Luis Mosquera Claims Silver in Men’s Weightlifting, Giving Colombia First Tokyo Games Medal

2020 Tokyo Games

Luis Mosquera has given Colombia its first medal…

The 26-year-old Colombian weightlifter had to settle for the silver medal in the men’s 67 kilos category at the 2020 Tokyo Games after being denied the gold by China’s Chen Lijun.

Luis Mosquera

Mosquera was surpassed by Chen, the world record holder in the category, his last attempt at the competition.

After lifting 151 kg in the snatch, six more than his Chinese competitor (4th with 145), Mosquera thought that he had secured the gold by lifting 180 kg in the third attempt of the clean and jerk, which was validated by the judges after reviewing the images, since at first it wasn’t considered good, which caused the claim of the Colombian delegation.

Chen, who had lifted 145kg in the snatch and 175kg on his first clean and jerk attempt, to put on an additional 12kg to end up lifting 187 and totaling 332kg, one more than Mosquera.

Italy’s Mirko Zanni took the bronze.

“The dream was to be an Olympic champion, but I have a very strong competitor next to me and I am proud to have been on the podium with him,” said Mosquera about his opponent.

“I was confident, because I had already lifted that weight,” declared the champion, who also highlighted: “The clean and jerk is my strong point, so despite being behind after the start, I knew I could do it (come back).”