Akbar Djuraev

Akbar Djuraev (born 8 October 1999) is an Uzbekistani weightlifter, Olympic Champion and Junior World Champion. He won the gold medal in the men's 109 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He also won the gold medal in the men's 109 kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.^[3]

Akbar Djuraev

Djuraev at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Nationality	Uzbekistani
Born	(1999-10-08) 8 October 1999 (age 25)[1] Tashkent
Weight	108.55 kg (239.3 lb)
Sport
Country	Uzbekistan
Sport	Weightlifting
Weight class	109 kg
Team	National team
Coached by	Mansurbek Chashemov Bakhrom Abdumalikov[2]
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	Snatch: 195 kg (2021) Clean and jerk: 242 kg (2023) Total: 437 kg (2023)
Medal record Men's weightlifting Representing  Uzbekistan Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo 109 kg 2024 Paris 102 kg World Championships 2021 Tashkent 109 kg 2023 Riyadh 109 kg Asian Games 2022 Hangzhou 109 kg Asian Championships 2024 Tashkent 102 kg 2019 Ningbo 109 kg 2020 Tashkent 109 kg 2023 Jinju +109 kg Junior World Championships 2019 Suva 109 kg

He competed in the 105 kg category until 2018, and the 102 kg and 109 kg categories starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.^[4]

He holds the junior world record in the snatch and total in the 102 kg division, as well as the snatch, clean & jerk and total in the 109 kg division.

Career

In the 2017 Junior World Championships, Djuraev finished sixth in the 105-kilogram weight category with a total of 352 kilograms in the two exercises (162 + 190).^[5]

At the 2017 World Championships in Anaheim, Akbar placed 13th with a total of 373 kilograms in the 105-kilogram weight category. In the snatch, Akbar lifted 174 kilograms, and in the clean and jerk, he managed 199 kilograms.^[5]

In the 2018 Junior Asian Championships, Akbar won a gold medal with a total of 372 kilograms. In the same year. In the 2018 Junior World Championships in Tashkent, he secured a silver medal. In total, Akbar Djuraev lifted 369 kilograms, with 167 kilograms in the snatch and 202 kilograms in the clean and jerk.^[5]

In early November 2018, at the World Championships in Ashgabat, the Uzbek athlete won a gold medal in the 102-kilogram weight category in the snatch, lifting 180 kilograms. In the overall standings, he finished fourth, missing the absolute bronze medal by just one kilogram. His result in the clean and jerk was 212 kilograms.^[5]

In the December 2018 Qatar International Cup, Akbar Djuraev won a bronze medal in the new 109-kilogram weight category, lifting a total of 392 kilograms, the same weight he lifted at the World Championships in Ashgabat.^[5]In April, at the Asian Championships, Akbar Djuraev improved his personal record in the 109-kilogram weight category. The Uzbek weightlifter lifted 185 kilograms in the snatch and 225 kilograms in the clean and jerk, with a total of 410 kilograms, earning him a silver medal. In June, he became the Junior World Champion, lifting a total of 398 kilograms.^[5]

At the 2019 World Championships in Pattaya, Akbar Djuraev won a silver medal in the 109-kilogram weight category, jerking 229 kilograms. In the final standings, he finished fourth with a total of 417 kilograms.^[5] This result is a junior world record.^[6] He also won the Qatar Cup, with successful attempts of 185 kilograms in the snatch and 220 kilograms in the clean and jerk (405 kilograms in total).^[5]

In 2020, he won gold at the International Solidarity Championships, lifting a total of 410 kilograms in the two exercises. In the April Asian Championships, he again placed second, achieving a career-best result in the 109-kilogram weight category – 194 kilograms in the snatch and 234 kilograms in the clean and jerk (a total of 428 kilograms).^[5]He earned the right to participate in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo after defeating Olympic champion Ruslan Nurudinov by 12 kilograms at the Uzbekistan Championship.^[7][6] In Japan, he defeated Armenian weightlifter Simon Martirosyan and became an Olympic champion.^[8]

In Saudi Arabia, at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships, the Uzbek athlete in the 109-kilogram category won the gold medal of the world championship with a total of 415 kilograms in the two exercises. He also received the small gold medal in the snatch and the small silver medal in the clean and jerk.^[9]

In August 2024, Djuraev competed in the men's 102 kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics held in Paris, France.^[10] He placed second with a total of 404 kg missing out 2 kg on the gold medal won by China's Liu Huanhua.^[10]

Major results

Year	Venue	Weight	Snatch (kg)				Clean & Jerk (kg)				Total	Rank
			1	2	3	Rank	1	2	3	Rank
Olympic Games
2021	Tokyo, Japan	109 kg	189	189	193	—	227	234	237 OR	—	430 OR
2024	Paris, France	102 kg	180	185	189	—	219	224	232	—	404
World Championships
2017	Anaheim, United States	105 kg	164	169	174	12	194	199	203	15	373	13
2018	Ashgabat, Turkmenistan	102 kg	173	178	180		200	207	212	4	392	4
2019	Pattaya, Thailand	109 kg	183	184	188	6	221	226	229		417	4
2021	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	109 kg	187	192	195		226	232	238		433
2023	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	109 kg	182	189	189		220	226	231		415
IWF World Cup
2024	Phuket, Thailand	109 kg	180	185	189		220	227	—		416
Asian Games
2023	Hangzhou, China	109 kg	180	184	189	—	220	222	228	—	417
Asian Championships
2019	Ningbo, China	109 kg	176	181	185		215	219	225		410
2020	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	109 kg	188	194	197		225	234	238		428
2023	Jinju, South Korea	+109 kg	189	195	195	4	230	240	242		437
2024	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	102 kg	175	180	183		214	219	220		400
World Junior Championships
2017	Tokyo, Japan	105 kg	155	159	162	4	185	185	190	6	352	6
2018	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	105 kg	167	172	172		195	202	210		369
2019	Suva, Fiji	109 kg	173	177	182		212	216	—		398