Archive from 2024

León, Day 1: Stunning B Group medal for India, hosts Spain on podium – and two golds for Philippines

There was plenty of excitement on the opening day of the World Junior Championships in León, Spain, when two of the three medal sessions were won by the Philippines and two B Group lifters were on the podium, including one from the host nation. Silver became gold at 45kg for Angeline Colonia after a jury intervention in the first medal session, and her Filipina team-mate Lovely Inan won the concluding 49kg. Lovely Inan (PHI) Lucia Gonzalez, Spain’s youth world champion, finished third behind Inan - 12 hours after making her first lift in the B Group at about 9.30am. With five sessions and an opening ceremony, it was a long day. There was a world record for K Duong from Vietnam in the men’s 55kg, in which Loganathan Dhanush from India also took a bronze medal on total from the B Group. The 17-year-old from India did it despite finishing 13th in clean and jerk. Dhanush could barely believe it as he sat through the A session. “I got more and more nervous as it went on, but I never thought I would win a medal,” he said. Loganathan Dhanush (IND) Of the 13 athletes in the A Group, 11 failed with their final clean and jerk attempt, one declined because he had already won, and the only one with a white light in the final column on the scoreboard had already bombed out in snatch. “Thirteenth in clean and jerk and I still have this,” said Dhanush, clutching his bronze medal and gleaming with pride. K Duong finished 22kg clear of Dhanush, bettering his own youth world record in snatch as he made 115-138-253 from three good lifts. Duong, 18, also declined his final snatch attempt. K Duong (VIE) Duong’s team-mate Do Tu Tung persevered after five straight failures, making 140kg for clean and jerk gold. Silver on total went to the impressive Japanese debutant Kotaro Tomari on 108-139-247, with Dhanush third on 107-124-231. Another B group athlete, Domingo Meza from Argentina, was 1kg behind Dhanush in fourth.   Colonia, whose brother and uncle both competed at the Olympic Games, thought she had been beaten after the last lift of the 45kg session. Eighteen-year-old Colonia improved her career best total by 10kg when she made all six lifts for 74-88-162. Khemika Kamnoedsri from Thailand needed 90kg to overtake her and made the lift, earning a majority verdict from the referees. Lucia Gonzalez (ESP) Kamnoedsri and her coaches celebrated, only to be denied victory when the jury overturned the decision on review for bending and extending.  That was the signal for another celebration, this time by the Philippines team. “This was my best competition, my best performance – but the gold medal was a surprise,” said Colonia. “I thought I was second, then the jury saw some movement (in Kamnoedsri’s final attempt) and I’m very happy.” Colonia is coached by her uncle Gregorio, who lifted at the Seoul 1988 Olympics. Gregorio also coached Angeline’s brother Nestor, the Asian 56kg champion in 2015 who competed at Rio 2016. Next stop for Colonia, who has twice won Asian youth gold, will be the senior World Championships in Bahrain in December. Two weeks after that, she said, she will compete at the Asian Youth and Junior Championships in Qatar, which is also Dhanush’s next target. Angeline Colonia (PHI) Kamnoedsri, 19, has not had a lot of luck in her short career. She has finished fourth three times, including twice in major senior competitions, and now has silver when she thought it was gold. Kamnoedsri made 73-87-160, ahead of the Romanian Ioana Miron, who took clean and jerk gold on 66-88-154. Miron, who was down in sixth place at halfway, broke into tears as she completed her final attempt. Ioana Miron (ROU) Two youth world champions finished fourth and fifth, snatch bronze medallist Ezgi Kilic from Turkey and Lawren Estrada from Colombia. There were plenty of red lights in the women’s 49kg, in which Jeannis Ramirez from Mexico and Naruemol Vonghajak from Thailand bombed out before halfway, to be followed by snatch bronze medallist Kerlys Montilla from Venezuela in clean and jerk. Vonghajak was third in clean and jerk. Weronika Drzazga from Poland suffered a painful elbow injury that led to an early retirement. She was taken to hospital for an MRI scan. Inan failed with her final attempt after five good lifts. She made 79-100-179 ahead of Karoll Lopez from Colombia on 80-98-178. Gonzalez made 75-95-170. By Brian

“Leon, world capital of weightlifting”

With less than 24 hours for the start of the IWF World Junior Championships in Leon (ESP), the opening Press Conference of the event took place today in the Town Hall of the historical city. Vicente Canuria, in charge of the municipal Sports’ affairs, welcomed Antonio Conflitti, President of the European Weightlifting Federation and IWF Executive Board member, and Constatino Iglesias, President of the Spanish Weightlifting Federation, for a brief presentation of the competition. From left to right: Antonio Conflitti, Constantino Iglesias and Vicente Canuria “We are a relatively small city in Spain, and we are very proud of hosting this event. Normally, these big organisations go to bigger cities, but we got excited about bringing these Championships here from the very beginning,” considered Mr Canuria. “This effort will certainly pay off, as this will inspire more young athletes to practice this Sport. Moreover, we shouldn’t forget that one of the most emblematic and successful Spanish athletes in history was from this region – Lydia Valentin. Her feats elevated the level of weightlifting in the entire country, and she will naturally be the star at the Opening Ceremony of the Championships tomorrow,” he concluded. Presenting weightlifting in the city of Leon!  Valentin, three-time Olympic medallist (including one gold in London 2012) and with four podium presences at world level, was also cited by Mr Conflitti in his speech. “She is part of a very successful tradition of the Sport in Spain and she is remembered not only by her performances but also for her fair-play spirit. She is an example for all these younger lifters,” Mr Conflitti recalled. About the organising city of Leon, the EWF President named it “world capital of weightlifting for the upcoming 10 days”. Highlighting the great hospitality and support received from the local authorities, Mr Conflitti underlined the relevance of the event: “This age group is very important for us. The reason is simple: from this exceptional group of athletes, we will see many of them shine at the upcoming editions of the Olympic Games!” “On behalf of the IWF President Mohammed Jalood, I extend my appreciation and gratitude to the authorities of the city of Leon, as well as to the Spanish Weightlifting Federation for their constantt support and enthusiasm,” said Mr Conflitti. Constantino Iglesias was also a happy many, recalling that “over a thousand people from the world of weightlifting will be gathering in Leon by these days”. The President of the Spanish Federation has no doubt that these Championships “will be a great event”. Before this Press Conference, the population of Leon had had a first contact with the Championships, after the organisation on Tuesday afternoon of a small presentation in one the town’s main square. On that occasion, the Mayor José Antonio Diez welcomed the IWF, EWF and Spanish Weightlifting Federation representatives for a short public interaction will all those interested in knowing more details about the event. Achilleas Tsogas (IWF CEO), Mr Conflitti and Mr Iglesias were joined by athlete Uxia Romero (taking part in the 64kg event in Leon) for a demonstration of the Sport. The IWF World Junior Championships will take place from September 19-27, and will be attended by 350 lifters from around 60 nations. IWF

IWF IN MOURNING – Gustavo Malgor (ARG)

The IWF learnt with great sadness about the sudden loss of Mr Gustavo Malgor, President of the Argentinean Weightlifting Federation, on September 15. In a letter of condolences sent to the National Federation, the IWF President Mohammed Jalood and IWF General Secretary Antonio Urso wrote: “This extremely sad news was a shock for the entire weightlifting family. Besides his outstanding work leading your Federation, Gustavo was an amazing human being, appreciated by all those who had the privilege to know him. The announcement of the sad news by the Pan-American Weightlifting Federation We recall two recent occasions, in which we saw him genuinely cheering and getting emotional with the Sport he always cherished and promoted. The first one, in March this year, when the IWF Executive Board awarded the organisation of the 2026 IWF World Youth Championships to Argentina. Gustavo’s contagious joy after the announcement – following his pivotal role for this success - certainly proved that the IWF had done the right choice! The second moment, a couple of months later, at the IWF World Youth Championships, when your athlete Paz Casadevall got the first-ever world title for Argentina. Gustavo cried and remained speechless for long minutes, before joining the entire team to duly celebrate this great feat for your nation. Gustavo was like this: authentic, friendly, and working hard for the development of our beloved Sport in Argentina and in the American continent in general. He will be terribly missed by all of us.“ In this moment of grief, the IWF offers its heartfelt condolences to Mr Gustavo Malgor’s family and friends, and to the entire Argentinean weightlifting

León, Preview: Hampton Morris leads way as USA attempts to repeat 2023 success

Hampton Morris will be hoping for a third world title and more world records when he brings his junior career to a close in Spain next week. Morris, who won Olympic bronze in his last competition six weeks ago, is one of several strong medal contenders for the United States at the IWF World Junior Championships in León, which run from September 19-27. Three years ago he won the youth world title, setting two world records in that age group in the process. Morris claimed the junior world title at 61kg in 2022, since when he has set senior and junior clean and jerk world records, and has become the first American male to win an Olympic weightlifting medal since the 1980s. Hampton Morris (USA) “There’s no ceiling for Hampton Morris. The kid is amazing,” said Mike Gattone, USA’s head coach, after Paris. Morris was listed at 67kg in the preliminary entries for León but is back at 61kg in the start book. He has lifted at 67kg only once in his six-year international career, finishing second in last year’s World Juniors to Gor Sahakyan from Armenia. He will be 21 in February, so this will be a farewell junior appearance for Morris, who heads the entries on 285kg. His team-mate Gabriel Chhum, junior world champion at 61kg, could make it a 1-2 for Team USA. Gabriel Chhum (USA) Chhum was one of three winners for USA in Guadalajara, Mexico at last year’s World Juniors. The Americans topped the medals table there, and are hoping for a repeat. Morris and Chhum at 61kg, Caden Cahoy at 73kg, Miranda Ulrey at 59kg, Katie Estep and Sophia Shaft at 64kg, and Ella Nicholson at 76kg are the strongest American contenders. Besides USA, only Colombia and hosts Spain have a maximum team of 20 athletes. Both nations have youth or junior world champions in their teams. Lucia Gonzalez, 17, Spain’s 49kg youth world champion, was sixth in last year’s World Juniors and tries again at the same weight. Lucia Gonzalez (ESP) Colombia’s top medal contenders are 18-year-old Ingrid Segura, twice a world youth champion at 64kg, Maria Mena at 71kg, Sebastian Olivares – a double continental junior champion – at 67kg and Sergio Munoz at 96kg. Another Colombian with a chance is Lawren Estrada at 45kg. She lifts at the World Juniors for the first time after winning two golds and a silver in the World Youths. Lawren Estrada (COL) Egypt also has multiple medal contenders. Rahma Elsayed, the 2022 youth champion and a junior bronze medallist in Guadalajara, is favourite in the women’s 87kg. Another nation with a strong team is Armenia. Last year’s champion Aleksandra Grigoryan may find it difficult to win again at 55kg, where the senior world champion Chen Guan-Ling from Chinese Taipei is among her challengers. Aleksandra Grigoryan (ARM) Only one other Paris Olympian besides Morris is entered, the Weightlifting Refugee Team member Yekta Jamali, who left Iran and now lives in Germany. Jamali has a medal chance in the women’s 81kg, the weight at which she finished ninth in Paris. China and PRK, the world’s strongest weightlifting nations, have not entered teams. The total number of athletes is 367. By Brian

IWF and ITA discuss their fruitful co-operation in Lausanne

An IWF delegation led by President Mohammed Jalood met the International Testing Agency (ITA) this week in Lausanne (SUI) to discuss the ongoing partnership between the two entities and their common anti-doping strategies. The list of the IWF representatives also included the General Secretary Antonio Urso and the IWF CEO Achilleas Tsogas. From the ITA side, its Director General Benjamin Cohen led the discussions. The IWF and the ITA are working closely together since 2019, with the independent agency supervising all anti-doping operations on behalf of our International Federation. The set of activities in this area comprises the in and out-of competition testing, results management, intelligence and education, TUE supervision, and storage and re-analysis of samples. This very complete programme ensures total transparency and reliability, and has produced very fruitful results in recent years. The high-level meeting between the IWF and the ITA reinforced and praised this level of co-operation, and reiterated the mutual interest in remaining connected in a common effort to keep the sport of weightlifting clean and fair. “The excellent relationship we have with the ITA is extremely important for us, as it shows our total commitment for a drug-free environment around our lifters. This is presently confirmed by the reduction in the number of positive cases we have when comparing the situation with the past. Things are definitively evolving in a very positive way,” considered the IWF President Mohammed Jalood after the meeting. “Weightlifting is now a respected sport in the Olympic movement and we take the opportunity to thank the ITA for its tireless efforts in this always sensitive field!” concluded Mr Jalood. IWF

Don’t miss the entry deadlines: Leon 2024 and Bahrain 2024

Please be sure not to miss two important deadlines concerning the remaining events of the year, the IWF World Junior Championships and the IWF World Championships. The junior rendezvous will take place in Leon, Spain, and tomorrow, Thursday, September 5 at 12:00/noon (CET), is the deadline for the Verification of Final Entries, exactly two weeks before the start of the competition, running from September 19-27. During this online procedure, National Member Federations should confirm the bodyweight categories and entry totals of their participating athletes, or eventually delete those that are not taking part in the Championships. Regarding the IWF World Championships, to be held in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, from December 6-15, the deadline for Preliminary Entries is this Friday, September 6, three months before the beginning of the IWF showcase. For this purpose, each Member Federation can register up to 20 athletes per gender. For both procedures, please click on the IWF E-Entry