How Matthias Steiner battled through grief to win Olympic gold for his wife

World class Austrian-German weightlifter Matthias Steiner created the most memorable scenes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Steiner competed for his birth country of Austria, winning the 2005 Austrian National Championship for the +105KG division, his fourth national title in four years.

On the international stage, Steiner had struggled to make an impact, ranking no higher than seventh in either the European or World Championships for the Snatch and Clean and Jerk before 2008.

After a fallout with the Austrian National Coach, Steiner left the Austrian Weightlifting Federation and applied for a German Citizenship in 2005.

During the three years Steiner was applying for citizenship, he was banned from competing. In those three years, he had promised his newly wedded wife Susann that he would win an Olympic gold medal.

On the 16th of July 2007, tragedy struck for Matthias Steiner, who lost his wife Susann in a car accident. The loss hit Steiner hard, losing eight kg of weight, but continuing to train through the heartbreak.

Steiner started to compete internationally again in 2008, winning the Beijing Pre-Olympic Tournament with a total of 423kg, and winning gold at the 2008 European Championships in the +105kg category snatch competition, lifting over 200kg.

His newfound motivation and performance after the loss of his wife led him to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the place where his life changed.

After World Record holder Hossein Rezazadeh retired in July 2008, the event turned into a close competition between Steiner, Evgeny Chigishev, and world champion Viktor Scerbatihs.

During the competition, Steiner made several mistakes in the snatch and clean and jerk, failing his third snatch attempt and ranking fourth with 203kg.

Chigishev took the lead in the event, lifting 250kg in the clean and jerk. The final weight meant lifting a huge difference of 10kg to claim the gold. A feat that looked impossible after Steiner's failed attempts.

With incredible determination, Steiner made a clean jerk of 258kg and a total lift of 461kg, claiming the Olympic Gold Medal and fulfilling his promise to his wife.

His extraordinary lift to win the gold left people thinking his wife must have helped him in his final push to fulfil his promise.

On the medal podium, Steiner held back the tears as he was presented his gold medal with a picture of his wife in his hands.

According to laureus.com, speaking after winning the gold, Steiner said: "I managed to lift it because I had this strong, innermost urge. I'm not the superstitious type, I don't believe in higher powers, but I hope she saw me. I wish."

It took heartbreak and hard work, but the empty promise he made to his wife was the catalyst for his life-changing and fulfilling dream.