Middleweight (≤77 kilograms), Men

Turkey’s Taner Sağır was the defending champion but missed all three of his snatch attempts and was eliminated. The competition was very tight between Korean Sa Jae-Hyeok and China’s Li Hongli, the 2005 World Champion. Sa had been fifth at the 2007 Worlds, and trailed Li after the snatch in Beijing, 168 to 163 kg, but Sa’s clean & jerk of 203.0 kg tied her with Li on total at 366.0 kg. Sa won the gold medal on lower bodyweight, weighing only 76.46 kg to Li’s 76.91 kg. Sa would attempt to defend his title in London but dislocated his elbow on one of his early lifts and could not continue the competition.