President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has congratulated former weightlifter of Azerbaijani team Nijat Rahimov on the occasion of gold medal win of Rio 2016.

Press service of Kazakh President states.

Notably, the 23-year-old athlete won gold medal at 77 kg weight. He lifted 165 kg by snatch and 214 kg by clean and jerk. The second lifting made Rahimov a world record holder. He had an opportunity for a third approach. However, Azerbaijan-born weightlifter did not see the need for it. It was Kazakhstan's first gold medal of Rio 2016. Currently, Kazakhstan ranked 12th with 1 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals.

Nijat Rahimov won at 69 kg weight category in the composition of Azerbaijani national team during 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. In 2014, he has received citizenship of Kazakhstan and begun to represent this country. In 2015, Rahimov became world champion in the weight category of 77 kg. The athlete was born in Baku in 1993.

According to the local media, the Kazakhstan government will award the Olympic champion 250 000 USD.