News

All five of PRK’s female champions from last year are capable of setting world records at the 2025 IWF World Championships in Forde, Norway which run from October 2-11.

This is the first global competition since new weight categories were introduced in June, and there is a good chance that world standards will be bettered on most days.

The PRK women’s team had two record-breakers at last year’s World Championships in Bahrain and there could be more this time in the five lightest categories from Ri Song Gum at 48kg, Kang Hyon Gyong at 53kg, Kim Il Gyong at 58kg, Ri Suk at 63kg and Song Kuk Hyang, who drops down to 69kg.

Ri Suk (PRK)

So far only one female athlete has made world records since June – the American Olympic gold medallist Olivia Reeves at 69kg at the Pan American Championships.  Reeves could repeat the feat when she moves up for the first time to 77kg in Forde, a weight at which there is no entry from PRK.

Whatever Reeves and the Koreans do in the first week, the highlight for the host nation – and its reigning monarch – is day eight when all eyes in Forde will be on Norway’s Olympic champion Solfrid Koanda.

Olivia Reeves (USA)

Koanda is clear favourite at 86kg. She has won eight of her past nine competitions (the only blip was a bombout at the 2023 World Championships), and when she won at 81kg in Paris last summer she became the first European woman to claim Olympic gold in a weight category higher than 80kg.

To win in style with world records would be extra special. King Harald V, who competed at the Olympic Games three times in sailing, will be in the 1,700-capacity auditorium to watch Koanda.

“It’s a great honour that the King has chosen to come – it shows that our sport is being taken seriously,” said Koanda, who has been training hard in Germany during her preparations.

“I’ve already had the honour of meeting the King a couple of times, and I’m really excited to compete with him present. It makes the whole experience even more special.

“Having the audience, friends and family in the arena gives me extra motivation and energy, and I’m really looking forward to bringing that with me on to the platform.

Solfrid Koanda (NOR)

“It’s very cool that we are hosting the World Championships. It gives Norway the chance to show itself as a host nation, and it’s a great opportunity to create more attention around weightlifting nationally. I hope it can inspire more people to try the sport.

“I’m staying on track through both challenges and good days, and I’m really looking forward to October 9th when I’ll be ready to give my very best.”

Koanda’s career best total was 280kg two and a half years ago, when she weighed just under 86kg. Another 10kg will be needed to set a world record on total in the new category.

Planning for the World Championships began six years ago. Forde is a coastal town with a population of 12,500, which will grow by about 1,100 when athletes, coaches, referees and team officials are in town.

Stian Grimseth, president of the Norway Weightlifting Federation and the man behind the bid, had to work hard to gain state support, persuading the IWF that awarding the World Championships to the highest bidder every year was not always the right approach.

“I pointed out to the IWF that the process should be more about quality, about promoting the sport, and they agreed,” said Grimseth. “After that, Norway’s Department of Sport and Culture supported us.

“We have 1,500 students working on a school project about the Championships, and we have 500 volunteers. We will have a lot of spectators. We have a big team from Norway – we are seeing improved results from the male lifters.”

There will be family activities, food stalls and a festival of music in the town throughout the Championships, creating a party atmosphere.

“As you will see, we are going to do things a bit differently to others. I think everybody is going to enjoy it,” said Grimseth.

Sara Ahmed (EGY)

Forde hosted a big event before, the 2016 European Championships. One medallist from then will lift this time – Mercy Brown from Great Britain, who was second in the super-heavyweights. Her team-mate Emily Campbell will be a strong medal contender in the absence of China’s top supers who, like many renowned team-mates, are missing Forde to focus on the China National Games in November.

Two bronze medallists from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games are back for more, Sara Ahmed from Egypt and Kuo Hsing-Chun from Chinese Taipei, and there is a bronze medallist from London 2012 among the entries. Madias Ngake, who lifted for Cameroon 13 years ago, won a snatch medal for Great Britain in last year’s World Championships and lifts with Koanda at 86kg.

By Brian Oliver