Fares Ibrahim Saed Hassouna El-Bakh ( ar, فارس ابراهيم سعد حسونة الباخ, born 4 June 1998), commonly known as Meso Hassouna, is a Qatari weightlifter, Olympic Champion, World Champion and two time Junior World Champion competing in the 85 kg, and 94 kg categories until 2018 and 96 kg and 102 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories. He holds the junior world record in the clean & jerk (225 kg) and total (397 kg) in the 96 kg division. His father, Ibrahim Hassouna, represented Egypt at three consecutive Olympics from 1984 to 1992.

Career

Olympics

He initially placed eighth at the men's 85 kg event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, but was updated to seventh after the original bronze medalist

Gabriel Sîncrăian Gabriel Sîncrăian (born 21 December 1988) is a Romanian weightlifter who competes in the 85 kg weight division. Career He took part in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and won a bronze medal in the same 85-kg event in 2016. Sîncrăian won two ...

failed a drug test in October of that year. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, he competed in the 96 kg category. After the snatch portion of the competition, he was in fourth place with a 177 kg lift, although the difference between first and fifth place was just 2 kg. In the clean & jerk section, he attempted his first lift after every competitor had finished their lifts. He successfully lifted 217 kg, clinching the gold medal, he followed himself with an Olympic record lift of 225 kg, which gave him a total of 402 kg (also an Olympic record). He attempted, but failed a world record lift of 232 kg, his total of 402 kg was 15 kg greater than the silver and bronze medalists. With his Olympic gold, he became the first Qatari Olympic Champion, regardless of sport.

World Championships

In 2017 he moved up to the 94 kg category and competed at the

2017 World Weightlifting Championships The 2017 World Weightlifting Championships were held in Anaheim, California, United States from 28 November to 5 December 2017. Doping bans Nine countries were banned from competing at the World Championships due to their history of doping at pre ...

, where he won a silver medal in the clean & jerk and originally placed fourth overall, but was upgraded to a bronze medal in the total after the original silver medalist

Aurimas Didžbalis Aurimas Didžbalis (born 13 June 1991) is a Lithuanian Olympian weightlifter. He competes in the 94 kg class.2018 World Weightlifting Championships The 2018 World Weightlifting Championships were held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan from 1 to 10 November 2018. The logo of IWF World Championships 2018 has consisted of abstract illustration of weightlifting athlete designed by Ashgabat based design fi ...

, where he a bronze medal in the clean & jerk portion in the new 96 kg category. During the competition he set a new junior world record in the clean and jerk.

Other competitions

He competed at the 2016 Junior World Weightlifting Championships and won a bronze medal in the total in the clean & jerk and total in the 85 kg category. The following year he competed again at the

Junior World Weightlifting Championships The IWF Junior World Championships is organised by the International Weightlifting Federation The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), headquartered in Lausanne, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlif ...

this time he got a gold medal in the 85 kg category. In 2018 he defended his title as Junior World Champion, he won a gold medal at the

in the 94 kg category. He also won the Asian Junior Championships in the 94 kg division, later in 2018 he competed at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

and won the silver medal in the 94 kg category. At the 5th International Qatar Cup he swept gold in the 96 kg class, where he set a junior world records in the clean & jerk with 225 kg and total with 397 kg.

Major results

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakh, Fares 1998 births Living people Qatari male weightlifters Qatari people of Egyptian descent Olympic weightlifters of Qatar Weightlifters at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Weightlifting Championships medalists Asian Games medalists in weightlifting Asian Games silver medalists for Qatar Weightlifters at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Weightlifters at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Qatar Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in weightlifting