Halil Zorba (born 22 September 1988) is a British

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

. He represented England at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

, and was in contention for the British team for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

but was ultimately not chosen for the team despite being British Champion in his weight class. He competes part-time, continuing with his career as a civil engineer.

Early life

Halil Zorba was born on 22 September 1988, and is of

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...

heritage. He attended Bethnal Green Technology College, where he was taught PE by 1964 Olympian George Manners. He took up weightlifting whilst at the college, before going to University, and he receives funding support to compete from the National Lottery.

Career

He broke into the world's top 100 in his weight division, 69 kg, at the age of 19, and was ranked second in the British senior rankings. A back injury saw him miss the 2008 European Championships. He represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at the

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

; competing in the 69 kg category, he managed to come 4th in group B and went on to finish 10th overall out of 18. At the

2011 World Weightlifting Championships The 2011 World Weightlifting Championships were held at Disneyland Paris in Paris, France. The event took place from November 5 to 13, 2011. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Ranking by Big (Total result) medals Ranking by all medals: ...

, he lifted in the snatch, setting a new personal best; however, he suffered an injury to his leg prior to the clean and jerk, resulting in a lift of only . This resulted in the combined weight being less than the minimum standard to be considered for the

. Zorba went into the English Championships seeking to make the Olympic qualifying standard. He reached the Olympic B grade, setting a new British record in the clean and jerk of at the same time. Following the breaking of the record, he twice attempted to lift , but failed on each occasion. His performance made Zorba the second British competitor to meet the Olympic standard after Jack Oliver. He was named to the British team for the

2012 European Weightlifting Championships The 2012 European Weightlifting Championships was held at Kepez Basket Hall in Antalya, Turkey from 9 April to 15 April 2012. It was the 91st edition of the event. Doping + Doping test: 13 weightlifters (one or multiple prohibited anabolic stero ...

. He lifted a combined weight of , finishing in 21st position. He was a candidate for one of the three male weightlifting spots for the host country at the 2012 Olympics, having won the British Championship at the British Olympic trials in addition to achieving the B qualifying standard. However, he was not chosen for the British team, with Oliver, Peter Kirkbride and Gareth Evans chosen instead. Zorba trains at the

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England is a large sports centre and outdoor athletics stadium. It was opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former Crystal Palace Exhibition building which ...

with coach Keith Morgan. Zorba remains British record holder in several categories, including both the clean and jerk and the snatch in the 69 kg category of the men's under eighteen competition, and the clean and jerk in both the 69 kg and 77 kg categories of the men's under 23 competition.

Personal life

Zorba is related to the former British

javelin thrower The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

and multiple medal-winner

Fatima Whitbread Fatima Whitbread (' Vedad; 3 March 1961) is a British retired javelin thrower. She broke the world record with a throw of in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, and became the first British athle ...

on his mother's side of the family. He works as a civil engineer full-time having qualified from the

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achieve ...

, splitting his time between that and his sport.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zorba, Halil Living people 1988 births British male weightlifters British people of Turkish Cypriot descent Weightlifters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for England 21st-century British people