|
Weightlifting: Kourtidis may move up
By Chris Galakoutis
| Wednesday, November 1 2006 10:27:29 PM |
| |
|
|
The Greek weightlifting team will return to all out preparations shortly for next season, having earned some well deserved time off following their participation at last month's World Championships in the Dominican Republic.
Next year will be a critical one with respect to the Greek team's aspirations for Beijing 2008. With the men having come out of this year's world championships in 11th place, they have earned a provisional 5 spots for Beijing, i.e., 5 men have earned the provisional right to represent Greece at the next Olympics.
|
The world championships next year will round out final team placing, and therefore the Greek team will need to be at the top of it's game to retain and/or increase their current provisional number from 5 to the maximum 6. The women will need to perform at a high level as well if they hope to earn at least two spots for Beijing, not having helped themselves much at all in Santo Domingo, finishing 21st overall.
Before the next worlds, however, there is the matter of the next spring's European Championships, to be held in Strasbourg, France. That event will serve as a tune up for the worlds next fall, and is the event the lifters will be targeting upon their return to training.
And with any luck, the team should be in a better position next year with respect to injuries.
|
|
Nikos Kourtidis
|
Shortly before this year's worlds got under way, promising young 69 kgs lifter Vladimiros Lazaridis – who was expected to finish in the top-6 in Santo Domingo and earn valuable points for the team - suffered a hand injury and was forced to stay home.
|
Several of the lifters that did make the trip were also not at 100%, including Nikos Kourtidis and Spiros Stamatiadis, who were suffering from shoulder and lower back injuries, respectively. Considering the late preparations of Leonidas Sabanis and Victor Mitrou, as well as the noticeable absence of Giorgos Markoulas, it is quite the accomplishment the team managed to finish as well as it did.
Following the team’s return to Greece head coach Christos Iakovou disclosed that he was considering moving Kourtidis up to 105 kgs, where he believes the 20-year-old stands a very good chance to win gold in Beijing.
Kourtidis competed at 105 kgs at this year’s European Junior Weightlifting Championships, where he won 3 gold medals.
|
|
Spiros Stamatiadis
|
Kourtidis had a successful lift of 221 kgs in the clean and jerk at that competition. Iakovou pointed to that result, and the fact that Kourtidis weighed in at just 98 kgs for that competition, as an important indicator that his young lifter can more than hold his own in the heavier group, noting as well that the gold medalist in Santo Domingo won that portion of the 105 kgs competition with a slightly higher lift of 222 kgs.
|
|
