Here is nice edit of Matthias Steiner reflecting on his 2008 Olympic success from the Olympics Channel.
Just incredible to relive that moment with him.
About his epic last Clean & Jerk (258kg) attempt he says:
The very best athletes are distinguished by one thing. They compete lots of times, but they only have a few where they have one try which will decide everything and that can change their life.
The Olympics Channel unfortunately disables embedding. So head on over to youtube and watch it there.
very cool video.
i like steiner’s make-or-break attitude in competitions.. it nearly came at the expense of his health at the third snatch attempt in bejing and of course at his spectacular miss in london. but it also makes him lift this 258kg for the olympic gold, which was 8kg above his prior pr (training included). either way exciting to watch.
too bad he already ended his career (and went down to 105kg), i’m sure he still would have some great lifts in him.
on the other hand, he did something few athletes seem to be able to do: quit when he’s at his best (well, almost), and successfully recover from being a 24/7 athlete. it probably might not have been the best decision for the sport of weightlifting, but i believe it was the best decision for him personally. too many athletes don’t know when to stop and start recovering and caring/planning for the rest of their lives. i mean, he might have been able to lift a bit more … at the expense of his family life, health and – potentially – emotional well-being in case he wouldn’t have been able to repeat his success.
He explained in an interview that the only thing that counts are the Olympics and he would simply be too old for Rio. It’s very pitty that he had this accident in London. He said he had planed some big lifts in the clean and jerk. Not sure he could have won gold, but maybe fight for third place.
He is doing well in his private life. He married a second time and is also a father. The weightloss was even more impressive since he has Diabetis Type 1.
A great athlete and a great carreer. The performance in Beijing will never be forgotten.