Oscar Albeiro Figueroa Mosquera (born 27 April 1983) is a retired Colombian

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

, and a gold medallist competing in the 62 kg category until 2018 and 67 kg starting in 2018 after the

International Weightlifting Federation The International Weightlifting Federation, aka IWF, is the international governing body for the sport of Weightlifting. Headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, it has 193 affiliated national federations. Mohammed Hasan Jalood has been its presid ...

reorganized the categories. He was born in the rural township of Zaragoza, located in Cartago, Valle del Cauca, Colombia. He initially retired from the sport after the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, but has returned to international competition and has competed at the

2018 World Weightlifting Championships The 2018 World Weightlifting Championships were held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan from 1 to 10 November 2018. This was the first World Championship after the International Weightlifting Federation, IWF changed their weight classes and nullified all w ...

. He formally announced his retirement again in November 2019.

Career

Olympics

At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

he ranked 5th in the snatch as well as the clean & jerk in the 56 kg category, lifting a total of 280 kg, and finished 5th overall. In the Beijing

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, Figueroa failed to make a lift in the snatch category, he was unable to lift the bar from the floor in all three attempts. After the competition, it was discovered that he had a c6/7 cervical hernia which weakened his right hand. He left the Olympics without posting a result and had surgery to correct the hernia. In his return to the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

after his injury, he placed 3rd after the snatch portion of the competition with a lift of 140 kg. After failing to make his first two lifts in the clean & jerk portion, he successfully completed an

Olympic Record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games. Summer Olympics * Archery at the Summer Olympics, Archery (List of Olympic records in archery, li ...

lift of 177 kg. This gave him a total of 317 kg; bronze medalist

Eko Yuli Irawan Eko Yuli Irawan (born 24 July 1989) is an Indonesian weightlifter who competes in the 61 kg and 62 kg category. Irawan has won four medals at the Summer Olympics, eight medals at world championships, and three medals at the Asian Games ...

also had the same total, but Figueroa had a lighter body weight (61.76 kg vs 61.98 kg) and won the silver medal. Earlier in 2016 Figueroa had surgery to repair his chronic back pain caused by a lumbar hernia, and returned to the

hoping to win gold. On August 8, 2016, Figueroa finally won gold in the 62 kg division with a total of 318 kg. After attempting and failing to lift 179 kg to set a new Olympic Record, Figueroa took off his shoes and placed them on the platform, signaling his immediate retirement from the sport. On November 26, 2019, Oscar Figueroa formally announced his retirement from weightlifting competitions in a press conference.

World Championships

Figueroa participated in the men's -62 kg class at the

2006 World Weightlifting Championships The 2006 World Weightlifting Championships were held at the Handball Pavilion and Weightlifting Pavilion Dr. José Joaquín Puello in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The event took place from September 30 to October 7, 2006. Medal summary M ...

and won the silver medal, finishing behind Qiu Le. He snatched 137 kg and jerked an additional 160 kg for a total of 297 kg, 11 kg behind winner Qiu. He ranked 4th in the 62 kg category at the

2007 World Weightlifting Championships The Royal World Weightlifting Championships 2007 were held at the 700th Anniversary Sports Complex in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The event took place from September 17 to September 26, 2007. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Ranking by Big (To ...

Failure to Report Whereabouts

On April 12, 2019, the

(IWF) reported that Figueroa was not allowed to participate in multiple weightlifting events. This was due to Figueroa failing to report his whereabouts in a timely manner so the IWF could perform surprise doping tests as required by international anti-doping regulations. It was noted this failure-to-report did not mean Figueroa was involved in any doping cases opened by the IWF. When interviewed, Figueroa reported he failed to send them due to human error. He also reported that while he was prevented from participating in the 2020 Pan American Championship, he was not impeded from other competition that could help qualify him for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Major results

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Figueroa, Oscar 1983 births Living people Colombian male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters for Colombia Olympic gold medalists for Colombia Olympic silver medalists for Colombia Weightlifters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2008 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2012 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2016 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2011 Pan American Games Sportspeople from Antioquia Department World Weightlifting Championships medalists Place of birth missing (living people) Olympic medalists in weightlifting Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists in weightlifting Pan American Games gold medalists for Colombia Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Colombia Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Weightlifters at the 2019 Pan American Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in weightlifting Colombian people of African descent Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Weightlifting Championships medalists 21st-century Colombian sportsmen