Georgian lifts equivalent of an upright piano but key question in Tokyo is whether the sport has a Games future
In the British newspaper business we tend to measure heights in quantities of double-decker buses, and area in multiples of tennis courts and football pitches. Unfortunately, when it comes to weight there doesn’t seem to be an agreed international standard. This makes it tricky to convey exactly what Georgia’s Lasha Talakhadze did in the super-heavy division of the men’s weightlifting at the Tokyo International Forum on Wednesday evening, when he broke his own world record by lifting 488kg. That’s about the weight of an average dromedary camel. Or four Vespa scooters. Or 67 shot puts. Or 2,425 turnips. Take your pick.
Of course Talakhadze, 27, 6ft 6in and 27 stone, didn’t do it all at once. That would be ridiculous. No. He set one world record in the snatch (223kg, or the gold-medal winning crew in the men’s lightweight double sculls, and their boat and oars), and another in the clean-and-jerk (265kg, or one large upright piano). Next he says he’s planning to become the first man in history to lift a combined total of 500kg.