Archive from 2024

Paris Olympics, Men’s preview: Lasha and Shi Zhiyong aim for third gold, while Nasar can make record-breaking start

Lasha Talakhadze from Georgia and Shi Zhiyong from China, two of the world’s most popular weightlifters, will have a chance in Paris to join a select group of triple champions. Karlos Nasar from Bulgaria will be the main focus of attention for the next generation. Judging by his most recent performance, 20-year-old Nasar is capable of winning gold and setting world records on his Olympic Games debut. Lasha Talakhadze (GEO) Naim Suleymanoglu and Halil Mutlu from Turkey, Kakhi Kakhiashvili from Georgia – who competed for the Unified Team (Soviet Union) and Greece - and Pyrros Dimas from Greece are the only athletes to have been Olympic champion three times. They won their medals between 1988 and 2004. Nobody weighing more than 100kg has done it. Nobody from outside Europe has done it. Talakhadze and Shi Zhiyong, who collectively have been lifting internationally for 26 years, could become the first in those respects. Both men were born in October 1993 and either or both may retire after Paris. Talakhadze, from Georgia, has had problems with his knees. He will have been off the competition platform for 328 days by the time he lifts on August 10. When he won his seventh world title in Saudi Arabia last September, four of his rivals totalled 450kg or more. “The others are closing in on Lasha. The standard he showed today will not be enough any more,” Georgia’s head coach Giorgi Asanidze said at the time. Talakhadze has not lifted in competition since then. Talakhadze heads the rankings by 10kg and remains favourite for gold after his lengthy break. Gor Minasyan is ranked second for Bahrain and his former Armenia team-mate Varazdat Lalyan, who was in top form at the IWF World Cup in Thailand in April, is third. Another super-heavyweight to watch for is 19-year-old Ali Ammar Yusur from Iraq. Yusur set a junior world record last year and is already talking of winning gold at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. He will be favourite to win the junior world title in León, Spain in September. Shi was absent for 862 days after suffering a back injury at the 2021 Chinese National Games. When he returned at the Qatar Grand Prix last December he was in so much pain he had to decline his last two attempts. Shi Zhiyong (CHN) He moved up to second place in the 73kg rankings at the World Cup in Thailand with a 356kg total behind Rizki Juniansyah from Indonesia, who caused a sensation by overtaking team-mate Rahmat Erwin. “I went for it as if it was the last international event in my weightlifting career,” Shi said.  “I focused on the lifts and enjoyed every single minute without other considerations. “The results turned out to be just as good as expected. That’s why I felt happiest in that moment as I showed my best condition to my loved ones as well as the fans. I will keep my current attitude (in Paris) and enjoy the Olympic Games. “I will make some good lifts and I think the final result is not the most important thing. For me, to participate and to enjoy are what I am focusing on now.”  Shi won at 69kg in Rio then at 73kg in Tokyo. His 364kg total in Tokyo was a world record until Juniansyah made his last lift at the World Cup. The contest between Shi and Juniansyah – who also had injury problems during qualifying - could be the closest head-to-head for gold in Paris. China has strong favourites at 61kg and 102kg, Li Fabin and Liu Huanhua, both of them world record holders. Liu is the only athlete to have bettered world standards at 102kg since the category came on to the programme in November 2018. Liu Huanhua (CHN) Liu finished clear at the top of the rankings and has already shown he can do better. When he won 109kg gold at the Asian Games last October, where there was no 102kg category, he totalled 418kg despite weighing less than 102kg. That is 5kg more than his current world record. The athletes ranked below Liu could provide the closest medal contest of the week in Paris. Six men have a realistic chance of being on the podium: the Tokyo 96kg and 109kg champions Meso Hassona and Akbar Djuraev, Garik Karapetyan from Armenia, the Independent Neutral Athlete Yauheni Tsikhantsou from Belarus, Jang Yeonhak from Korea and Lesman Paredes from Bahrain. Li Fabin won at 61kg in Tokyo and finished 11kg clear of the 20-year-old American Hampton Morris in the rankings. Li set a snatch world record at the World Cup in Phuket, where Morris claimed a clean and jerk world record. That was the first world record by an American in 55 years. The United States has not had a male Olympic champion since 1960, nor a male medallist since 1984. Eko Yuli Irawan (INA) Other contenders are Sergio Massidda from Italy and Eko Yuli Irawan from Indonesia. Irawan, who won a World Junior Championships medal when Morris was aged two, will be 35 this month. He is hoping to become the first weightlifter in history to win a medal at five straight Olympic Games. Irawan was third at 56kg in Beijing, third at 62kg in London, second at 62kg in Rio and second at 61kg in Tokyo.   Nasar is widely expected to become the youngest gold medallist in Paris, at 89kg. When qualifying for the Tokyo Games began in 2018, Nasar was 14 – too young to take part. By the time the delayed Games took place in 2021, he was good enough to be an Olympic medal contender. Karlos Nasar (BUL) He claimed his first senior world record aged 17 that year, when he also set 15 youth and junior world records. During the Paris qualifying period Nasar has set another five senior world records, all as a teenager. At the recent Bulgarian national championships Nasar, who was 20 in May, lifted more than the 89kg world records in snatch, clean and jerk and total. It seems nothing can stop him. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia 

Paris Olympics, Women’s preview: China looks strongest again, while USA leads way for ‘newcomers’ 

Five Olympic champions will try to win again in the women’s events in Paris, where China once more fields the strongest team. Conversely, four nations that have never had an athlete on top of the women’s podium are among those going for gold - United States, Norway, Egypt and Australia. China has won 32 Olympic weightlifting gold medals this century, of which 17 went to women. All three of China’s women in Paris topped their respective rankings, compared with two of the men. Li Wenwen (CHN) Super-heavyweight Li Wenwen is the strongest favourite in all ten weight classes for both genders despite having suffered an elbow injury during qualifying. It kept her out of the Asian Games and the Qatar Grand Prix before she returned, more than six months later, to win decisively at the World Cup in Phuket, Thailand in April. Li finished 37kg ahead of Emily Campbell from Great Britain when she won in Tokyo, and is ranked 29kg clear of her nearest rival in Paris qualifying, Park Hyejeong from Korea. The champion is taking nothing for granted. “I still have room for improvement,” said Li, who rated her World Cup victory “one of my best performances during these past four years”. Li is likely to make the last lift in Paris, where five days of competition end on August 11, the final day of the Olympic Games. This time the women, rather than the men, are scheduled last. Hou Zhihui (CHN) At the other end of the scales, about 100kg lighter than Li, is Hou Zhihui. The Tokyo 49kg champion left her best till last in qualifying, overtaking team-mate Jiang Huihua with her final lift at the World Cup. She set a snatch world record there and is ranked well clear of three contenders on 200kg – Mirabai Chanu from India, Surodchana Khambao from Thailand and Jourdan Delacruz from the United States. Luo Shifang, who did not compete in Tokyo, was another world record breaker in Phuket. Her 248kg total in the 59kg category was up 18kg from her first qualifying effort. Two Olympic champions are among the other contenders at this weight, Maude Charron from Canada and Kuo Hsing-Chun from Chinese Taipei. Maude Charron (CAN) Charron, who put on hold a new career in the police force to continue training for Paris, won at 64kg in Tokyo. “One of the main reasons why I decided to do another Olympic cycle is so I can get my family there in the stands, to watch me on the biggest stage in the sport,” said Charron, who like everybody else competed in an empty auditorium in Tokyo. Her improvement at the lower weight gives 31-year-old Charron a good chance of a medal. Kuo, who won at 59kg in Tokyo, has not matched her 2021 performance during qualifying. Neisi Dajomes (ECU) The fifth Olympic champion in Paris is Neisi Dajomes from Ecuador, who won at 76kg in Tokyo. She heads the rankings in the ultra-competitive 81kg category in which athletes from four continents are the top contenders. Solfrid Koanda from Norway, who was working as an electrician at the time of the Tokyo Games, attempts to become the first woman from Scandinavia to win Olympic weightlifting gold. She has won six times since 2021, mostly at 87kg but always lifting underweight. If she can match her 87kg numbers in the Olympic weight class Koanda will be difficult to beat. Sara Samir (EGY) A third strong contender is Sara Samir from Egypt, a bronze medallist at a lighter weight in Rio eight years ago who is seeking to become the first female champion for Africa and the Arab world. Eileen Cikamatana from Australia, which has not had an Olympic weightlifting champion for 40 years, is ranked marginally behind Dajomes, Samir and Koanda. After a series of injuries and a timing mishap that nearly led to failure in qualifying, Dajomes is more than happy simply to be in Paris. In the first half of last year Dajomes had a ruptured shoulder tendon, then a wrist injury. Serious knee problems kept her out of two qualifiers in the latter part of 2023, and when she returned at the Pan American Championships in Venezuela in February she failed to make the total she needed because of a mix-up over the timing for her final attempt. “This was the first time that I experienced something like this, the total desertion of myself and everything I had achieved,” Dajomes said. “The first two months of this year were the hardest. It cost me days of crying from pain. But I knew I could still put up a fight, and my sister Angie would not let me throw in the towel.” It all came good at the World Cup in April, where Dajomes overtook team-mate Tamara Salazar to finish top of the rankings. “I can’t think of anything other than enjoying these Olympic Games,” she said. “I don't know what will happen after Paris, what I do know is that I love this sport even though it has mistreated me so much. Maybe Los Angeles will wait for me.” Angie will also be going for a medal. She lifts at 71kg, where she is ranked second behind Olivia Reeves from the United States. Olivia Reeves (USA) Reeves competed in all seven qualifiers and also won at the Pan American Games during a year and a half of consistent improvement. “I wanted to do all seven,” said 21-year-old Reeves. “It’s fun. For someone age 30 it will be different. I’m taking advantage of my youth, and I’m gaining experience all the time.” Tara Nott was a gold medallist for Team USA at Sydney 2000 but missed the glory of a gold medal presentation. Nott was promoted from second to first place after a Bulgarian was disqualified for doping three days after the competition. Delacruz at 49kg and super-heavyweight Mary Theisen Lappen also have medal chances for a USA team that has gained worldwide respect, according to the Tokyo silver medallist Kate Vibert, who was not selected despite qualifying at 71kg and 81kg. “It’s incredible that I can be top-10 in two weight classes and still not make the Olympics,” said Vibert. “It’s a great reflection of how amazing the sport and team is in the US. The respect for our team throughout this quad has exponentially increased.” By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Confirmed athletes’ list for the Paris 2024 Olympics is now available!

The list of the 122 lifters competing in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has been finalised and is now available here. It comprises the 120 athletes who completed the qualification process, plus the two competitors who are part of the IOC Refugee Team. At the end of this procedure, we now know the start list in each of the 10 Olympic bodyweight categories that are part of the Games’ programme. Athletes from 58 nations will be represented during the five-day competition, from August 7-11. Marie Fegue will compete at home in Paris As per the Qualification competition rules (available here), 100 lifters (10 per category) were chosen through a qualification path that included participation in a minimum of IWF events, with two of them being mandatory on the road to Paris – the 2023 IWF World Championships and the 2024 IWF World Cup. Ten more athletes were chosen through Continental representation. Lasha Talakhadze (GEO) will fight for a third consecutive Olympic gold Moreover, four additional places were allocated for the host country (France) and the last six spots were reserved for universality places. Once all confirmations were received, a small number of places’ reallocations took place. Finally, the two lifters from the IOC Refugee Team (not counting for the 120-quota allocated to the IWF) completed the list. This makes a total of 12 lifters competing in each category, except the men’s 102kg and women’s 81kg, both with 13 athletes (including one refugee). Yekta Jamali is one of the two Refugee Athletes competing at the Games The final sport entries' deadline for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is on July 8. “We are very happy and excited to present this list of excellent athletes for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. It has been a long but very rewarding road for all those trying to qualify and I sincerely congratulate all those lifters involved in this process. A special tribute is due to all those that finally secured their place in the Games,” considered the IWF President Mohammed Jalood. Rosina Randafiarison (MAD) earned her place through Continental representation “The quality of our lifters, but also the representation of our sport’s universality, are solid guarantees of a great show in Paris! Weightlifting provides an important added-value to the Olympic programme and we are certain that the fans of our sport will live an outstanding experience this summer in France, both being on-site or watching the performances of our Stars on their TV and digital platforms,” concluded Mr Jalood. IWF

2024 IWF Junior Worlds: Preliminary Entries must be submitted by June 19!

Until this Wednesday, June 19, IWF Member Federations can still send their Preliminary Entries for the 2024 IWF World Junior Championships, to be held in Leon (ESP), from September 19-27. As per the regulations of the competition, preliminary entries should be submitted three months before the start of the event, while on August 19 (one month prior to the Championships’ kick-off), the IWF should receive the Final Entries of those wishing to take part in the Spanish showcase. Finally, on September 5, the Verification of Final Entries (for the establishment of the Start Book) will be done. At this stage, and for the purpose of the preliminary entries, each Member National Federation can register up to 20 athletes per gender (then to be reduced to a maximum of 10 lifters per gender + two reserves) during the final entry submission on August 19. By that date, participating Member Federations must transfer 100% of the total payment related with entry and accommodation fees to the Organising Commission of the Leon 2024 IWF World Junior Championships. Entries can only be done through the IWF Online Entry System at https://mf.iwf.sport After the preliminary entries are done, no more athletes can be registered for the competition, as in accordance with article 5.5.16 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules, the whereabouts of the athletes submitted for the Championships must be done at a minimum of three months before the relevant event. In case of failure to submit this information, athletes for whom the whereabouts have not been submitted shall be declared ineligible to take part in the competition. Moreover, as of January 1, 2024 the new anti-doping rules also include a categorisation of the Member National Federations, with the associated obligations for each of the categories. Please find here and here all the information related to the Member Federations’

Qatar welcomes Palestinian star Mohammed Hamada until the Paris Games  

After being the first-ever weightlifter from Palestine to compete at the Olympics – he was 13th in the 96kg category in Tokyo 2020ne – Mohammed Hamada is confident in obtaining a universality place for the upcoming Games, in Paris. At 22, Hamada arrived this weekend in Doha, Qatar, where the local federation will provide him with all the training conditions until the time of the Olympic celebration. With his routine deeply affected by the conflict in Gaza, Hamada managed to compete in the 2024 IWF World Cup, held in Phuket, Thailand. This was the last qualification event for the Games and one of the two mandatory ones on the road to Paris. In the 96kg category – not an Olympic one any longer, at the Games he would compete in the 102kg – the Palestinian star ranked ninth, with 100-120-220. An outcome that, given the challenging circumstances, is far from his best, achieved at the 2021 IWF World Junior Championships, where he lifted 141-171-312. In Japan, at the Games’ time, he was slightly worse, at 137-173-310. From left to right: Mohammed Hamada; his coach (and brother); Mohamed Al Mana (AWF and Qatar Weightlifting Federation President); and Mohammed Jalood (IWF President) At his arrival in Doha, Hamada was welcomed by the IWF President Mohammed Jalood, the President of the Asian (and Qatar) Weightlifting Federation Mohamed Al Mana, and by the IWF Athletes Commission Chair Forrester Osei. “It is our duty to welcome and support any athlete having problems in his country,” Mr Al Mana explained. “We needed to ensure this athlete remains in good shape and can train in normal conditions, as we are confident he will be able to get a universality place for the Games,” continued the leader of the Asian and Qatari federation, and also an IWF Executive Board member. “We are not doing this exclusively as Qatar. We are a weightlifting family and we do this as a family, helping one of its members,” concluded Mr Al Mana. Hamada with Forrester Osei (IWF Athletes Commission chair) Accommodation and meals, but also training, medical and physio facilities will be provided to Hamada while in Doha. “There is a very good infrastructure here for all those athletes aiming at training at the highest level. I used some of the facilities and I must say that the work of the Qatar Weightlifting Federation has been amazing in developing the sport in this region of the world,” considered Forrester Osei, representing Ghana in international events, but training for some years now in Doha. “Hamada will find a friendly and optimal environment here, and we will make our best to ensure his preparation is good, should he be selected for the Games in Paris,” also noted the IWF Athletes Commission chair. Meeting Meso Hassouna (right) in Doha  Upon his arrival in Doha, the Palestinian talent had the opportunity to meet Meso Hassouna, the Qatari legend, and reigning Olympic champion in the 96kg category. “I think it’s a nice motivation (and inspiration) for Hamada in his first days here in Qatar!” Mr Osei concluded. IWF

2023 IWF/ITA report: another successful year in the fight against doping!

The IWF is happy to announce the 2023 statistics concerning its Anti-Doping activities, in co-operation with the ITA (International Testing Agency). Last year, a total of 3192 samples were collected around the world, including 1766 in-competition and 1426 out-of-competition. Moreover, in terms of urine/blood proportion, there were respectively 2403 and 789 samples. This amount of collected samples resulted in a total of 2522 completed tests, performed on 1039 athletes (52% men, 48% women) from 109 countries. Concerning the Results Management of these tests, 18 of them constitute Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRV). Last year, the IWF/ITA received 25 TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemptions) application requests. In terms of Anti-Doping Education, the attendance in webinars/seminars totalled 1211 participants from 64 different nationalities. In 2023, as part of its four-year education strategy plan, the IWF, together with the ITA, held three Anti-Doping seminars – at the IWF World Youth Championships in Durres (ALB) in March, the IWF World Championships in Riyadh (KSA) in September and the IWF World Junior Championships in Guadalajara (MEX) in November. All info on IWF/ITA Anti-Doping activities here IWF