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Rory van Ulft won a gold medal with her first ever lift in international weightlifting and followed up with two more golds and two youth world records.

“That was really fun – a new experience for me and plenty of good lifting,” said 13-year-old Rory after taking the 44kg title for Aruba on the first day of the IWF World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia.

“I enjoyed the medals ceremony too. I haven’t had anything like that before.”

Rory started weightlifting aged six, originally as a way of trying to avoid injuries in gymnastics. “Then I found I was really good at it,” she said. When she was nine she became the youngest person ever to lift double body weight in a competition.

Rory van Ulft (ARU)

She is unbeaten in more than six years competing at local and national level in Canada, where she lives, the United States and Aruba. She is eligible to lift for Aruba – an autonomous country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands – through her dual Canadian-Dutch nationality.

Two years ago her father, Cavan, decided Aruba was the best option and, with support from the national Weightlifting Federation and Olympic Committee, targeted Cali for the start of Rory’s career in elite weightlifting.

Her eight rivals had finished when Rory came out for her first snatch on 67kg and immediately clinched gold in that discipline. After missing the next one she made 69kg, then successfully opened in clean and jerk on 88kg to take the world title and complete a sweep of golds.

Rory’s next lift of 93kg gave her world records in clean and jerk and total. She might have improved those records after cleaning 95kg but failed to complete her final attempt.

Mohammed Al Ojaian (KSA)

Her 69-93-162 left Rory 19kg clear of the silver medallist Asel Senel from Turkiye on 66-77-143. Althea Bacaro from the Philippines was third on 60-80-140 and Mariana Asprilla from Colombia took snatch bronze on 61kg.

Next up for Rory will be the Pan American Youth Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador in August. With school finished, she will also head to Ecuador for a holiday with her family this week, she said.

There were youth world records in the two other sessions too, for Mohammed Al Ojaian from Saudi Arabia and, on a good day for her team, for Alexsandra Diaz from the Philippines – niece of the 2020 Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz.

Alexsandra Diaz (PHI)

Al Ojaian, third last year, bettered the snatch and total records on 114-139-253 to win at 56kg. He missed only one of his six attempts in posting his best total by 5kg.

When Al Ojaian had finished, Jay Colonia from the Philippines was 9kg behind with two lifts to come. Colonia, youth world champion at 49kg in Lima last year, reduced the gap to 4kg and took clean and jerk gold but failed with his final attempt. Having weighed in lightest in a field of nine on 54.00kg, Colonia was second on 109-140-249.

Christian Di Maria from Italy, second behind Colonia last year, took bronze despite making only his openers on 108-130-238.

Women’s 48kg podium

Diaz, also a winner last year, was 11kg clear in the women’s 48kg. She broke records in clean and jerk and total on 77-98-175, failing only with her final attempt at 100kg.

Adelina Lorint from Romania was second on 74-90-164 and Osorio Del Valle from Venezuela third on 71-91-162. Lorint’s team-mate Maia Andrei was third in snatch on 73kg.

By Brian Oliver

Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia