Karlos Nasar


Karlos Nasar is a Bulgarian weightlifter who is an Olympic, three-time World and three-time European champion and one of the youngest weightlifting world record holders ever. He was named Bulgaria's Sportsman of the Year for 2024. Nasar also received the 2024 and 2025 Ikarus Sports Award.

Early life

Nasar was born in Paris to a Bulgarian mother and a Lebanese father. He has two brothers, Lazar and Ivan. He grew up in his native town of Cherven Bryag, where he started his professional career at СКВТ „Старт“.

Career

Olympic games

In Nasar's Olympic debut, he won the [Weightlifting at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's 89 kg|2024 Olympic men's 89 kg event], breaking eight World and Olympic records in the process. In the 89 kg final, he first lifted 213 kg in the clean & jerk for a new OR, and then proceeded to a World best mark of 224 kg. Adding these results to the 180 kg successful attempt in the snatch, he established an OR in the total and then a World, Olympic, and World Junior global mark of 404 kg. Out of the 13 records in the male competition in Paris, he was responsible for eight of them.

World Championships

At 17 years old, he broke the world record in the men’s 81 kg Clean & Jerk event with 208 kg to win the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships, simultaneously setting the junior [world records">List of junior world records in Olympic weightlifting">junior [world records in Olympic weightlifting|junior] and youth world records in Olympic weightlifting|youth world records] with a world record 374 kg total. He became the third youngest world champion in the history of weightlifting at the age of 17 years and 214 days, beaten by another Bulgarian Sevdalin Marinov, who became the world champion in the 52 kg in 1985 when he was 17 years and 47 days old, and Ilya Ilyin, who became world champion in the 85 kg class at 17 years and 183 days old.
At 18 years old, he broke the world record in the men's 89kg Clean & Jerk event with 220 kg to win the Clean & Jerk event at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships held in Bogotá, Colombia. He became the only male weightlifter to hold world records in two different categories.
In December 2024, he won his second World Championship in Manama, Bahrain setting a new snatch senior record of 183 kg and also a new total senior record of 405 kg, surpassing for the second time the 400 mark in category 89 kg. Amazingly, those were junior world records too because, Nasar is still only 20 years old.
In October 2025, he won his third World Championship in Førde, Norway. In the clean and jerk, the Bulgarian ranked first with successful attempts of 210, 219, and a world record of 222 kg, to collect a total of 395 kg.

European Championships

In 2021, at the age of 16, he competed at the European Weightlifting Championships in the 81 kg category, winning the silver in the snatch and in the total and the gold medal in the clean & jerk portion with a new European record of 206 kg ER. It was a fight between Antonino Pizzolato and him in which the Italian won with 1 kg difference in total.
In April 2023, at just 18 years old, at the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan, Armenia, he won the gold medal in the Clean & Jerk and in the Total, and the silver medal in the Snatch in the 89-kilogram division, where he broke five world records. Nasar’s staggering 221-kilogram clean & jerk record lift allowed him to break the:
  • Junior World Record Clean & Jerk
  • Junior World Record Total
  • Senior World Record Clean & Jerk
  • Senior World Record Total
In addition, Nasar’s gold-medal-winning, record-setting Total of 395 kilograms was built with his best competition snatch of 174 kilograms. That snatch was also a new Junior World Record, his fifth on the same day. Nasar's result in Yerevan made him Best weightlifter of the European Championship in all categories. Nasar scored 1,000 points on the Robi points system. Lasha Talahadze is in second place with 883.5 points, and Garik Karapetyan is third with 847.6 points.

World records

Senior world records

As of 19 April, 2025, Karlos Nasar has set 13 senior world weightlifting records for 4 different weights, records before the 01.01.2025 are also valid as junior world record for the respective category, records before 2022 are also valid as youth world record for the respective category.
Full list of Nasar's senior world records follows:
No.Category up toDisciplineSenior world record DateCompetitionPlace
181 kgclean & jerk20812.12.20212021 World Weightlifting ChampionshipsTashkent, Uzbekistan
289 kgclean & jerk22011.12.20222022 World Weightlifting ChampionshipsBogota, Colombia
389 kgclean & jerk22120.04.20232023 European Weightlifting ChampionshipsYerevan, Armenia
489 kgtotal39520.04.20232023 European Weightlifting ChampionshipsYerevan, Armenia
589 kgclean & jerk22310.12.2023IWF Grand PrixDoha, Qatar
689 kgsnatch18106.04.2024IWF World Cup 2024Phuket, Thailand
789 kgclean & jerk22409.08.2024 2024 Summer OlympicsParis, France
889 kgtotal40409.08.20242024 Summer OlympicsParis, France
989 kgsnatch18311.12.20242024 World Weightlifting ChampionshipsManama, Bahrain
1089 kgtotal40511.12.20242024 World Weightlifting ChampionshipsManama, Bahrain
1196 kgsnatch18819.04.20252025 European Weightlifting ChampionshipsChișinău, Moldova
1296 kgtotal41719.04.20252025 European Weightlifting ChampionshipsChișinău, Moldova
1394 kgclean & jerk22209.10.20252025 World Weightlifting ChampionshipsFørde, Norway

As of 10 October, 2025, Karlos Nasar holds the following 6 senior world records:
Category up toDisciplineSenior world record NameBornCountryDateCompetitionPlace
89 kgsnatch183Karlos May Nasar12.05.200411.12.2024World ChampionshipManama, Bahrain
89 kgclean & jerk224Karlos May Nasar12.05.200409.08.2024Olympic games 2024Paris, France
89 kgtotal405Karlos May Nasar12.05.200411.12.2024World ChampionshipManama, Bahrain
96 kgsnatch188Karlos May Nasar12.05.200419.04.2025European ChampionshipsChișinău, Moldova
96 kgtotal417Karlos May Nasar12.05.200419.04.2025European ChampionshipsChișinău, Moldova
94 kgclean & jerk222Karlos May Nasar12.05.200409.10.20252025 World Weightlifting ChampionshipsFørde, Norway

Junior world records

As of 31 December, 2024, Nasar has set twenty junior world records in categories up to 81 kg and up to 89 kg, records before 2022 are also valid as youth world record for the respective category.
No.Category up toDisciplineJunior world record DateCompetitionPlace
181 kgclean & jerk20607.04.2021European championshipMoscow, Russia
281 kgclean & jerk20812.12.2021World championshipTashkent, Uzbekistan
381 kgtotal37412.12.2021World championshipTashkent, Uzbekistan
489 kgsnatch17102.06.2021European championshipTirana, Albania
589 kgclean & jerk21102.06.2021European championshipTirana, Albania
689 kgtotal37402.06.2021European championshipTirana, Albania
789 kgtotal38202.06.2021European championshipTirana, Albania
889 kgclean & jerk21211.12.2022World championshipBogota, Colombia
989 kgclean & jerk22011.12.2022World championshipBogota, Colombia
1089 kgsnatch17420.04.2023European championshipYerevan, Armenia
1189 kgclean & jerk22120.04.2023European championshipYerevan, Armenia
1289 kgtotal39520.04.2023European championshipYerevan, Armenia
1389 kgclean & jerk22310.12.2023IWF Grand PrixDoha, Qatar
1489 kgsnatch17617.02.2024European championshipSofia, Bulgaria
1589 kgclean & jerk18106.04.2024IWF World Cup 2024Phuket, Thailand
1689 kgtotal39606.04.2024IWF World Cup 2024Phuket, Thailand
1789 kgclean & jerk22409.08.2024Olympic gamesParis, France
1889 kgtotal40409.08.2024Olympic gamesParis, France
1989 kgsnatch18311.12.2024World championshipManama, Bahrain
2089 kgtotal40511.12.2024World championshipManama, Bahrain

As of 31 December, 2024, Karlos Nasar holds the following junior world records:
Category up toDisciplineJunior world record NameBornCountryDateCompetitionPlace
81 kgclean & jerk208Karlos May Nasar12.05.200412.12.2021World ChampionshipTashkent, Uzbekistan
81 kgtotal374Karlos May Nasar12.05.200412.12.2021World ChampionshipTashkent, Uzbekistan
89 kgsnatch183Karlos May Nasar12.05.200411.12.2024World ChampionshipManama, Bahrain
89 kgclean & jerk224Karlos May Nasar12.05.200409.08.2024Olympic games 2024Paris, France
89 kgtotal405Karlos May Nasar12.05.200411.12.2024World ChampionshipManama, Bahrain

Youth world records

Karlos Nasar has achieved twelve youth world records all set at 81 kg category at the European and World Championships in 2021.
No.Category up toDisciplineJunior world record DateCompetitionPlace
181 kgsnatch15807.04.2021European championshipMoscow, Russia
281 kgsnatch16307.04.2021European championshipMoscow, Russia
381 kgclean & jerk19407.04.2021European championshipMoscow, Russia
481 kgclean & jerk20007.04.2021European championshipMoscow, Russia
581 kgclean & jerk20607.04.2021European championshipMoscow, Russia
681 kgtotal35707.04.2021European championshipMoscow, Russia
781 kgtotal36307.04.2021European championshipMoscow, Russia
881 kgtotal36907.04.2021European championshipMoscow, Russia
981 kgsnatch16612.12.2021World championshipTashkent, Uzbekistan
1081 kgclean & jerk20812.12.2021World championshipTashkent, Uzbekistan
1181 kgtotal37112.12.2021World championshipTashkent, Uzbekistan
1281 kgtotal37412.12.2021World championshipTashkent, Uzbekistan

As of 31 December, 2024, Karlos Nasar holds the following youth world records:
Category up toDisciplineYouth world record NameBornCountryDateCompetitionPlace
81 kgsnatch166Karlos May Nasar12.05.200412.12.2021World ChampionshipTashkent, Uzbekistan
81 kgclean & jerk208Karlos May Nasar12.05.200412.12.2021World ChampionshipTashkent, Uzbekistan
81 kgtotal374Karlos May Nasar12.05.200412.12.2021World ChampionshipTashkent, Uzbekistan