Men's -72 kg - IPC Powerlifting World Championships

In the men’s -72kg, Mohamed Elelfat out-lifted Iranian world record holder Roohallah Rostami to claim Egypt’s second gold of the event.

London 2012 silver medallist Elelfat’s first round lift of 213kg was 8kg more than Rostami and put him in to a strong lead that he would never surrender.

In the second round the 34 year-old consolidated his lead further lifting 217kg compared to Rostami’s 209kg.

With the pressure mounting going in to the final, Rostami failed to lift 217kg to draw level at the top of the leaderboard. Having secured gold, Elelfat then attempted 220.5kg, 0.5kg more than Rostami’s world record set last November, but was unsuccessful.

Sergei Sychev (206kg) picked up Russia’s third senior medal of the day with bronze.

The junior podium was headed by 19-year-old Brazilian Rafael Vansolin who showed promise ahead of Rio 2016 with a new junior world record of 112kg. His record was soon taken by silver medallist Farhod Umirzakov (110kg) of Uzbekistan who managed 116kg with his fourth lift that did not count towards the final standings. Iran’s Saeed Heydarpour (104kg) finished with bronze.

The 2014 IPC Powerlifting World Championships have featured over 330 athletes from nearly 60 countries and were the first opportunity for athletes to begin qualification for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

The competition also featured the climax to the "Raise the Bar campaign," which has seen powerlifters and team officials take part in education seminars as part of efforts to reduce doping in the sport.

For more information about the 2014 IPC Powerlifting World Championships, please visit the Dubai 2014 microsite: http://www.paralympic.org/dubai-2014

Athletes:

BRA Rafael Vansolin

CHN Peng Hu

COL Jainer Rafael Cantillo Guette

EGY Mohamed Elelfat

GEO Merab Dukashvili

GEO Davit Kobalia

GRE Nikolaos Gkountanis

IND Rajindersingh Rahelu

IRI Saeed Heydarpour Nalkiashari

IRI Roohallah Rostami

IRL Roy Guerin

ITA Matteo Cattini

JOR Abdelkareem Mohmmad Ahmad Khattab

JPN Yoshiki Sano

KAZ Rakhmetzhan Khamayev

KAZ Ruslan Dolobayev

KGZ Zhyrgalbek Balbakov

LBA Mosab Gharsalla

MAS Ma Hussein Mat Noh

MEX Porfirio Francisco Arredondo Luna

NGR Tolu-Lope Taiwo

NGR Ifeanyi Nnajiofor

OMA Badar Al Tamtami

RUS Sergei Sychev

THA Thongsa Marasri

TKM Sergey Meladze

UAE Adel Shanbih

UZB Farhod Umirzakov