Olympic weightlifter dedicates gold medal to late wife

Fifteen years have passed since Matthias Steiner won the 2008 Olympic gold medal in weightlifting, but footage of the historic moment still attracts hundreds of comments and thousands of shares on social media. The image of a tearful Steiner holding a photo of his late wife on the medal podium has brought tears to those who watch it.

"You thought you had a dream life? When I was working hard for the Olympics, my wife was studying. Then she would have her own career. But one day, everything disappeared," Matthias Steiner shared from the bottom of his heart when witnessing the passing of his wife Susann.

Susann and Steiner's relationship began through TV shows that showed the weightlifter competing. Because she admired him so much, Susann tried everything to find the muscular, handsome guy's email address. Then gradually, the text messages to get to know each other and flirting made them develop feelings for each other and decide to meet.

They soon married and left Austria. The couple moved to Germany, where Steiner became a citizen and played for the German national team.

Preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Steiner competed in the over 105kg weight class. He was determined, training hard day and night with the promise of bringing home a gold medal for his wife. But one day, Steiner's phone rang. The other end of the line informed him that his wife had been in a tragic car accident.

The sky seemed to fall before Steiner’s eyes. His coach believed the Olympics were over, even though they were still a year away. The shock was too great.

But after a while, he pulled himself together and tried his best to fulfill his promise to his deceased wife. He understood that Susann did not want him to collapse and lose himself.

During the competition in Beijing, Steiner competed against the Russian powerlifter Evgenny Chigishev. His snatch of 203kg put Steiner at a disadvantage against his opponent's 210kg. In the clean and jerk, Chigishev completed a 250kg lift, thereby reaching a total of 460kg. Meanwhile, Steiner reached a total of 451kg after the second clean and jerk. To win the gold medal, the German had to overcome an unimaginable 10kg difference in the final lift.

“She was there for me the whole time, starting hours before the competition. She was there,” Steiner shared in a later interview. “I felt like I could lift anything that day.”

Steiner burst into tears when the referee turned on the light to confirm the achievement. He slammed his fist on the floor and jumped up to hug his coach. On the medal podium, he held up a photo of his late wife with great emotion.

"I'm not superstitious. But I hoped she saw me in that moment. I wished she would," Steiner recalled.

After the 2008 Olympics, Steiner continued to compete in the 2012 Olympics. However, he decided to retire after suffering a serious neck injury. He has had many jobs such as nutrition consultant, farmer,... and now is a businessman.

Today, Steiner has a new life and no longer participates in sports activities, but his story remains an inspiration in Olympic history.

According to VTC