WEIGHT: AUSSIE LIFTER NEVER TOO OLD FOR ANOTHER GOLD
by Sam Lienert

Australian Associated Press Pty. Ltd.
March 16, 2006 Thursday 12:01 PM AEST

The old man of Australia’s weightlifting team – Yourik Sarkisian –
is ready to prove the doubters wrong yet again.

Sarkisian, 44, has been competing at the top level since he won an
Olympic silver medal for the Soviet Union as an 18-year-old in 1980.

It is a career he believes is far from over, with ambitions to compete
at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

And he is confident of tomorrow adding another Commonwealth Games
gold to his enormous collection of championship medals, which already
includes three Commonwealth Games gold medals – from Manchester in
2002 – and three silver – from Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

“I am steeling myself only for the gold,” he said.

Sarkisian, who immigrated to Australia from Armenia in 1994, said
much of his motivation to win the 62kg division tomorrow stemmed from
gratitude to his adopted country and hometown Melbourne.

“Melbourne, I love it, Australia,” he said.

“It’s a big difference to when I was in the Olympic Games in 1980
(representing the Soviet Union) in Moscow.

“There is a different pressure, your coach says you must take gold
or silver, if you take bronze, you’re finished, they put the gun to
your head and shoot you.

“Here it’s a different atmosphere, the people are very nice.”

Indian Arun Murugesan has the best recent form of the contestants.

But there are up to five realistic gold medal contenders in what
Australian coach Luke Borreggine said will be the best battle of the
Games weightlifting program.

He expects Sarkisian’s peerless experience to win out.

“I think we will shock a few people,” he said.

“That gold medal’s going to be very tough, but in saying that he’s
got one thing over all these guys – experience, and experience is
worth 20 per cent.

“He is tough, he’ll break an arm if he has to.”