In a move no one had expected, Iranian weightlifter Mir Mostafa Javadi won the highly-competitive Men’s 89-Kilogram Group A division on Sep. 11 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Bar bend website reported. 

It was the first time the 23-year-old made it to the 89-kilogram podium at Worlds in the snatch, clean & jerk, or Total.

Javadi walked away with gold in the clean & jerk at 215 kilograms, or 473.9 pounds, and gold in the Total, despite finishing sixth in the snatch. He also advanced from ninth to fourth position in the International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) official Olympics qualification leaderboards.

Leading up to the 2023 WWC in Riyadh, which runs from Sep. 4 to 17, the 89-kilogram division was widely predicted to be the most intense session of men’s weightlifting.

The roster of Group A contained multiple former and current World Champions, as well as several current world record holders. But nothing played out as it was supposed to.

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