Hossein Rezazadeh

Hossein Rezazadeh

Personal information
Nationality	Iranian
Born	May 12, 1978 (1978-05-12) Ardabil, Iran
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) (2007)
Weight	152 kg (340 lb) (2007)
Sport
Sport	Weightlifting
Event(s)	Snatch, Clean and jerk
Medal record Competitor for Iran Men's Weightlifting Olympic Games Gold 2000 Sydney +105 kg Gold 2004 Athens +105 kg World Championships Bronze 1999 Athens +105 kg Gold 2002 Warsaw +105 kg Gold 2003 Vancouver +105 kg Gold 2005 Doha +105 kg Gold 2006 Santo Domingo +105 kg Asian Games Bronze 1998 Bangkok +105 kg Gold 2002 Busan +105 kg Gold 2006 Doha +105 kg Asian Championships Gold 1999 Wuhan +105 kg Gold 2003 Qinhuangdao +105 kg Gold 2005 Dubai +105 kg

Hossein Rezazadeh (Persian: حسین رضازاده, born May 12, 1978 in Ardabil, Iran) is an Iranian former world and double Olympic champion in Olympic weightlifting. He is also a world record holder in the clean and jerk and considered as one of the greatest weightlifters of all time.

Career

He is nicknamed "The Iranian Hercules". He currently holds the world records in weightlifting's super heavyweight class in the clean and jerk and total. He is the first Iranian athlete to have won two Olympic gold medals. He is also one of Iran's most noted celebrities, frequently appearing on television and in the news; his wedding, which was held in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, in February of 2003 was broadcast live on state television in Iran.

In 2002 he was voted the "Champion of Champions" of Iran and was one of 16 Iranian athletes granted a badge of courage from Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. As a reward for setting a world record at the 2003 World Weightlifting Championships in Vancouver, Canada, Mohammad Khatami awarded him 600 million rials (a little more than US$60,000) to buy a house in Tehran. After his spectacular performance, he was offered by Turkey’s Weightlifting Federation a stipend of US$20,000 a month, as well as a luxury villa and US$10 million reward if he switched nationalities and won gold for Turkey at the 2004 Athens Olympics, but he turned down their offers. Rezazadeh rejected the tempting offer saying, "I am an Iranian and love my country and people."

He surprised many at the 2000 Summer Olympics, earning a gold medal and breaking the decades-old monopoly on the gold by the Soviet Union and then Russia. His gold medal was the first since 1960 by a non-Soviet or non-Russian athlete in the over 105 kg class at a non boycotted Games. He has since broken his own records on a number of occasions leading up to his world record 263.5 kg (580.9 pounds) lift in the clean and jerk at the 2004 Summer Olympics. His total (both lifts combined) at the 2004 Summer Olympics of 472.5 kg was 17.5 kg more than silver medalist Viktors Ščerbatihs. He is the current IWF World Weightlifter of the Year, and was shortlisted for weightlifter of the century.

Rezazadeh's supremacy in the superheavyweight class has been virtually unchallenged in recent years. However, although he had not been pushed hard during his career, he was in pursuit of the all-time best IWF marks of 216.0 kg snatch (Antonio Krastev, 1987), 266.0 kg clean and jerk (Leonid Taranenko, 1988), and 475.0 kg total (Taranenko, 1988). Even though they exceed Rezazadeh's marks, these lifts are no longer the official world records due to the IWF's restructuring of weight classes, but they still remain as the heaviest weights lifted.

Rezazadeh is also referred to by weightlifting commentators as "the strongest man in the world", primarily due to his world records in the olympics.

In 2006 the Rezazadeh Stadium was built in Rezazadeh's hometown of Ardabil. It was built to honour the achievements of Rezazadeh and is one of the most modern and innovative indoor arenas in Iran today.

Rezazadeh in 2011

In early 2008 Rezazadeh participated in a television commercial promoting a real estate agency based in Dubai. His participation surprised many of his fans and was seen as demeaning to both himself and his country, given the promotion of buying estates in a land deemed as a rival. This eventually led to the decision of the Iranian Majles to ban any sort of sponsorship from any high profile Iranian - i.e. athlete, actor, singer - for any sort of product or service, due to the direct encouragement of product consumerism.

In 2008, he was advised by Dr. Mohammad Ali Shahi, his physician and medical athletic trainer, not to participate in the 2008 Olympics due to his severe hand injuries and his high blood pressure. To his fans' surprise and disappointment he officially announced in a letter read via National Iranian Television that he had accepted the advice.

The next day he wrote another public letter announcing his retirement from professional weightlifting. He said "I am pretty sure that my fellow country men will repeat my accomplishments again and I hope my son Abulfazl will break my own records in future".

Right after his retirement he was appointed as the Prime Counselor for Iranian national weight lifting federation. Instead of him, young weightlifter Rashid Sharifi took part in 2008 Olympics gaining no place among the winners.

In September 2008, Rezazadeh was named manager and head coach of Iran's national weightlifting team. In January 2009, he was blamed for positive results of the steroid tests of four Iranian weightlifters. Later on, one of the team members, Saeid Ali-Hosseini accused him of using steroids in 2006. Rezazadeh has publicly vowed to fight doping in Weightlifting.

Statistics

Physical profile

• Bodyweight: 162.95 kg (2004 Summer Olympics)
• Height: 6 foot 1 inch (1.86 metres)

Career bests

• Snatch: 213 kg (469.6 lbs) in Qinhuangdao on September 14, 2003.
• Clean and Jerk: 263.5 kg (580.9 lbs) in Athens on August 25, 2004; (World record).
• Total: 472.5 kg (1,041.7 lbs) in Sydney on September 26, 2000; (World record).

• Hossein has also achieved a 390–400 kg back squat, 220 kg bench press and a 380 kg deadlift 100 % Raw.

Notes and references

Awards
Preceded by New Award	Iran Sportsperson of the year 2000	Succeeded by Hassan Rangraz
Preceded by Hassan Rangraz	Iran Sportsperson of the year 2002–2003	Succeeded by Hadi Saei
Preceded by Hadi Saei	Iran Sportsperson of the year 2005	Succeeded by Morad Mohammadi Ehsan Haddadi