Not so much a competition as a coronation, the gold medal in this event went to Iranian Hossein Reza Zadeh, who was the defending champion and had won the 2002-03 World Championships. Reza Zadeh led after the snatch with 210.0 kg, and then lifted a world record 262.5 kg in the clean & jerk, matching his world record total of 472.5 kg. His clean & jerk was re-measured at 263.5 kg for record purposes. German Ronny Weller had been the silver medalist in this class in 1996 and 2000, and had won medals at the last four Olympics. Attempting to become the first weightlifter to win five medals, he injured himself on his second snatch, and dropped out of the competition. Latvia’s Viktors Ščerbatihs won silver, although well behind Reza Zadeh, and he would return in 2008 and add a bronze medal in the class.