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It was clear that the supers had entered a new era-and big weights were lifted in Sofia, Bulgaria at the 2000 European Weightlifting Championships. Ashot Danielyan (Armenia) opened with a routine 192.5-kg snatch. Ronny Weller (Germany) opened with a nice 195, as did Victors Scerbatihs (Latvia). On the board, all three men were then poised for a run at +200-kg snatches, which separates the world’s best from all of the rest. About 15 kg separated each on bodyweight, with Danielyan the heaviest and Scerbatihs the lightest. Each made a sweet success with 200 kg on their second attempt. Danielyan had a solid success with the world-class weight of 205 kg on his third, and Weller blistered the 205 and could have done more. Scerbatihs, obviously not intimidated by giving up 15 to 30 kg in bodyweight, decided that 205 looked pretty easy, so he took 206 and looked as if he had it, but didn’t quite make it. Scerbatihs wasn’t expected to keep up with Danielyan and Weller in the clean and jerks but he opened with a solid 237.5 kg. Weller came back with 240 kg, considered a threshold weight for a top super, and Danielyan responded with a very solid 242.5 kg to cover the bodyweight gap. We were set up now for a great race to the finish, and Scerbatihs, calling for 245 on his second, made another nice lift. Weller was the first to take things to the next level, calling for 250 and nailing it with what looked like room to spare. Danielyan took a predictable 252.5 kg which he made without undue effort. Scerbatihs took the same 252.5 on his third for what would have been an excellent lift for himself, but lost the weight when racked-it just bounced out. In a surprise move, Weller called for 255 on his third attempt. He racked the bar without too much trouble, but had to take two steps forward after he recovered from the clean. Weller might have been passing out at that point as he was shaking, but he tried to make the jerk anyway, only to miss it-which meant that Danielyan had just won with a total of 457.5 kg, so he passed on his third attempt. Relive the excitement with this exclusive IronMind footage. For more on this story, see MILO, September 2000, Vol. 8, No. 2 in the IronMind e-store (www.ironmind-store.com/MILO-Se...)