DUSHANBE, September 4, 2012, Asia-Plus — Powerlifting at the 2012 Summer Paralympics is being held at the ExCel London from August 30 to September 5, with a maximum of 200 athletes (120 men and 80 women), competing in 20 events.
According to the classification rules of the International Federation for Powerlifting athletes which cannot participate in weightlifting events because of a physical impairment affecting their legs or hips are deemed eligible to compete in powerlifting events at the Paralympics.
We will recall that Odinayev, 30, represented Tajikistan in the men’s 75 kg event at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
According to Tajikistan’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), Parviz Odinayev has qualified for the 2012 London Paralympic Games, finishing second in his weight division (75kg) in the Paralympic qualifying tournament in Dubai.
The men”s 75 kg powerlifting event at the 2012 Summer Paralympics was contested at ExCeL London on September 3.
Thirteen athletes from thirteen nations participated in the men’s 75kg division and Parviz Odinayev unfortunately finished the last as no marks were recorded.
Iranian athlete Ali Hosseini has won the gold medal of the men”s 75 kg category of the powerlifting competition of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. He managed to lift 225 kilograms.
Mohamed Elelfat from Egypt won a silver, finishing the second in the is weight division; he lifted 291 kilograms. Chinese athlete Peng Hu, who lifted 213 kilograms, won a bronze in the men’s 75 kg division.
The 2012 Summer Paralympic Games that kicked off on August 29 will last till September 9. They are being held in London, United Kingdom, after the city was successful with its bid for the Paralympics and Summer Olympic Games.
It is the second largest multi-sport event ever held within the United Kingdom after the 2012 Olympic Games.
The Games are the first modern Paralympics solely hosted by the United Kingdom; the 1984 Summer Paralympics were originally intended to be hosted by the United States at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, but due to financial issues, the university passed on hosting the games shortly before they were set to begin, leading to the British village of Stoke Mandeville and the American region of Long Island quickly stepping in to co-host the games.
Stoke Mandeville also played an important role in the history of the Paralympics; in 1948, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann and the Stoke Mandeville Hospital first held the Stoke Mandeville Games, an event for British World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries to coincide with the opening ceremony of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. The Stoke Mandeville Games were the first ever organized athletics event for the disabled, and served as a significant precursor to the Paralympic movement as a whole.
London 2012 is the “biggest Paralympic Games ever.” 4,200 athletes are reportedly competing in the Games, an increase of 250 athletes in comparison to the 2008 Summer Paralympics. They represent 165 countries, 19 more than in Beijing.
