Painful exit: Eko Irawan of Indonesia reacts after failing a lift. — Reuters
IT was not the end Eko Irawan would have wished.
The Indonesian weightlifter, a legend in his sport after making it into his five Olympics, did not finish in the 61kg category after failing to lift any of his clean and jerk attempts at the South Paris Arena on Wednesday.
The 35-year-old, a favourite to win a medal for the fifth time, was grappling with injuries before the Games and during his attempts, he was seen clutching his right thigh.
In his last attempt, he fell and was immediately checked by the medical team. When he got up, he was visibly emotional as he left his final Olympics without a medal.
In the snatch, he did not succeed in his first attempt at 135kg but managed to lift it in the second. His third attempt at 139kg was unsuccessful.
The athlete from Lampung said that his preparation for the Games had been plagued by injuries.
“I’ve had a knee problem since last year and a right thigh injury for the past month,” he said in a statement issued by the Indonesian Olympic Committee.
“I apologise to all Indonesian people for not being able to win a medal. However, I gave it my all until the very end.”
Eko won the bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Games and improved to silver in the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Games. He also won the World Championships in 2018 and the Asian Games gold medal in the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.
He is also one of the most decorated SEA Games athletes, having won seven gold medals since 2007.
Overwhelming favourite Li Fabin of China lifted 143kg in the snatch with a new Olympics record, and cleared 167kg in the clean and jerk for a 310kg total to take gold in the 61kg category in Paris.
Thailand’s Theerapong Silachai was the surprise silver medallist as he cleared 132kg in snatch and 171kg in clean and jerk for a 303kg total while Hampton Morris of the United States took bronze with a lift of 298kg.
