Matthias Steiner (German pronunciation: [maˈtiːas ˈʃtaɪnɐ] ⓘ; born 25 August 1982) is a retired Austrian-German weightlifter, and Olympic gold medalist.

Although his wife died in a car accident, he continued his weightlifting career in Germany, eventually received German citizenship in early 2008, won overall silver at the 2008 European Championships, and the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

[4] His father, Friedrich Steiner, a 20-time IWF-Masters World Weightlifting Champion, also ranks first on the IWF 2008 Hall of Fame Survey of Leading Master Lifters.

[4] Before the diagnosis, the first symptom was an intense thirst, then he lost his appetite, and 5 kilograms (11 lb) of bodyweight within three months.

[4] In 2004,[7] a German woman from Zwickau in Saxony had watched Steiner participating in weightlifting contests on TV.

Darum ist das auch eine so enorm wichtige Person für jeden Athleten.

[17][18] Steiner also could no longer keep his body weight below 105 kilograms (231 lb), and bulked up for the +105 kg category.

[14] He had to compete in the B-group, because the European Weightlifting Federation did not accept the announced starting weights.

[18] After warming up he disagreed with the national coach concerning the starting weight, and time ran out on the first attempt.

During the three years that Steiner applied for German citizenship, he was not allowed to compete in international competitions.

[9] Steiner received German citizenship in early 2008,[20] and started to compete internationally again, for Germany.

[23] The biggest success of Steiner's career came in August 2008, when he won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

[24] Steiner stood on the medalists' podium with a photo of his late wife, who would otherwise have accompanied him to the Games.

[37] Previously, he was supported by Stiftung Deutsche Sporthilfe and his weightlifting club Chemnitzer AC.

[38] On 20 August 2008, the day after he won the Olympic gold medal, Steiner featured on the cover of China Daily's Olympian, titled "Supersteiner".