World champion Hossein Reza Zadeh of Iran is reportedly to skip the Asian Weightlifting Championships to prepare for the Beijing Olympics. "Many of Asia's best champions, including Reza Zadeh, have decided to pull out of the Asian games in Japan to be able to spend more time on training and preparing for the Beijing Games," Mahmoud Abdollahi of the Iranian weightlifting federation told Reuters.

"Reza Zadeh will definitely take part in the Beijing Olympics," he said.

Known as the "Iranian Hercules" and the "World's Strongest Man", Reza Zadeh grabbed the Olympic gold in the 105kg category in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004). He was named the World's Best Weightlifter by the International Weightlifting Federation in 2000, 2002 and 2004.

However, since suffering a minor knee injury in a 2007 car accident, the world's strongest man has not taken part in any international competition.

Source: Payvand News