Tokyo, Japan, August 4, 2021: Syrian weightlifter Man Asaad had the honour of seeing his national flag at the Olympic Games medal ceremony for the first time at Tokyo 2020 on Wednesday evening.
The 27-year-old Asaad, competing in his second Olympics after a 15th-place finish at Rio 2016, won the bronze medal in the men’s +109kg at the Tokyo International Forum.
He lifted 190kg in the snatch and 234kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 424kg.
Georgia’s Lasha Talakhadze won gold with three world record-breaking lifts – 223kg in the snatch and 265kg in clean and jerk for a mammoth total of 488kg.
Silver medallist Ali Davoudi of the Islamic Republic of Iran was a whopping 41kg back in second place with a total of 441kg – 200kg snatch and 241kg clean and jerk.
For Asaad, this was not only Syria’s first medal of Tokyo 2020 but also their fourth in Olympic history following athletics gold at Atlanta 1996, wrestling silver at Los Angeles 1984 and boxing bronze at Athens 2004.
