Erol Bilgin, competing in the 62-kilogram category, clinched the gold medal in the snatch contest and won two silver medals in the clean and jerk event and in the overall at the ongoing 21st European Men’s Weightlifting Championship in the Italian city of Lignano.
Bilgin lifted 135 kilograms in the snatch event and took the gold as he weighed less than his rival, Russian Sergei Petrosian, who won the silver. Moldovan Vladimir Popov won the bronze, lifting 130 kilograms.
The Turkish weightlifter won the silver medal in the clean and jerk contest by lifting 160 kilograms. His Russian rival Petrosian lifted 167 kilograms to win an open victory and grab the gold. The winner of the bronze was the Azeri weightlifter Zülfügar Suleimanov, who lifted 158 kilograms. Petrosian also broke the European youth weightlifting record with 167 kilograms.

In the overall, Petrosian clinched the gold with 302 kilograms; Bilgin won the silver with 295 kilograms, and Popov took the bronze with 284 kilograms.
Bilgin was given his silver medal by State Minister for Sports Murat Ba?esgio?lu and President of the Turkish Weightlifting Federation Hasan Akku?.

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A few weeks ago I was walking thru the parking lot to get to the weightroom at Long Beach State to train with Nomad Weightlifting Tribe when a flyer on a car caught my eye. I picked it up and started to read it. As my eyes gazed onto the page, I started to get a pain in my ears. The more I read the more the pain intensified. I then realized it was my head exploding! I quickly diverted my eyes and the pain subsided.
Below is the cause of this near fatal head trauma.

Please read at your own risk!

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Eleven members of the Greek national weightlifting team — reportedly 5 men and 6 women - have tested positive for banned substances, the Greek Weightlifting Federation said on Friday.

Names of the athletes were not released pending confirmation of the tests from March 7, performed on 14 athletes at Athens’ Agios Kosmas training center. The federation said the tests were conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency on orders from the International Weightlifting Federation.

“In surprise out-of-competition tests run by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) on the orders of the International Weightlifting Federation, the A samples of 11 (out of 14) athletes turned out positive,” it said in a statement.

National team coach Christos Iakovou, 60, credited with building the 90’s “Dream Team” that won several medals at the Olympics and World Championships, had handed in his resignation and had been suspended pending the investigation.

The federation said it would test the B samples before setting up a special committee to investigate the issue affecting the majority of the team.

News reports further suggested that the majority of the 11 athletes implicated are senior level, and not members of the team that recently took part in the European Union Championship in Germany.

The team’s participation at the Beijing Games, where they were planning to send 5 men and 2 women, is now in serious doubt, according to a federation official speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Given the very large number of positive tests, and if the B samples are positive as well, then the team as a whole could be banned from competing in the Beijing Games,” the federation official said.

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