International Weightlifting Tournament 2003 • IWF Grand Prix
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Dimitris Tofalos |
| Born in Patras in 1877 (or, according to some sources, in 1884), Tofalos began showing his strength at an early age. Still a young boy, he seriously injured his arm in when he tried to lift a rail carriage. Doctors proposed to amputate, but he refused and went on to win the gold medals at the Intercalated Olympic Games of 1906 in Athens, despite his ‘bad’ arm being 2½ inches shorter than his ‘good’ one. Tofalos lifted 142.2 kg to 136.5 kg of Austria’s Josef Steinbach at the 1906 Games. Following his success he moved to the United States, where he took up professional wrestling and became the trainer of Jim London. |
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Pericles Kakousis |
| Born in 1879, Kakousis was a member of the Panellinios Club of Athens. At the 1904 Olympic Games at Saint Louis he won the gold medal, with 111.7 kg (27.33 kg more than silver medallist Oscar Osthoff of the USA). He remained in the USA for two years, but returned to Atens for the Intercalated Games of 1906, where he finished 6th with a lift of 121.5 kg. |
Breaking News latest update: 10.12.2003 23:38 +0200
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| Alexei Petrov: Winner of the gold in the men’s 94 kg. Photo: Studio Kominis |
Alexei Petrov Wins Men’s 94 kg. Alexei Petrov of Russia completed a combined lift of 387.5 kg. (177.5 kg. in the snatch and 210.0 kg. in the clean & jerk) to win the gold medal in the men’s 94 kg. category, as the 2003 “Tofalos-Kakousis” IWF Grand Prix concluded, Wednesday night in the brand new Weightlifting Centre of the Piraeus suburb of Nikaia. Petrov bettered silver medallist Nikolaos Kourtidis of Greece by a whopping 22.5 kg., as the home favourite lifted a total of 365.0 kg. Third with the same performance as Kourtidis (but with a heavier body weight) was Kazakhstan’s Bakhyt Akhmetov. 
MEN’S 94 kg…
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| Christina Ioannidi: A gold with three new records. Photo: Studio Kominis |
Christina Ioannidi Earns
Greece Its Second Gold Christina Ioannidi of Greece earned Greece’s second gold medal in the 2003 “Tofalos-Kakousis” IWF Grand Prix, which concludes Wednesday night in the brand new Weightlifting Centre of the Piraeus suburb of Nikaia. Ioannidi lifted a total of 245.5 kg. (110.0 kg in the snatch and 135.5 kg. in the clean & jerk) in the women’s 75 kg. category. Sule Shabaz of Turkey won the silver with 235.0 kg. and Rumania’s Genoveva Tiron finished in third place with 202.5 kg. All three of Ioannidi’s lifts set new panhellenic records, as the 21-year-old lifter bettered her own performances of 103.0 kg. in the snatch, 135.0 kg. in the clean & jerk and 237.5 kg. in the total. WOMEN’S 75 kg…
PHOTO GALLERY…
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| Georgios Markoulas, winner of the gold in the Men’s 85 kg. Photo: Studio Kominis |
Greece Gets Gold In Men’s 85 kg. Greece’s Georgios Markoulas lifted 167,5 kg. in the snatch and 200.0 kg. in the clean & jerk for a total of 367.5 kg., to win the gold medal of the men’s 85 kg. category, as Day 1 of the 2003 “Tofalos-Kakousis” IWF Grand Prix concluded in the Piraeus suburb of Nikaia, Tuesday. China’s Yuan Aijun, who ended up with the silver, had a shot at the gold in his last attempt, but, in an exciting finale to the event, failed to lift 210.0 kg. that would have pushed him past Markoulas. The competition concludes Wednesday with the men’s 94 kg. and the women’s 75 kg. categories. MEN’S 85 kg…
PHOTO GALLERY…
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| Liu Xia, winner of the gold in the women’s 63 kg. Photo: Studio Kominis |
Gold For China In Opening Event China’s Liu Xia lifted 97.5 kg. in the snatch and 120.0 kg. in the clean & jerk for a total of 217.5 kg., that earned the World Championships runner-up the gold medal in the opening event of the 2003 “Tofalos-Kakousis” Grand Prix. The competition continues in the brand new Weightlifting Centre of the Piraeus suburb of Nikaia. WOMEN’S 63 kg…
PHOTO GALLERY…
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18,000 Free Tickets Available For IWF Grand Prix A total of 18,000 free tickets will be made available by the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation and the Athens 2004 Olympic Games Organising Committee for the 2003 “Tofalos-Kakousis” IWF Grand Prix. The competition will be held 9 and 10 December at the new Olympic Weightlifting Centre in the Piraeus suburb of Nikaia. For each of the six sessions (morning, afternoon and evening) 3,000 tickets will be available for free at ticket booths outside the venue. FULL COMPETITION SCHEDULE…
Inaugural Event Of New Weightlifting Complex
The 2003 IWF “Tofalos-Kakousis” Grand Prix will be the inaugural event of the new “House of Weightlifting” complex in the Piraeus suburb of Nikaia. The venue, with a capacity of 5,000 spectators, will host the weightlifting events of the 2003 Olympic Games.
MORE ON THE VENUE…
City Of Nikaia
The 2003 IWF “Tofalos-Kakousis” Grand Prix will be the inaugural event of the new “House of Weightlifting” complex in the Piraeus suburb of Nikaia. The venue, with a capacity of 5,000 spectators, will host the weightlifting events of the 2003 Olympic Games.
MORE ON THE CITY OF NIKAIA…
Top Lifters Invited For 2003 IWF Grand Prix
The top four lifters at the World Championships in Vancouver have been invited to take part in the 2003 IWF Grand Prix “Tofalos-Kakousis”, which will feature competition in men’s 85 kg and 94 kg and women’s 63 kg and 75 kg categories. These will be complemented by athletes specially invited for the event. Full competition regulations are included in the official competition brochure, which is available for downloading from this website.
DOWNLOADS…
Yannis Sgouros Issues Welcome Address
The President of the Hellenic Weightlifting Federation and General Secretary of the International Weightlifting Federation points out in his welcome address that the 2003 IWF Grand Prix “Tofalos-Kakousis” is a historical event for the sport, as it will be the inaugural event of the the brand new weightlifting complex of Nikaia
WELCOME ADDRESS…