Men’s 102 Kg Division Recap – IWF European Weightlifting Championships 2024

The European Champ is gaining momentum as heavyweight divisions are going to perform on the Day 8 and Day 9 of this major event in the weightlifting world.

Today we’re going to know who will reign the 102-kg weight category and finally put an end to the tough battle between two Armenians, Samvel Gasparyan and Garik Karapetyan.

Indeed, this competition day exceeded our expectations as the world-class lifters showed us exemplary and technically correct performance.

Keep following the great performance of the male lifters in the Olympic 102-kg weight division to know who will get the qualification for the Olympic Games in Paris.

Tsikhantsou Wins Gold, While Armenia Occupies the Second and Third Places

11 top-notch weightlifters of the 102-kg weight category were performing at the Day 8, with the most powerful ones firing up the podium. We witnessed the tense battle between compatriots – an experienced Gasparyan and promising Karapetyan that proved the power of the Armenian nation overall.

These are masterful athletes in the division who have already built their reputation in the weightlifting community:

Garik Karapetyan is an Armenian weightlifter, a European Champion in 2023. In 2019, he won silver at the World Junior Championships. Then, in 2021, he took gold at the World Junior Championships. However, at the Worlds in Riyadh, he ranked fifth with the result of 393 kg in the sum of two exercises.

Samvel Gasparyan is an Armenian weightlifter. He took bronze at the 2022 World Championships in Bogota. He’s also a two-time gold and two-time silver medalist in European championships in 2021 and 2023.

Irakli Chkheidze, a Georgian weightlifter, is the 2018 Junior World Champion in the 105 kg category, and also a gold medalist at the 2019 Junior World Championships. He won silver at the 2023 European Championships in Yerevan. At the Worlds in Riyadh, he ranked sixth.

Marinov Vasil, a Bulgarian weightlifter who became a silver medalist at the 2021 World Junior Championships. He finished fourth at the 2019 European Junior & U23 Championships, also ranked sixth at the World and European Championships in 2021.

Snatch

The performance in the Snatch exercise started from 156 kg.

8: MUGURDUMOV Artur – 156 kg
7: PLESNIEKS Arturs – 173 kg
6: MARINOV Vasil – 173 kg
5: CHKHEIDZE Irakli – 174 kg
4: SHARANKOU Siarhei – 178 kg

Top 3 Leaders’ Results

Now let’s analyze the Top 3 lifters’ performance:

🥉GASPARYAN Samvel – 180 kg
🥈TSIKHANSTSOU Yauheni – 181 kg
🥇KARAPETYAN Garik – 182 kg

The third place moved to Gasparyan Samvel from Armenia. He lifted 173 kg on the first attempt, then opted for 177 kg on the second try, and his final attempt was 180 kg.

The silver medalist in the category was Tsikhanstsou Yauheni. He didn’t lift 176 kg on the first try, but repeated the lift of the same weight on the second attempt successfully. The third attempt was 181 kg that brought him silver.

The winner of this weight division was Garik Karapetyan from Armenia. He started from 177 kg on the first attempt which he did successfully. Then he lifted 182 kg on the second try with success. But, his third attempt of 187 kg resulted in red lights.

What about the rest athletes who were included in the entry list, KASABIJEW Arsen from Poland bombed out today failing to lift 165 kg. His compatriot GOLJASZ Daniel also had three no-lifts of 159 kg and 160 kg on the second and third attempts.

The US team was represented by two lifters who showed the following results: SESTER Ryan did 160 kg he lifted on the first attempt, while the second and third tries were unsuccessful. KITTS Wesley withdrew from the competition completely.

On this contest day, 53 % of all attempts were successful which equals the ratio of the previous European Championships in Yerevan.

Today there were also two athletes who bombed out of the performance in Snatch.

Clean & Jerk

The contest in the Clean & Jerk discipline started with a weight of 195 kg.

8: GOLJASZ Daniel – 198 kg
7: MUGURDUMOV Artur – 200 kg
6: MARINOV Vasil – 208 kg
5: KARAPETYAN Garik – 212 kg
4: SHARANKOU Siarhei – 212 kg

Top 3 Leaders’ Results

Let’s describe the performance of the Top 3 lifters:

🥉CHKHEIDZE Irakli – 212 kg
🥈GASPARYAN Samvel – 216 kg
🥇TSIKHANTSOU Yauheni – 217 kg

The third place moved to CHKHEIDZE Irakli from Georgia who did 212 kg at the first attempt that brought him bronze. The second attempt of 217 kg resulted in no lift. The same situation was on the last try: he failed to lift 218 kg.

The silver medalist in the category was Samvel Gasparyan from Armenia. He lifted 211 kg on the first attempt, then failed to lift 216 kg on the second try, but then repeated the lift of the same weight that resulted successfully.

The winner of this weight division became Tsikhantsou Yauheni. He started from 211 kg on the first attempt which he did successfully. Then he tried to lift 217 kg on the second try resulting in a good lift. His third attempt of 225 kg resulted in red lights.

On this contest day, 40 % of all attempts were successful which is  a below-average rate compared to the 2023 European Championships where there were 67% of successful lifts.

Additionally, two athletes bombed out of the C&J exercise.

Total Results

1: TSIKHANTSOU Yauheni – 398 kg
2: GASPARYAN Samvel – 396 kg 
3: KARAPETYAN Garik – 394 kg
4: SHARANKOU Siarhei – 390 kg
5: CHKHEIDZE Irakli – 386 kg 
6: MARINOV Vasil – 381 kg
7: MUGURDUMOV Artur – 356 kg 

The bronze medalist became the Armenian Garik Karapetyan who finished with 394 kg, just 2 kilos behind his compatriot Gasparyan.

The silver medal went to Samvel Gasparyan who lifted 396 kg in total.

The 102-kg category champion became Yauheni Tsikhantsou who did 396 kg in total.

It needs to be mentioned that the everlasting race between Armenians Karapetyan and Gasparyan finished with the victory of the latter. Experience surpassed the vigorous character of a young lifter.

The American lifter SESTER Ryan showed a total of 360 kg.

KASABIJEW Arsen from Poland withdrew from the performance.