Rio 2016: Protests Over Behdad Salimi's Disqualification

Behdad Salimi, in the clean and jerk of the super heavyweight weightlifting category at the Rio Olympics, set a world and Olympic record of 216 kilograms, but the judges rejected his clean and jerk attempts. Salimi's disqualification led to protests that resulted in police being dispatched to the competition venue. Sajjad Anoushiri, the head coach of the Iranian national team, stated that Salimi's disqualification was a "clear conspiracy." According to IRNA news agency, Behdad Salimi also mentioned, "This is all due to the enmity of some towards Ali Moradi, the president of the federation, by certain individuals who were sitting on the jury and did not want me to win a medal." Salimi cited the presence of "an Iraqi member" and his Iraqi wife on the jury as the reason for the rejection of his clean and jerk attempts. He did not provide further explanation regarding what he described as "enmity" or his accusations against the jury members. Lasha Talakhadze, the Georgian weightlifter who won the gold medal, stated, "The anger in the hall was evident, but he made a mistake, and that is why he failed. I have wanted to be an Olympic champion my whole life, and I became one." According to AFP, the Iranian weightlifter and his coach were engaged in discussions with the jury for several minutes, during which Iranian spectators also began to boo. However, the competition eventually concluded. The report noted that while tension and excitement continued, nearly ten members of Brazil's riot police entered the venue, but calm was restored in the end. The final results in the 105+ kg category were one gold and one bronze for Georgia (Talakhadze and Irakli Tsirekidze) and silver for Gagik Minasian, the Armenian weightlifter. Talakhadze also managed to set a new record with a total lift of 473 kilograms, replacing Hossein Rezazadeh's previous record.