Briken Calja (born 19 February 1990, Elbasan) is an Albanian weightlifter,[2] Olympian, and European Champion competing in the 69 kg category until 2018 and 73 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.[3] He won the silver medal in the men's 73 kg event at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.[4]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 19 February 1990 Elbasan, Albania | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 69 kg (152 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Military career | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Allegiance |  Albania | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Service/ | Albanian Armed Forces | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Years of service | 2022–[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank |  Colonel | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Albania | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Weightlifting | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | 69 kg | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career edit
Calja competed for Albania at the 2012 Summer Olympics, where he finished 9th in his weight class after lifting a total weight of 320 kg.[5] In 2013 Calja was suspended for two years for using androsterone.[6]
He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in 69kg division where he finished in 5th place after lifting 326 kg.[7] In 2018 Calja became European champion in the 2018 European Weightlifting Championships in Bucharest.[8]
Major results edit
| Year | Venue | Weight | Snatch (kg) | Clean & Jerk (kg) | Total | Rank | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | Rank | |||||||
| Representing Albania
| ||||||||||||||
| Olympic Games | ||||||||||||||
| 2012 |  London, England |
69 kg | 143 | 8 | 173 | 174 | 177 | 6 | 320 | 6 | ||||
| 2016 |  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
69 kg | 145 | 7 | 175 | 181 | 5 | 326 | 5 | |||||
| 2020 |  Tokyo, Japan |
73 kg | 151 | 7 | 184 | 190 | 4 | 341 | 4 | |||||
| World Championships | ||||||||||||||
| 2006 |  Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic |
62 kg | 110 | 116 | 24 | 140 | 29 | 256 | 28 | |||||
| 2010 |  Antalya, Turkey |
69 kg | 135 | 140 | 13 | 167 | 14 | 307 | 11 | |||||
| 2011 |  Paris, France |
69 kg | 140 | 15 | 172 | 19 | 312 | 15 | ||||||
| 2015 |  Houston, United States |
69 kg | 143 | 12 | 177 | 183 | 7 | 326 | 7 | |||||
| 2017 | Anaheim, United States |
69 kg | 142 | 4 | 175 | 5 | 317 | 4 | ||||||
| 2018 |  Ashgabat, Turkmenistan |
73 kg | 148 | 153 | 6 | 181 | 186 | 7 | 339 | 6 | ||||
| 2019 |  Pattaya, Thailand |
73 kg | 151 | 156 | — |  |
181 | 13 | 337 | 5 | ||||
| 2021 |  Tashkent, Uzbekistan |
73 kg | 152 | 154 | 156 |  |
182 | 186 |  |
342 |
| |||
| European Championships | ||||||||||||||
| 2008 |  Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy |
69 kg | 125 | 130 | 135 | 10 | 160 | 14 | 295 | 13 | ||||
| 2009 |  Bucharest, Romania |
69 kg | 133 | 9 | 157 | — | 13 | 290 | 10 | |||||
| 2012 | Antalya, Turkey |
69 kg | 140 | 145 | 4 | 170 | 8 | 315 | 6 | |||||
| 2013 | Tirana, Albania |
69 kg | — | 174 | |
— | — | |||||||
| 2016 |  Førde, Norway |
69 kg | 142 | 145 | |
— | — | — | ||||||
| 2017 |  Split, Croatia |
69 kg | — | 170 | 175 | |
— | — | ||||||
| 2018 | Bucharest, Romania |
69 kg | 141 | 143 | 146 | |
171 | 175 | |
321 |
| |||
| 2019 |  Batumi, Georgia |
73 kg | 152 | 156 | |
183 | |
339 |
| |||||
| 2021 |  Moscow, Russia |
73 kg | 152 | |
184 | |
336 |
| ||||||
References edit
- ^ "Triumfi historik i Luiza Gegës si pasqyrë e mexhelisit tonë social-politik" [The historic triumph of Luiza Gega as a reflection of our social-political mexelis] (in Albanian). Prime Minister's Office (Albania). 25 August 2022.
Sportistët e punësuar aktualisht pranë Ministrisë së Mbrojtjes, që do të përfitojnë nga ky ligj gradën e kolonelit janë: 1. Luiza GEGA – "Kolonel", 2. Briken CALJA – "Kolonel", 3. Nora GJAKOVA – "Kolonel", 4. Distria KRASNIQI – "Kolonel"
- ^ "Briken Calja Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ "PDF listing of 2018 Group A world championship entrants in 73 kg" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
- ^ Oliver, Brian (10 December 2021). "Weightlifter Calja agonisingly close to becoming Albania's first world champion in any sport". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- ^ London 2012 Archived 2012-08-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Sanctioned Athletes / Athlete Support Personnel". International Weightlifting Federation. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ "Rio 2016". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ Oculus News (31 May 2018). "Briken Calja Europe Champion in Weightlifting with 3 gold medals". Retrieved 31 May 2018.
External links edit
- Briken Calja at the International Weightlifting Federation
- Briken Calja at the International Weightlifting Results Project
- Briken Calja at IAT Database Weightlifting (in German)
- Briken Calja at Olympics.com
- Briken Calja at Olympedia
