Dominik Čertov is the Austrian national champion, and he speaks Slovenian perfectly. Photo: personal archive of Dominik Čertov
The first star of the competition will be an Austrian who speaks Slovenian fluently
Domžale will be the central venue for all athletes in the region in Olympic weightlifting on Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27.
June 24, 2026, 3 p.m
Domžale Weightlifting Club (TAK Domžale) has been organizing one of the strongest competitions in Olympic weightlifting for many years. It is no different this year, when the 23rd international competition in Olympic weightlifting TAK Domžale will be held.
According to the organizers, it will be a real spectacle, and more than fifty competitors from Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia are registered. “It is the biggest competition in our sport in this region,” asserts the president of TAK Domžale Jernej Orešek.
The club is especially pleased that Dominik Čertov will take part in the competition for the third year in a row. The 31-year-old is the Austrian national champion and a member of the AKH Vösendorf club, and at the same time he is also enrolled in the Domžale club. Čertov was born in Sela in the Austrian Carinthia. Although he has been living in Vienna for more than ten years and does not have Slovenian citizenship, he speaks Slovenian perfectly. “I am extremely looking forward to the competition in Domžale and I always like to perform there. It is an excellently organized competition, and it is particularly attractive to me, because my family always comes to cheer me on due to the proximity of Sel. For them, the journey to Domžale is much shorter than to Vienna,” the national champion of Austria confided to us Dominik Čertov.
All thoughts directed to the Los Angeles 2028 project
The Slovenian from Carinthia, Austria, as he introduced himself, was able to lift 142 kilograms in the pull and 165 kilograms in the jerk last year in Domžale, which was enough for second place among individuals. “This year, the goal is definitely to win,” he optimistically predicts an improvement on last year’s achievement. He is not even bothered by the fact that the competition in Domažale will take place outdoors – on the platform in front of the Domžale Sports Hall – in extremely high temperatures. “At this time, you just have to be ready for it.”
Dominik Četrov is working to improve last year’s result also because he can fully devote himself to his sports career in the last period. “Even in Austria, there is not much attention for our sport. For sure, we weightlifters do not have as many opportunities and attention as, for example, alpine skiers. But now I’ve been in a state program for a year, where I’m training to be a prison guard, but I can fully devote myself to my sports career. My training is now also my working time. That way, I can focus entirely on fulfilling my childhood dreams. I want to perform at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles,” Čertov revealed to us in excellent Slovenian his goals.
