The men's 85 kilograms weightlifting event was the fifth men's event at the weightlifting competition, limiting competitors to a maximum of 85 kilograms of body mass.

The whole competition took place on August 15, but was divided in two parts due to the number of competitors.

Each lifter performed in both the snatch and clean and jerk lifts, with the final score being the sum of the lifter's best result in each.

Andrei Rybakou of Belarus it seemed set a world record.

He lost out in the gold medal as Lu Yong of China tied this but weighed in slightly lighter – and per Olympic rules, the lighter lifter won.