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Stars aligning once again for Greek Weightlifting team
By Chris Galakoutis
| Monday, October 9 2006 1:00:09 AM |
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In the clean and jerk, Kourtidis made his first attempt at 210 kgs, but failed on his next two at 217. What was interesting to note was that at the European Jr. Weightlifting Championships last month in Italy, Kourtidis lifted 221 kgs in the clean and jerk; a similar result would have given him two gold medals in Santo Domingo including the overall gold at 94 kgs.
“I hurt my shoulder the week before we got here, and still managed to come close to a medal. I also competed in the “B” group and was a little out of touch with what the “A” group might have done.
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Nikos Kourtidis
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“Perhaps if I competed with them the result would have been different. We must look to tomorrow however, as we can not change the result here.”
Coach Valerios Leonidis, a legend of Greek weightlifting having participated in a historic head to head competition against the "Pocket Hercules" Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey in Atlanta, told us that physical strength alone is not enough in this sport and that the mental aspect is a critical component.
Both Kourtidis and Papageridis went up against much older competitors in their respective weight classes; lifters with much more experience and arguably at the heights of their careers in terms of physical and mental toughness. That these two young weightlifters performed at this level, at this point in their careers on a world stage speaks volumes.
It may also speak to the passion for the sport in Greece by coaches like Leonidis and head coach Christos Iakovou, the architect of the 1990’s “Dream Team”. With a little luck on the injury front other young talents, such as Spiros Stamatiadis – the other 5th place finisher in the snatch in the 77 kgs category – Kostas Papadopoulos and Thanasis Tsiridis are more than capable of coming through with improved performances, helping the entire Greek team hit its goals of sending the maximum number of lifters to Beijing.
The next major competition for the team will be the European Championships next spring, where this young team as well as "Dream Team" members Leonidas Sabanis and Victor Mitrou will aim for maximum placings. That will be followed by the World Championships next fall in Thailand, where final spots for the Olympic games will be determined.
With two years to go before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the stars just might be aligning in a familiar pattern for the storied Hellenic Weightlifting team.
Updated 10/9/06 9:45 AM EDT
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