News

Olivia Reeves lost three world records on Tuesday night and got them all back 24 hours later at a different weight. On day seven of the IWF World Championships in Forde, Norway, Reeves produced yet another magnificent performance to win at 77kg, finishing off with a 9kg jump for a sweep of world records.

The American Olympic champion finished 26kg clear of Sara Samir from Egypt, a double Olympic medallist, and 30kg ahead of third-placed Mari Leivis Sanchez from Colombia. Sanchez had been only 5kg behind when she finished second to Reeves at 71kg in Paris. 

Olivia Reeves (USA)

Reeves made 123-155-278, a career high and a bigger total than Solfrid Koanda needed for Olympic gold at 81kg last year.

Remarkably, it was not the best performance in Forde. That came a day earlier when Song Kuk Hyang won for PRK at 69kg, the weight at which Reeves had set three world records at the Pan American Championships in July.

Song made a 270kg total in taking those records from Reeves, scoring 336.71 Sinclair points (the method for comparing lifts at different body weights). Reeves was only 2kg short of the 280kg she needed to outscore Song, which is clearly within her capability. When these two meet, it should be one of the great moments of women’s weightlifting.

Sara Samir (EGY)

Reeves has competed in four weight categories over the past two years – 69kg, 71kg, 77kg and 81kg. But she was 9kg light when she won Pan American Games gold at 81kg and more than 3kg light today, weighing in at an all-time high of 73.57kg.

If she could nominate her own weight category for Los Angeles 2028, what would it be?  “I’d go for 72 or 73,” Reeves said. And will she be returning to 69kg next time out (2026 Pan American Championships) to reclaim those world records from Song? “Maybe. I haven’t decided.”

An American who overheard the question said, “Olivia will break world records in any category, write that down.” It was Aimee Everett, coach of Reeves’ team-mate Mattie Rogers, who won a clean and jerk bronze and finished 1kg behind Sanchez in fourth place. “I mean it. Any category.”

Mari Leivis Sanchez (COL)

Reeves made all three snatches to lead by 11kg at halfway. She missed her first clean and jerk on 146kg, made the next one then and looked untroubled in going up to 155kg. Samir made three from six on 112-140-152, and Sanchez five from six on 112-136-248. Rogers finished 107-140-247.

At least a third of the 30 athletes across three sessions hit career-high totals. The most impressive improver, up 13kg with a five-from-six 111-134-245, was the Finnish teenager Janette Ylisoini. Her sixth-place finish should secure her more funding from the sports authorities.

Janette Ylisoini (FIN)

“I will soon graduate from high school, and I want to be able to train full-time,” said Ylisoini, who was noisily supported by friends and team-mates, and rated Forde as “the best competition of my life”. There have been plenty of them – 19 in four years – and the next is only three weeks away, the European Juniors in Albania. “I like to compete often because you learn every time,” she said.

Yekta Jamali, the 20-year-old who represents the Weightlifting Refugee Team, was fifth in snatch and eighth overall on 108-130-238, up 1kg on her best despite dropping more than four kilos in body weight.

Yekta Jamali (WRT)

Jamali hopes to gain German citizenship in the next few months, after which she can join the national team as a full-time athlete.

Others who upped their best total included Genna Toko Kegne from Italy on 237kg and Iryna Dombrovska from Ukraine on 236kg, both in the top 10, then Rosalie Dumas from Canada (at the age of 33), Isabella Brown from Great Britain, Lara Dancz from Germany, Gudny Stefansdottir from Iceland and Georgia Theron from New Zealand.

By Brian Oliver

Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia