Paralympic Games: Jordan’s Omar Qarada wins his first gold medal in powerlifting

A first gold medal for the Jordanian athlete 

Hailing from Amman, the now-medal-winning athlete managed to lift 173 kilograms on his third attempt to take first place ahead of Vietnam’s Le Van Cong, the world record holder and 2016 Rio Games champion.

The Paralympic gold medal is the second ever for Jordan and the first for Qarada, who previously won two silver medals at the 2008 Beijing and 2016 Rio Games. 

The first #ParaPowerlifting medallists of #Tokyo2020, ladies and gentlemen! 👏👏👏👏

Men's up to 49 kg#Gold Omar Qarada #JOR – 173kg #Silver Le van Cong #VIE – 173kg#Bronze Parvin Mammadov #AZE – 156kg#ParaPowerlifting #Paralympics #Tokyo2020 @paralympics pic.twitter.com/cwOZMbPILn

— #ParaPowerlifting #Tokyo2020 (@Powerlifting) August 26, 2021

A bit of history on this somewhat lesser-known sport 

Powerlifting, or “athletic strength”, is the sport of lifting weights. 

It consists, like weightlifting, in lifting bars, but it differs from it by its technically more basic movements and where the loads are heavier when the amplitude is reduced.

This sport, historically quite unknown to the general public, is gaining more and more popularity. And the new Olympic athlete Omar Qarada is not to blame!