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Jinju, Day 3: Olympic champions beaten as China strike again at Asian Championships

There is no stopping China at the Asian Championships, where for the third time in three days they had a 1-2 finish in an Olympic weight category – and for good measure they won the day’s non-Olympic class too. To underline their achievements, all six Chinese athletes concerned will now take the top two places in the Paris 2024 rankings in the women’s 49kg, men’s 61kg and, after today’s result, the women’s 59kg. Two Olympic champions, Kuo Hsing-Chun and Hidilyn Diaz, were back in third and fourth place behind the six-from-six winner Luo Shifang and 18-year-old Pei Xinyi, who set junior world records in clean and jerk and total. At the first Olympic qualifier, the IWF World Championships in Bogotá, Colombia in December, Luo finished fourth at this weight and Pei won at 64kg. Chinese Taipei’s Olympic 59kg champion Kuo said at the time that she had expected more from Luo, 22, who missed three of her six attempts in Colombia, and here Luo delivered. She never looked like missing a lift as she made 105-133-238 and improved her first qualifying total by 8kg. Pei made 103-133-236, missing her final attempt in both snatch and clean and jerk but taking those junior world records when she made 133kg. Kuo, who will be 30 in November, had never finished behind a Chinese lifter at this weight since it was introduced at the 2018 IWF World Championships. She failed with her final two attempts and made 2kg less than her World Championships total on 102-128-230. In fourth place was the Olympic 55kg champion Diaz from the Philippines, who at 58.44kg was competing at her heaviest weight since 2015 and was higher than 58kg for only the second time in a career that began in 2008. “It’s very hard to change your weight, I have had injuries for six or seven months and I wasn’t even sure I would be able to compete here,” Diaz said afterwards. “So I am very happy with this performance – I’ve improved since the World Championships and that’s the most important thing. There are plenty more qualifying competitions to come.” In Colombia, Diaz won at 55kg with a total of 207kg. Here she was less than 4kg heavier and made five from six for 99-122-221, a career-best in the snatch and only the second time she has made a 220-plus total. “Now I want more, and I’ll work for it,” said Diaz, 32, who became her nation’s first Olympic gold medallist in any sport in Tokyo. Diaz’s team-mate Elreen Ando was distraught after failing with all three clean and jerks, having also snatched 99kg. Another Thai teenager showed great promise, after Theerapong Silachai’s junior world records on Saturday. Thanaporn Saetia, 17, had never competed internationally until March when she won the youth world title at 64kg in Albania. Here she improved on her title-winning total, despite going down from 64kg to 59kg, with 95-114-209 for eighth place. A large crowd turned up at the Jinju Arena for the men’s 67kg hoping to see a home victory for Sangyeon Lee, and it looked like they had it when he appeared to make his final attempt at 182kg. But with the bar above his head, Lee’s legs buckled and he dropped it for a second successive no-lift, leaving China’s He Yueji in first place on 147-173-320. Clean and jerk failures cost Lee dearly when he bombed out at the 2018 IWF World Championships, after which he fell out of favour with the Korean team selectors.  Lee also had a bad shoulder injury that required surgery and did not return to the platform until last December, when his two good lifts were enough for sixth place at the IWF World Championships in Colombia. Making all three snatches put Lee in with a great chance because of his prowess in clean and jerk, but it was not to be and he was second on 139-175-314. Adkhamjon Ergashev of Uzbekistan was alone in making all six attempts, which put him third on 138-174-312. The snatch silver medallist Jeremy Larinnunga from India bombed out in clean and jerk, and Bunyad Rashidov dropped from third in snatch to fifth overall on 140-162-302. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

Jinju, Day 2: Records, bombouts and another China 1-2 at Asian Championships

Li Fabin won the head-to-head between two Chinese Olympic champions, a Thai teenager claimed two more junior world records and four athletes bombed out in the first 20 minutes of a remarkable session on day two of the Asian Championships here in Jinju. The result of the second event here at an Olympic Games weight was the same as the first one on Friday – China first, China second and Thailand third. But the men’s 61kg was far more dramatic than the women’s 49kg because it featured a gripping contest between Li and his team-mate Chen Lijun, a superb performance by Theerapong Silachai – a name to remember – and 13 no-lifts in the first 15 attempts. Li, the Olympic champion at this weight, failed only with his final attempt. By then he already had the better of Chen, the 67kg winner in Tokyo who had to lose nearly 10 per cent of his body weight to drop down to this new Paris 2024 category. Chen, 29, was still trying to shed more grams this week before weighing in at 60.92kg, his lowest weight since he began his career by winning a junior world title in 2010. Li made 143-171-314 while Chen missed his last two attempts in making 142-168-310, a phenomenal effort after the punishing weight loss. Chen will have five months to prepare for a rematch as China will skip the next Olympic qualifier, the IWF Grand Prix in Cuba in June, and focus on the IWF World Championships in Saudi Arabia in September. It was a fourth Asian title for Li, 30, whose first came way back in 2012. His consistency is evident in the numbers: his past four totals have been within a range of 3kg. If age catches up with either Li or Chen, Silachai looks sure to take advantage. The 19-year old was the only man in the field to make all six lifts, a point he made by standing aside and pointing down to the barbell with both hands after completing his final attempts in snatch and clean and jerk. Why did he do that? “I wanted to make the point that this is easy,” he joked afterwards. Silachai took junior world records in clean and jerk by 4kg and total by 3kg as he made 132-167-299. He also has two junior world records at 55kg, made when he won on his international debut four months ago at the IWF World Championships in Bogotá, Colombia. Silachai comes from the same area as Pawina Thongsuk, a winner at Athens 2004, and has been in weightlifting for nine years after starting out in football. “My dream when I was very young was to play for the national team as a footballer,” he said. “But now my dream is to win an Olympic gold medal. “I am so happy with this – I will go back to the hotel and watch my world records on playback,” he said after surpassing his expectations in snatch, clean and jerk and total. He said he had been training hard for this competition for one and a half years. The slew of red lights at the start meant four of the nine athletes were out of the contest very early, and Silachai’s team-mate Teerapat Chomchuen joined them by withdrawing. By comparison the four lifters who survived the snatch had only one missed attempt between them. Ricko Saputra from Indonesia, who took bronze in snatch, missed only his final clean and jerk and made a career-best 133-165-298.  The four who failed were Shin Rok from Korea – who failed to make a total in Bogotá too – Seyitjan Mirzayev from Turkmenistan, who also missed all three clean and jerks, Commonwealth Games winner Muhamad Aznil from Malaysia, and Trinh Van Vinh, the third Vietnamese athlete to bomb out in two days here. There was another highly impressive performance by a teenager when Chen Guan Ling from Chinese Taipei won the women’s 55kg in style. Chen, 18, made five from six to finish well clear on 90-114-204 in only her second competition, having finished ninth on 190kg at the same weight in Colombia in December. Bindyarani Sorokhaibam from India was out of the medals in the snatch but moved up to second place on 83-111-194, with Vo Thi Quynh third for Vietnam on 88-104-192. Uzbekistan’s Jamila Panfilova was third in snatch and clean and jerk but fourth on total. Another China 1-2 is possible on Sunday in the women’s 59kg but this time the field includes two Olympic champions from elsewhere, Kuo Hsing-Chun from Chinese Taipei and Hidilyn Diaz from the Philippines, as well as Diaz’s team-mate Elreen Ando. A big crowd is expected at the Jinju Arena because the non-Olympic men’s 67kg category features home favourite Sangyeon Lee. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

Jinju, Day 1: China and Thailand get Asian Championships off to top-quality start

China’s Jiang Huihua just failed with a world record attempt and Thailand won its first continental title in six years on day one of the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Jinju, Korea. It was a good day all round for both nations, and also for Vietnam despite bombouts for its first two athletes. This is a qualifier for the Olympic Games and if anybody deserves a place at Paris 2024 it is Jiang, who has won three world titles and has never finished outside the first two in any competition in a career that began in 2013. She has never lifted at the Olympic Games, though. In a very high-quality women’s 49kg session Jiang made her first five lifts to improve her No 1 position in the rankings by 1kg, but failed with a final attempt at 120kg that would have given her world records in clean and jerk and total. For the first time at this weight the top four finishers, from China and Thailand, all made totals of 200kg or more. That number might have been five – the same as the number of world champions in a formidable line-up - but for Mirabai Chanu declining her final two attempts. The Olympic silver medallist from India spent many weeks recovering from back and shoulder injuries and did not want to risk another setback after making a total of 194kg. Chanu, 28, already has a 200kg total from the first Olympic qualifier, the IWF World Championships in Colombia last December, where Jiang was also the winner. Jiang made 94-113-207 – her eighth straight total of 200kg-plus – ahead of her team-mate and Olympic champion Hou Zhihui on 93-111-204. Hou improved on her World Championships performance by 6kg. Thanyathon Sukcharoen, the 45kg world champion, was third in the snatch and made six from six for 90-110-200, but was edged out of third place on total because her team-mate Surodchana Khambao got to 200kg before her. Although she made only three good lifts, Khambao also finished on 90-110-200. The Japanese lifter Rira Suzuki missed her first attempt then made the next five to finish fifth from the B Group and move into the Paris top 10 with 83-111-194. Asked about the quality of the competition and her Olympic chances, Jiang said afterwards, “Yes, it's rare to see so many lifters over 200 in total at this category in all my years of competition, which proves that everyone is improving now. “It is true that the last two Olympics I missed the opportunity. This time I will hold on to it. I hope I could go to Paris, which will prove myself an excellent athlete and leave no regrets in my sports career. “My training before the Asian Championships was quite good, especially snatch, which helps improve my confidence and the feeling of strength. Snatch was pretty much what I expected, but it was a pity that the 120 clean and jerk failed. The clean was quite light, but the jerk was weak because I got a bit dizzy.” Earlier, Thailand won its first Asian Championships title since Sukcharoen claimed the old 48kg gold (under her previous forename Thunya) in 2017. Siriwimon Pramongkhol made 77-100-177 to take the women’s 45kg, the opening event of the Championships. Pramongkhol has also changed her forename: as Chayuttra she was one of the nine Thai lifters disqualified for doping at the 2018 IWF World Championships, where her winning total at 49kg was 209kg, nearly 30kg higher than today. Thailand’s programme of reforms is off to a good start in Olympic qualifying and there is also progress off the platform. Rose Jean Ramos from the Philippines was well back in second place on 73-88-161, and the Indonesian Siti Hariroh was third on 71-88-159. Vietnam, who prepared with a training camp in China, came within one lift of a hat-trick of bombouts before a recovery gave them a 1-2 finish in the men’s 55kg. The first two Vietnamese lifters of the day both failed with all three snatch attempts, last year’s winner Khong My Phuong in the women’s 45kg and Nguyen Hoai Huong in the 49kg B Group. Do Tu Tung then failed with his first two snatch attempts but made his third, then all three clean and jerks for 116-147-263. That was a career-best for Do, twice Asian junior champion and still young enough to lift in the juniors at 19. His team-mate Ngo Son Dinh was second on 117-143-260 and snatch winner Arli Chontey of Kazakhstan edged out Saudi Arabia’s Mansour Al Saleem for third place on 117-141-258. Al Mansour was third in the snatch, where Do was out of the medals, and also took bronze in clean and jerk but was fourth on total. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games

Asian Championships: China and Kazakhstan set to make mark in Paris weightlifting rankings

Chinese weightlifters are top of the Paris 2024 rankings in four of the 10 weight categories, and after the Asian Championships which start in Jinju, Korea on Friday they may take that number up to seven or eight. High altitude at the first Olympic qualifier, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Bogota, Colombia in December appeared to affect China as much as most other teams and their results were below their best. While the Korean hosts have targeted the non-Olympic classes in search of medals, China’s big guns are interested in the Olympic categories. They have two top contenders in seven sessions and Li Wenwen – who is on a different level to all her fellow women’s super-heavyweights – going it alone. China is not interested in the two heaviest men’s classes and has three athletes in two non-Olympic categories, 67kg and 96kg. Kazakhstan will also be expecting their men to improve their Olympic hopes. Nurgissa Adiletuly is likely to be their main contender if he can bring recent training numbers to the competition platform in the men’s 102kg. Kazakhstan’s Artyom Antropov was alongside 22-year-old Adiletuly in the preliminary entries but he has moved up to 109kg, as has the Rio 2016 champion Ruslan Nurudinov from Uzbekistan. Nurudinov won at 105kg and has not competed below that weight since 2011. Alexey Churkin at 73kg and Sergey Petrovich at 89kg could also move up the rankings for Kazakhstan. There are likely to be big changes to the rankings after the men’s 61kg because all nine A Group lifters have entry totals big enough to make the current top eight. Two Chinese Olympic champions go head to head, the 61kg and 67kg winners Li Fabin and Chen Lijun. Chen has not competed at such a low weight since he began his career by taking the junior world title in 2010, when he weighed in at 60.88kg in the old 62kg category. The 73kg is wide open because Rahmat Erwin and Rizki Juniansyah from Indonesia, one and two in the Paris standings, have opted to chase medals in the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia on May 14, and China’s Olympic champion Shi Zhiyong is expected to sit out the session here. Shi, who is in the B Group here, also withdrew in Colombia, along with many others there and at the subsequent Pan American and European Championships. Entering to comply with anti-doping requirements, weighing in and being introduced to the crowd counts as a “participation” in qualifying, where only the single best total from a minimum of five “participations” counts in the rankings. Tian Tao has not competed for more than two years because of injury setbacks and here he will be at his lightest since finishing second to Kianoush Rostami at 85kg in Rio. The two meet again at 89kg, with Li Dayin adding further quality. Rostami is said to be in good form, while Tian Tao, the 96kg clean and jerk world record holder, has made totals above 400kg five times since he went up in weight after Rio. It will be a surprise if everybody lifts at 102kg, where the entries include the Tokyo 96kg winner Meso Hassona, Bahrain’s 96kg world champion Lesman Paredes, and the Rio 94kg champion Sohrab Moradi, from Iran. Moradi is making a steady recovery after bad shoulder and back injuries and goes in the B Group, with his team-mate Reza Dehdar lifting in the A session. He might yet make it into the Paris top 10 here. Despite the fact that the field features Olympic and world champions, two of them world record holders, Adiletuly is free of fitness worries and could surprise them, as could Korea’s Jin Yunseong. In the women’s events Chinese athletes have a huge advantage, which is evident in the entry totals: there are wide gaps between the best from China and the rest in some classes. Mirabai Chanu from India is a Tokyo silver medallist and former world champion, but she is not even sure to make the podium at 49kg, where Jiang Huihua and Hou Zhihui are China’s contenders. Chanu, who has never done better than third place in the Asian Championships, has had a lengthy rehabilitation from back and shoulder injuries since she made a 200kg total at the IWF World Championships. China’s Luo Shifang was below her best in Colombia and can improve at 59kg, where Pei Xinyi joins her. The Tokyo 59kg winner Kuo Hsing-chun from Chinese Taipei will make it a high-class contest, as will the presence of Olympic 55kg champion Hidilyn Diaz. Diaz has moved higher up the weights for only the second time in a career that began in 2008, and her Philippines team-mate Elreen Ando may do better here. At 71kg and 81kg China can finish 1-2, respectively through Liao Guifang and Zeng Tiantian, then Wang Zhouyu and Liang Xiaomei. In the super-heavyweights, Li Wenwen is on a different level. Korea can give home supporters plenty to cheer, most notably through Sangyeon Lee in the men’s 67kg. Lee was badly injured in 2018, and made only two good lifts in finishing sixth on his comeback in Colombia, where Korea also suffered from altitude problems. Korea has good medal hopes in the men’s 81kg and 96kg, and the women’s 76kg where Kim Suhyeon could put on a show, as she did in finishing third at the World Championships. Of the 100 top-ranked lifters for Paris – the top 10 in all 10 weight classes – 26 got there with a total made at a continental championships, either the Pan Americans in Argentina or the Europeans in Armenia. After the Asian Championships, which run until May 13, that number is likely to be way higher. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

2022 IWF/ITA report: one step forward in the anti-doping strategy!

The IWF has received the ITA (International Testing Agency) report for the Anti-Doping activities in 2022 and is happy to communicate on the numbers concerning our strategy to fight against cheating in our sport. Last year, a total of 3555 samples were collected around the world, including 2151 in-competition and 1404 out-of-competition. Moreover, in terms of urine/blood proportion, there were respectively 2610 and 945 samples. This amount of collected samples resulted in a total of 2725 completed tests, performed on 1333 athletes (53% men, 47% women) from 124 countries. Among them, the list of the top-10 tested nations includes (by alphabetical order): Armenia, China, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela. Concerning the Results Management of these tests, 65 of them constitute potential Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRV). In 2022, the IWF/ITA received 16 TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemptions) applications. All info on IWF/ITA Anti-Doping activities

2024-2032 IWF Strategic Plan: the work has begun!

Following the recent decision by the IWF Executive Board on March 30 to create a “2024-2032 IWF Strategic Plan”, the working group in charge of this project had its first meeting last April 25 and sent today to the IWF National Member Federations an initial survey, as part of the extensive consultative process with the IWF main stakeholders. In this early stage, the IWF is interested in establishing a portrait of the strengths, but also the challenges our Federation is confronted with, and to establish a list of priorities that are felt essential by our members, and that will therefore have a special place in the “2024-2032 IWF Strategic Plan”. The document is intended to constitute a solid roadmap for action in the years to come and will be ultimately approved by the IWF Congress, taking place in Riyadh, next September, with the occasion of the IWF World Championships in Saudi Arabia. Due to the changing nature of the sports international environment, this will also be an “evolving” document, which has to be regularly monitored and eventually fine-tuned in due course, so that it is adapted to new circumstances around and inside the IWF functioning. “This Plan will constitute an important working frame for the IWF and its stakeholders and needs therefore to be a consensual document, in which each member of the weightlifting community can easily identify the priorities and necessary actions in his/her respective field. Ideally, it should also be a useful tool to evaluate the means and resources to achieve such goals and objectives. Finally, it has to be ambitious enough to drive the IWF to a central place in the Olympic Movement, a place it rightfully deserves for the sake of all those that devoted their lives to this Sport – our Athletes, Coaches, Officials and Administrators, at all levels,” jointly write the IWF President Mohammed Jalood and the IWF Secretary General Antonio Urso in their message to the National Member