Gold Weighted

Death in a car crash is not the opening five words you expect from a blog that perturbs to be a less than serious look at sport, but please stick with me, it gets a lot less dark. The death in question occurred last year and it is that of Susann Steiner, the wife of German weightlifter Matthias Steiner. After his wife’s passing Matthias made it his destiny to win the Olympic +105kg weightlifting title in her honour.

A year on, and with just one lift remaining Steiner sat in second place. To win the Gold he needed to clean-and-jerk eight kilograms more than the leading Russian lifter. Steiner made the lift and as the buzzer sounded he dropped the weight to the floor and both he and the crowd erupted. Steiner’s incredible emotional celebrations lasted for nearly five minutes as he tore of his vest and dropped to his knees. Upright again he danced and yelled and hugged seemingly every coach in the arena, he was but a crowd dive away from scoring the perfect 10 celebration.

When he stepped up to the podium to receive the Gold medal he had strived for Steiner held a picture of Susann. The word love is often referenced in the context of sport, but in the modern era it is unlikely to have a more fitting occasion than Steiner’s Gold. These Games which be remembered historically for the achievements of Phelps and Bolt, but I don’t think there could have been a more Olympic story nor a more deserved gold medal than Matthias Steiner’s.