KEY POINTS:
New Zealand weightlifter Richard Patterson was not put off by the dramatic injury to one of his Olympic opponents during competition yesterday. He had done the same thing to himself six years ago.
Patterson was placed ninth of the 14 lifters in 77kg Group B action, with his
final placing to be determined once the 14 elite Group A lifters finished last night.
His best snatch lift of 130kg and leading clean and jerk effort of 170kg were both below personal best marks, giving a disappointing total of 300kg.
The undoubted talking point of the session was a sickening injury to Hungarian Janos Baranyai as he attempted to hoist 148kg in the snatch discipline. He lost control of the bar while hoisting it, in the process contorting his elbow 90 degrees. He fell to the stage with roars of pain which echoed around the vast venue, to the horror of the 1500 spectators.
One woman could not suppress a scream while others covered their eyes as officials raced on stage with a screen to protect the dignity of the sprawled lifter. Unfortunately the big screen then showed four slow-motion replays, inducing groans from all corners as Baranyai was stretchered off.
Watching from the warmup room, Patterson winced although it was not a new phenomenon to him. He did the same thing in competition as a 19-year-old and recovery took nine months.
"Unfortunately it's part of the sport," he said. "And this is the Olympic Games, so often these people have lost 4kg to 5kg body weight and they're right on edge to breaking point.
"It looked pretty horrific. Hopefully it's just a dislocation, hopefully there's no tear or anything otherwise it gets a bit nasty. He was looking good in the warmup as well, poor guy."
Three-time Oceania champion Patterson, 25, was disappointed with his performance, having succeeded only in the relatively conservative first attempts in each discipline.
His technique then let him down in the snatch while the clean and jerk never looked likely after he only just achieved 170kg, having taken a welter of small steps to steady himself with the bar above his head.
"It just felt a little bit heavy today," he said. "I was a bit below my bestbut that's the Olympic platform for you.
"It's a big change of environment and does a lot to your nerves. It's just little things and little things make big differences."
For some reason he was always a better lifter in the evening so he had woken up before 6am to create an "evening feel".
Patterson plans to revert to his former 85kg class for his major target, the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
He will return to his Finland base next year and chase as much competition as possible around Europe.
New Zealand's weightlifting contribution to the Games is over, with fellow-Aucklander Mark Spooner having placed 21st out of 30 lifters in the 69kg class.
- NZPA
