Phuket, Day 10: Olympic champion Neisi Dajomes takes her last chance for Paris, and Vibert hails strength of Team USA
Two Olympic champions and two Tokyo silver medallists were among the 21 athletes who lined up for top two sessions of the women’s 81kg at the IWF World Cup in Phuket. Only one of them will be in Paris.
Neisi Dajomes from Ecuador was the day’s big winner. The Tokyo 76kg gold medallist had to make 266kg to overtake her team-mate Tamara Salazar, who withdrew after weigh-in because of a long-term injury. Dajomes did it in style by winning with five good lifts and had the luxury of declining her final attempt.
Neisi Dajomes (ECU)
“I’m very happy with that, happy for the team, and I want to thank my coach,” said Dajomes. “It has been difficult because I had a bad knee injury last year.”
Her 123-146-269 put Dajomes second in the Paris rankings behind Liang Xiaomei from China. Third-placed Sara Samir from Egypt withdrew after weigh-in and fourth-placed Solfrid Koanda from Norway was a clear winner at 87kg in the final session of the day.
Wang Zhouyu from China and Salazar, first and second at 87kg in Tokyo, both went out when they were ranked behind a team-mate. Wang had been behind Liang throughout qualifying and was unable to take advantage when Liang, lifting within herself because of injury, was 31kg down on her best total. Wang made 120-147-267 in second place.
Eileen Cikamatana from Australia improved her best total and won clean and jerk gold on 114-149-263, finishing third on total and fifth in the rankings.
Eileen Cikamatana (AUS)
Kate Vibert, second behind Dajomes in Tokyo, would be in the top 10 at 71kg but for the presence there of her USA team-mate Olivia Reeves.
Vibert moved to 81kg and made career highs on 113-145-268 today. That left her sixth in the Paris list but because Jourdan Delacruz at 49kg, Reeves and super-heavyweight Mary Theisen Lappen are ranked higher, Vibert will not be selected.
“It’s incredible that our talent pool is so deep I can be in the top 10 in two weight classes and still not make it,” said Vibert. “It’s a reflection of how amazing this sport is in the USA.
“We have so many good lifters. As much as it sucks to lose, we push each other. That forces us to be better, to be an international threat to everyone else. The respect for the US team throughout this quad has exponentially increased.”
Kate Vibert (USA)
Kim Suhyeon from Korea left it very late to claim her place in Paris. Kim had celebrated qualification at the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan two months ago – prematurely, as it turned out.
Her team-mate Kim Iseul improved her best total by 17kg in the C Group, jumping from 23rd in the extended rankings – two or more per nation – to the top six, overtaking Kim Suhyeon by 1kg on 115-140-255. “That’s very good but I was hoping for 118-145,” said Kim Iseul.
Kim Suhyeon needed 256kg to qualify. Her first clean and jerk was overturned by the jury, she dropped the second, and the jury intervened again when she made her final attempt at 144kg. Kim waited at the bottom of the steps off the platform and bowed to the jury when they confirmed it was a good lift.
“I was very nervous,” she said. “My left arm was a problem again. God helped me.”
The loudest celebrations of the day were by Laura Amaro from Brazil and her coach Dragos Doru Stanica. “I wanted to have fun out there and wow! That really was fun,” said Amaro, who improved her best total by 6kg on 112-141-253 to finish 10th the rankings.
“I went to the 2016 Youth Winter Olympics in skeleton – the only woman in Brazil in skeleton. Then I had to choose between skeleton and weightlifting and I made the right choice.
“I’m going to the real Olympics! I’m so happy, I love the Olympic dream. The spirit of the Olympics is in me.”
Laura Amaro (BRA)
Ayamey Medina from Cuba and Marie Fegue from France were the other top-10 finishers. Fegue is also ranked at 71kg, China may not contest this category, USA prefers other options, and the continental place will be reallocated because all continents are represented in the top 10.
This gives a chance to the athletes placed 11 to 14 – Yudelina Mejia from Dominican Republic, Dayana Chirinos from Venezuela, Ankhtsetseg Munkhjantsan from Mongolia and Rigina Adashbaeva from Uzbekistan.
Solfrid Koanda (NOR)
In the calmer 87kg session Koanda came out after everybody else had finished. She made a career-best snatch and failed with two clean and jerk attempts at 158kg that would have given her a personal best total. Koanda finished on 123-152-275.
Koanda weighed in at 84.84kg, which was about 3kg heavier than second-placed Kim Yong Ju from DPR Korea. Kim made 113-145-258 ahead of Anastasiia Manievska from Ukraine on 105-129-234.
By Brian Oliver
Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
