The surprise withdrawal of Iran's double Olympic champion Hossein Rezazadeh, unbeatable in recent years, has opened the floor today for lesser-known weightlifters vying for gold and the unofficial title of the world's strongest man.

The new favorite in the +105kg division is Latvia's Viktors Scerbatihs, a 33-year-old lawmaker who hopes to overcome challengers from Russia, Germany and Ukraine to add Olympic gold to his world and European titles.

"Even though the (Iranian) dropped out, there are still a number of strong guys. The competition will be no less difficult," said Nikolai Parkhomenko, president of the Russian weightlifting federation.

Ukraine's Artem Udachyn becomes a medal contender at today's +105kg thanks to the surprise withdrawal of Iran's double Olympic champion Hossein Rezazadeh. [Agencies]

Rezazadeh, known as the "Iranian Hercules", was expected to go for a third consecutive Olympic gold medal but pulled out last month after doctors said he should avoid "heavy and stressful activity".

That rules out lifting 200kg over your head, so Rezazadeh's spot was given to 24-year-old Rashid Sharifi, this year's Asian champion.

Rezazadeh's absence is a big loss - the sport has few internationally recognized profiles and is mostly known to wider audiences for its frequent doping problems.

"We lost a great star, that's true, but now we try to find some new faces," said Dobor Dezso, a spokesman for the International Weightlifting Federation.

The leading contenders for gold in the category are Scerbatihs, Germany's Matthias Steiner and Evgeny Chigishev of Russia - the top three finishers at the European Championships in March.

Other medal hopefuls are Jaber Saeed Salem of Qatar and Ukraine's Artem Udachyn, who skipped the European Championships to focus on his Olympic preparations.

"We expect that Udachyn will be the winner," Ukraine coach Kim Tkachenko said through a translator.

"He's in good form, in good health, and he's preparing well for the Olympics."

Nevertheless, Scerbatihs is considered the front-runner.

In Athens, he took the silver medal after lifting a total of 455kg in the two events: snatch, and clean and jerk. Rezazadeh was in a class of his own, lifting 472.5kg.

In Rezazadeh's absence, the Latvian has emerged as the strongest lifter in the men's highest weight class, winning the world championship last year and this year's European title, with combined lifts of 442kg and 447kg, respectively.

Scerbatihs was given time off his day job as a legislator in the Latvian Parliament to focus on his Olympic quest.

"He's probably Latvia's best chance of winning a medal," said Rolands Norietis, of Latvian sports paper Sporta Avize.

Aware of the expectations, Scerbatihs said he's focusing on his own rigid training regime, rather than worrying about his opponents.

"I understand that they are very strong. But when you start to think about how strong they are, you begin to lose," Scerbatihs said. "Once you think, 'he's stronger than me,' you will lose."

Agencies