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Hossein Rezazedah
A two-time world champion and Hossein holds every super heavyweight world record. Amongst all this he is the favourite at Athens.
Born: May 12, 1978
Country: Iran
Weight: 158.8 kgs
Height:185 cm
Event: Weightlifting-105+kg (231+lbs)
Olympic Record:
2000 Sydney Games: 1st in 105+kg
Other Records:
2002 World Championship: Winner
2003 World Championship: Winner
In the Sydney games this 22-year old from Ardebil sought inspiration from the heavens and humbled two weightlifting greats with an enormous lift.
Undaunted by watching two world records fall before he took the stage, super-heavyweight Hossein Rezazadeh took weightlifting gold with a fresh record of 472.5 kilograms.
He is a two-time world champion and holds every super heavyweight world record. Among all the records he is the favorite in Athens in his category.
Following his rare feat in Sydney he went on to become the local superstar. Iranian sports fans just can't get enough of him.
His stocky form gazes down on to Tehran highways from billboards advertising Behran motor oil, vying with Germany's Formula One champion Michael Schumacher and England football captain David Beckham who puff rival brands.
Gold at the world championships in 2002 and 2003 confirmed him as the world's strongest man and a repeat of the his win four years ago at Athens will consolidate his position at the top.
Though he is confident of winning the gold at Athens he is not underestimating his opponents. He is keeping a close eye on Bulgaria's youthful Velichko Cholakov who won the European title in Kiev this year, also aged 22.
