David Liti had to wait through almost the entire Olympics before he got to compete in the 102kg+ division of the weightlifting today, but he felt the wait was worth it.
This is the event where the really big men of world weightlifting turn up.
Liti, 28, finished eighth today, and said he was so happy he was able to take part.
“That was the best lineup in Olympic history. The medallists are three of the greatest lifters of all-time. It was a privilege to line up against them.”
Liti lifted a personal best total of 415kg. In the snatch he got 178kg, 182kg and 184kg. In the clean and jerk he got 224kg and 231kg and missed with 235kg.
They were some seriously big weights he was lifting, but the medallists were on another tier altogether.
Georgian Lasha Talakhadze won the gold with a total of 470kg, followed by Lalayan Varazdat of Armenia with 467kg and Gor Minasyan of Bahrain with 461kg.
“There were some crazy weights out there,” Liti said.
The Aucklander competed at Tokyo three years ago, when he finished fifth.