Archive from 2014

Successful second edition of the YOG in Nanjing

At the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, 61 NOCs were represented with 107 athletes with both Men and Women weightlifters. Youth World Records were broken in the Men’s 56kg and +85kg recognized in the +94kg. With 155kg in the Clean and Jerk and a Total of 283kg, the Chinese lifter MENG Cheng (CHN) broke 2 Youth World Records while with a Clean and Jerk on 221kg, the Armenian lifter MARTIROSYAN Simon (ARM) broke 1. According to the Medal count, 8 National Olympic Committees won Gold from 3 Continents. Armenia, China and Thailand won two each. Medals were shared by 21 National Olympic Committees from 4 Continents. Russia won the most Medals (4). Dignitaries such as the IOC President Thomas Bach, IOC Honorary President Jacques Rogge came to watch weightlifting at the Expo Center – venue of our competitions in Nanjing. FARRIS Kendrick (USA) weightlifting Athlete Role Model of the 2014 YOG shared his experience and knowledge with young athletes appreciating the opportunity of talking to an Olympian that was given to them. Weightlifting competitions were organized on an extremely high level. Saying farewell to Nanjing, we are now wishing good luck to the next city hosting the 2018 YOG: Buenos

We say goodbye to Nanjing with an Armenian Gold

Men’s +85kg competition closed the weightlifting event here in Nanjing at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. Emotional athletes and spectators said goodbye to the Expo Center and to NanjingLele engaging the crowd during all event. Starting the Clean and Jerk on 170kg, above all challengers, MARTIROSYAN Simon (ARM) took the lead and won with ease. He even lifted a fantastic 221kg which will be recognized as a Youth World Record in the +94kg. Serbian lifter KAJDOCI Tamas (SRB) got an 8kg advantage in the Snatch and that was enough for him to grab the Silver Medal. First medal for France after only one no lift in the Clean and Jerk, COULLET Anthony (FRA) proudly stood on the third place while the French Rugby Seven team was watching in the crowd. We enjoyed every minute of these Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games and thank the organizers for the incredible work

All about strength and technique

Thailand’s CHAIDEE Duanganksorn (THA) lifted a Total of 244kg and won the Gold Medal in the last Women’s category of the competition. The battle for the second place was to be decided between the Russian lifter SHCHERBAKOVA Svetlana (RUS) and the Kazakh KAPUSTINA Tatyana (KAZ). Both lifters ended on 228kg and the Silver medal was awarded to SHCHERBAKOVA on bodyweight. Lifting 2kg more in the Snatch and 2kg less in the Clean and Jerk, KAPUSTINA got the Bronze. In the Men’s 85kg bodyweight category KHUGAEV Khetag (RUS) got the Gold for Russia. Dominating the field and lifting 34kg more than Silver Medallist SOBIROV Farkhodbek (UZB), he showed his supremacy on stage. The Bronze Medal was awarded to the Egyptian lifter SHOSHA Mohamed (EGY) for his Total of

Egypt and Armenia to shine

In the Snatch, the Egyptian lifter AHMED Sara (EGY) was the only one to go above 100kg and ended on first place with 103kg in the women’s 63kg bodyweight category. Keeping her strength in the Clean and Jerk, she even went for the Youth World Record at 129kg but failed to jerk it. She won the Gold with an advantage of 18kg over the Silver Medallist DURAN AYON Ana Lilia (MEX) performing 6 good lifts. Third place was awarded to Ukraine with ZENCHENKO Sofiya (UKR) lifting 208kg. Every lift counted and could change the final order on top. The fight for the Gold took place this time between 4 countries: Kazakhstan, Armenia, India and Egypt. Tactical moves from coaches played an important role in defining the ranking. Smooth progress proved to be successful this time. With India’s last lift on 179kg, the stake was: Silver or Gold? It proved that the Armenian lifter’s MKRTCHYAN Hakob (ARM) last Clean and Jerk attempt on 177kg was the last Good Lift of the competition and he stood up on first place. Second place went to RAGALA VENKAT Rahul (IND) for his Total of 316kg. Third place was also a hard competition between ELSAYED Ahmed (EGY) and KALIYEV Zhaslan (KAZ) from which the Kazakh athlete came out

Only good lifts were acceptable for today’s winners

The 6 good lifts performed by CHIANG Nien-Hsin (TPE) brought her an easy victory in the Women’s 53kg as she dominated the field. With her Total of 203kg, she had no challengers as Silver Medal winner PETROVA Anastasiia (RUS) lifted 195kg. 4th place after the Snatch, the Argentinian lifter NIEVAS Sasha (ARG) managed to grab the Bronze with 178kg. In the Men’s 69kg, it was all about backflips. After lifting heavy weights, our youth athletes decided to show their other kind of skills and performed backflips on the weightlifting platform in Nanjing. Regarding their real talent, their showed outstanding techniques while lifting. CAICEDO PIEDRAHITA Andres (COL) secured his third place in the Snatch and 4th place MAKEYEV Mikhail (KAZ) done his best take the Bronze Medal but without success. The final fight to win the Gold was very intense as both ANDREEV and IARKIN wanted it. It was finally the Bulgarian lifter ANDREEV Bozhidar Dimitrov (BUL) lifting a Total of 300kg who won the Gold with a last Clean and Jerk attempt on 167kg. Lifting 6kg less IARKIN Viacheslav (RUS) stood up on the second place of the

Thailand’s and PRK’s outstanding victory

Thailand's Rattanaphon PAKKARATHA won gold in the women's 53kg weightlifting, lifting a total of 190kg, a healthy margin of 9kg over runner-up Chun Hui JONG (PRK) and a 15kg improvement over her personal best of 175kg. “I am very excited and very glad to win a gold medal in the Youth Olympics but I could do even better. I did 111kg in the clean & jerk in the warm-up but I only lifted 109kg in the competition,” said PAKKARATHA after the medals ceremony. In the absence of the world top ranking Chinese athlete in the 53kg category, JONG and PAKKARATHA ranked second and third respectively by the International Weightlifting Federation, were the main contenders for the gold medal. Both tied at 81kg after the snatch event. JONG's unsuccessful third attempt at 105kg in the clean and jerk deprived her of a victory chance. Meanwhile PAKKARATHA secured hers with a 101kg first lift, improving on her result in her second and third attempts. Venezuelan Yorlis ZABALA and Tunisian Nouha LANDOULSI fought for the bronze medal. ZABALA leading LANDOULSI with 80kg after the snatch event, failed to lift 97kg in the clean & jerk, while LANDOULSI hoisted 96kg, securing her place on a podium. In the Men’s 62kg PAK Jongju (PRK) 263kg stood up on the 1st place of the podium while the Thai lifter MEEBOON Sakda (THA) ranking only 4th after the Snatch, came to second place with 256kg. With one successful attempt in the Clean and Jerk, the Italian ZANNI Mirko (ITA) missed Silver Medal by only 1kg and was awarded the Bronze for his Total of 255kg. Today’s competition welcomed high ranking IOC officials, and weightlifting was honored to have the IOC President Thomas Bach accompanied by his wife at the Men’s 62kg