News

The highlight of a busy first day at the IWF World Championships in Forde, Norway – four sessions and a colourful opening ceremony – was another victory, more world records and a joyful celebration for Ri Song Gum from PRK.

When the IWF president Mohammed Jalood addressed a full house of 1,700 people at the opening ceremony at Fordehuset, he finished by saying, “I invite you all to now watch a great competition and a world record this evening.”

Ri Song Gum (PRK)

His prediction was right. About two hours later Ri finished off the women’s 48kg A Group by making world records in her last two lifts. She screamed, jumped for joy, waved to the crowd and twice kissed the discs before eventually leaving the platform. Ri held a firm salute on top of the podium as she sang the PRK anthem at the medal ceremony.

Ri, 27, made 91-122-213 to finish well clear of Mirabai Chanu from India on 84-115-199 and Thanyathon Sukcharoen from Thailand on 88-110-198. She broke the world records on total and in clean and jerk with both her last two lifts at 120kg and 122kg.

Ri had appeared to be on the way to a snatch record an hour earlier. Her renowned coach, Kim Chun Hui, made a point of applauding Ri’s perfectly executed opener at 88kg, and a second attempt at 91kg put Ri within 4kg of the world record. But the jury intervened after three white lights from the referees, and overturned the decision for bending and extending.

Mirabai Chanu (IND)

Ri, who made her international debut 11 years ago, set seven world records at 49kg after PRK’s return to international competition in 2023. In April last year, she made 15kg more than China’s Hou Zhihui needed for Olympic gold in Paris four months later.

PRK was ineligible for Paris because the team’s four-year absence during and after the Covid pandemic kept them out of the qualifying programme for too long.

Chanu, who was fourth in Paris and won Olympic silver in Tokyo, failed with two snatch attempts but made all three clean and jerks. At 31, she looks to be on the way back to her best after two years blighted by injury and is clear favourite for Commonwealth Games gold next year.

Thanyathon Sukcharoen (THA)

Sukcharoen, a world champion in 2021 and 2022, also failed twice in snatch, and missed her final clean and jerk attempt on 113kg.

In the lunchtime C Group, an enthusiastic young audience at the Fordehuset Arena applauded the loaders before a lift had been made. They gave noisy encouragement  when an athlete was in danger of bombing out, or if they showed a bit of character on the platform, which Alex Mackay from Scotland did.

“I’d describe myself as quite bouncy, and they liked that,” she said.  “The crowd’s support was great and I really enjoyed it.”

Mackay, 23, is one of the 36 athletes in Forde whose team is listed as CWF – Commonwealth Weightlifting Federation. They are from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Jersey, and are in Norway seeking to make qualifying targets for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year. They are “extras” whose results do not count in the World Championships.

Alex Mackay (CWF)

Mackay, who was full of energy throughout her five-from-six 61-84-145, put 3kg on her best total and needs to find another 7kg at next year’s European Championships to hit her target and lift at a major Games in her home country.

“It would be amazing to be in Glasgow, to have all my family there watching – especially my granny and granddad,” she said. “They love to follow me and they’ll have been watching the livestream from here.”

Mackay and her family are from Portskerra, way up north in the Scottish Highlands. After 10 years as a swimmer, Mackay took up weightlifting only three years ago at university in Dundee, where she trains alone while in the fifth of six years studying medicine.

Scotland has set minimum standards for its lifters, who can take host nation places, and head coach John McEwan is hoping as many as nine might hit them. “The sport is stronger in Scotland than it has been for a while,” he said.

The medal events on Friday are women’s 53kg and men’s 60kg, and PRK has a strong contender in both.

By Brian Oliver

Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia