering from the audience and a palpable tension. And he does it: Massidda lifts 135 kg, letting go of a liberating scream. He finishes 4th in the snatch exercise, overtaken by the Indonesian Irawan, with the same kg but lifted previously, by the Chinese He with 136 and by the other Chinese Li, first with 137 kg, the only valid lift for him. The blue also improves the Italian specialty record, belonging to Massidda himself and signed only a few months ago at 134 kg.
In the momentum Massidda enters the competition lifting 158 kg, just 2 kg from (his) Italian specialty record. The opponents didn't stand idly by, first of all the Chinese He who, lifting 160 kg in the second round, set the new junior world total record with 296 kg. Sergio is back on the platform for a new challenge: this time it is he who attempts the junior world record, twice, first with 162 (for the total), then with 164 (for the momentum and the total) but after perfect, in both cases it is the push that is wrong. Sergio then closes with 293 kg, a new Italian total record (previously 290).
