Featherweight (≤64 kilograms), Men

Naim Süleymanoğlu was still the favorite, having won the 1988 and 1992 gold medals, and the 1993-95 World Championships, but Greece’s Valerios Leonidas was getting close. At the 1995 Worlds, Leonidas tied Süleymanoğlu on weight lifted, only losing on bodyweight. In Atlanta, Süleymanoğlu took the lead with a snatch of 147.5 kg, Leonidas trailing with 145.0 kg, a lift matched by China’s Xiao Jiangang and Leonidas’ teammate Georgios Tzelilis. In the clean & jerk, Süleymanoğlu and Leonidas moved ahead. Both opened with 180.0 kg, while Süleymanoğlu then lifted a world record 185.0 kg. Leonidas called for 187.5 kg and succeeded, taking the lead, but Süleymanoğlu countered by lifting the same weight to move ahead on total. Leonidas had no choice but to ask for 190.0 kg, 10 kg more than his personal best. He was able to clean it, but could not get it overhead and the gold medal went to Süleymanoğlu, his third consecutive. Xiao and Tzelilis both lifted 322.5 kg, tieing for third, but Xiao won on the bodyweight tiebreaker.