Forde, Day 9: Photo Gallery
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Forde, Day 9: World records for dominant Djuraev back at his true weight – and a day to remember Ragnar the plumber
Akbar Djuraev returned to his best weight and posted two world records to dominate a top-class field at 110kg on the penultimate day of the IWF World Championships in Forde, Norway. Djuraev finished 13kg clear and it could have been more but for a bizarre final attempt. Alireza Nasiri from Iran took second place despite failing with his first two attempts, finishing off with junior world records in clean and jerk, and total. That made it three world records in two days for Iran. There was another large crowd at Fordehuset to watch Djuraev’s masterclass – but not as many as the full house of 1,700 who watched the earlier super-heavyweight B Group. The big attraction was local plumber Ragnar Holme, who hit his highest total after putting training ahead of plumbing in his preparations. Djuraev was never seriously challenged despite the presence of his team-mate Ruslan Nurudinov, an Olympic champion in 2016, and the Armenians Simon Martirosyan and Garik Karapetyan, both multiple champions. Akbar Djuraev (UZB) He broke the snatch world record with his third attempt, bettered the total on his fifth and needed 6kg more on his final attempt to complete the sweep. Instead he went up 13kg to 245kg, got the bar above his knees, dropped it and smiled to the crowd. He was just messing around. That was quite a contrast to what happened in Paris last year, when Djuraev was in tears and could not speak for half an hour after he failed with two attempts to win Olympic gold at 102kg. “That’s why I have silver and not gold,” he said. “Maybe the weight categories will change again (for Los Angeles 2028) and I will get the result.” They have done, and he probably will. “I am back at my right weight. I can eat properly, train properly. I feel good, very happy,” he said after posting 196-232-428. Alireza Nasiri (IRI) Alireza, 20, made 184-231-415, a superb performance when he might have bombed out. Nurudinov made four from six for 186-228-414 in third. The expected strong challenge from Armenia never got off the ground. Martirosyan, an Olympic silver medallist who has not won since 2019, bombed out in snatch and Karapetyan would have joined him but for making his third attempt. He was fourth with a snatch bronze and two good lifts on 187-220-407. Luis Manuel Lauret, lifting for Romania, took silver in snatch on 188kg but then bombed out in clean and jerk. Marcos Ruiz from Spain made an impressive personal best of 185-221-406 in fifth place, at the age of 30. His hopes for the Paris Olympic Games were wrecked by injury, and his reaction to his successful last lift showed what it meant to be back at his best. Kolbi Ferguson, one of the host nation’s young hopefuls for the Los Angeles Olympics, recovered after missing his first two snatches to set an American clean and jerk record on 174-222-396. He topped the B Group and finished seventh, one place better than last year. Dagnar Holme (NOR) In the sold-out +110 B Group, Holme was cheered to a career-best 178-210-388. Among those watching was Sindre Rorstadbotnen, a Forde landscape gardener who was the local star when the European Championships came to town in 2016. The biggest crowd of the week back then was a full house for a C Group featuring Sindre. Norway’s home hero on Thursday, Olympic and world champion Solfrid Koanda, is an electrician. Norwegian weightlifters are clearly multi-talented, as well as big box office. Kamil Kucera from Czechia, the oldest athlete at the Championships, said the crowd’s support was “amazing” as he finished 5kg behind Holme and 9kg behind the Group winner Vladyslav Prylypko from Ukraine. Kamil Kucera (CZE) The Paris Olympian from Czechia was 40 in March. “I was in pain on that last attempt,” he said while pressing an ice pack to his hip. “It’s a chronic problem but I hope to recover over the coming months and be ready to start the qualification programme for Los Angeles. “If I can stay clear of injuries I will keep going. I want to try for the Olympics again.” When he does finally retire, Kucera knows what he wants to do – run a darts club. He is a very keen and accomplished darts player and is already in the process of opening a club in Prague. Kucera had already lifted three times at the World Juniors before the youngest super-heavyweight in Forde, 17-year-old Bakari Turmanidze from Georgia, was born. He says he still has “plenty of energy and motivation” because he had a long break from the sport for personal and financial reasons. At international level, he was absent for 10 years but he has been an ever-present since 2015. The Mexican Karim Saadi had to drink a lot of water to make it on to the platform. He was a couple of kilos underweight and by the time he had bulked up he was one gram over the 110kg lower limit. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio
Forde, Day 8: Photo Gallery
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Forde, Day 8: Sensational Solfrid gets royal approval from King of Norway – and another world record for Karlos Nasar
Solfrid Koanda claimed a dramatic home victory in front of a packed crowd of 1,700 that included a very special guest – Harald V, King of Norway. There was more excitement to come on day eight of the IWF World Championships when Karlos Nasar was out of the medals in snatch but rounded off the day with a clean and jerk world record and his eighth straight win. Koanda had kept a back injury secret and was pushed all the way in the 86kg category by Yudelina Mejia from Dominican Republic, who led until the Olympic champion’s final lift at the Fordehuset in Forde. Solfrid Koanda (NOR) Koanda was in tears, flat out on the floor in the back room, when her triumph was confirmed by Mejia’s failure to make her last lift. The King applauded, the crowd roared, and Koanda had her second world title on 120-152-272. Tears flowed again after the medal ceremony, and during her TV interview. “That was my best day,” Koanda said. “It was unbelievable to see people wearing my name on their shirt, and to perform here for such a wonderful home crowd. “Thankyou to them, thankyou to the King for coming, it was a great honour. The King told me, ‘Good job, I was very proud of you.’ Koanda with King Harald V of Norway and IWF President Mohammed Jalood in the back “It’s difficult to describe how much work went into winning these medals. I had a back injury that I kept to myself. There were periods when I couldn’t train properly, and sometimes it was hard just to bend down and do the simple things. “It was only in the last week that I knew I could do it. I knew I could trust my legs, I knew what I could do and today I felt good. I trusted myself and it went really well. “I want to thank everybody who helped me, supported me. I’m going to celebrate now with friends and family, I’m going to enjoy myself. “I’m proud of myself, of my team and I’m proud of the organisers of these Championships.” Koanda’s average winning margin in eight victories since 2022 was 22kg. Today it was one kilogram. Yudelina Mejia (DOM) Last time out Mejia lifted at her heaviest ever body weight to win the 86kg Pan American title on 123-147-270, by far her best performance. Here, Mejia led at halfway after Koanda missed her third snatch on 123kg. When she missed her second clean and jerk on 150kg Koanda grimaced in pain. She was in trouble, needing 152kg to take the lead. She did it, to huge cheers, and Mejia failed on 153kg, to more huge cheers. Eileen Cikamatana (AUS) Mejia finished 122-149-271, another best total, and Eileen Cikamatana from Australia was third on 112-140-252 from two good lifts. Two 19-year-olds were next. The snatch bronze medallist Rahma Ahmed from Egypt was fourth for the second straight year, on 115-135-250, and Wakana Nagashima from Japan was fifth with a six-from-six 108-138-246. An 18-year-old from New Zealand, Litia Nacagilevu, also made all six lifts for ninth place on 109-131-240. Karlos Nasar (BUL) Nasar was surprisingly out of the medals in fourth place at halfway in the 94kg contest before pulling ahead in clean and jerk. He did it in style, finishing with the clean and jerk world record of 222kg. On 173-222-395, Nasar finished 4kg clear of the snatch winner Alireza Moeini from Iran. Moeini led Nasar by 9kg after making a snatch world record on 182kg – becoming Iran’s first world record holder since Sohrab Moradi. Jokser Albornoz from Colombia was hugely impressive in winning three medals – one more than Nasar - from the B Group. He took snatch bronze, clean and jerk silver and bronze on total with a six-from-six 175-215-390. Albornoz, 21, put 28kg on his best total, which he made at the Bolivarian Games just under a year ago. He has been competing only in national competitions after going up in weight. Alireza Moeini (IRI) “He is our star for the future. Dedicated, disciplined - what an athlete,” said William Peña, president of the Colombian Federation. Albornoz may lift again this year, at the Bolivarian Games beginning in late November. Ali Alipour from Iran was fourth on 176-211-387. His former team-mate Kianoush Rostami, lifting for Kosovo for the first time, was fifth with 172-205-377 from two good lifts. “I will do much better next year,” said Rostami, 34, who won Olympic gold in 2016. In two and a half years since his first senior European title as an 18-year-old, Nasar has set 23 world records – 12 senior and 11 junior. In that time he has won Olympic gold, two world titles, a World Cup, a Grand Prix and been European champion three times. All this despite a seven-month injury absence in 2023. Jokser Albornoz (COL) Nasar was Bulgaria’s Sportsperson of the Year last year, and this victory may help him to retain that title. Stefan Botev won the award back in 1990, when Bulgaria was a powerhouse in world weightlifting, and is now president of the national federation. After years of decline, Nasar is helping the sport back to prominence in his home country, said Botev, who presented the medals at Fordehuset alongside Pyrros Dimas “Karlos is one of the top personalities in Bulgaria now, not just in sport but in news and other areas of the media. It’s very good publicity for us, and we are seeing the results with more members joining our clubs. Many boys want to be a weightlifter now.” By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio
Forde, Day 7: Photo Gallery
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Forde, Day 7: Olympic champion Olivia Reeves (USA) hits career high and claims three more world records
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
