News

Elections – Weightlifting Federation of Africa

On 25th May 2021 the Weightlifting Federation of Africa (WFA) held its Electoral Congress in Nairobi, Kenya. IWF was represented by Mr. Mohammed Jalood, General Secretary who assisted in conducting the Elections. All 16 Member Federations who have the right to participate and vote attended the Electoral Congress. Mr Khaled Mehalhel (LBA) and Mr Manareddin Eshelli (LBA) were reelected as President and General Secretary. The elected Executive Board of WFA as follows: President Khaled MEHALHEL (LBA) General Secretary Manareddin ESHELLI (LBA) 1st Vice President Kevin DU PLOOY (RSA) Vice Presidents Boukar TIKIRE (CMR) Mahmoud MAHGOUB (EGY) Ahmed CHAHNAOUI (MAR) Chimdi EJIOGU (NGR) Executive Board Members Pius OCHIENG (KEN) Robert ROSE (SEY) Salim MUSOKE (UGA) Ben Nunoo MENSAH (GHA) Alex RANDRIAMANANARIVO (MAD) Abdellaziz BRAHIMI (ALG) Poorun BHOLLAH (MRI) Sami BOUSSARSAR (TUN)   The new Executive Board appointed the following officials: Deputy Secretary General Almois M. Ben ESMAIEL (LBA) WFA Technical Committee Chairman Horst SAYLER (SWZ) WFA Coaching and Research Committee Chairman Alex RANKGWE (BOT) WFA Medical Committee Chairman Dr. Kevin DU PLOOY (RSA)   We sincerelly congratulate to all elected

Day 4 of the IWF Junior World Championships in Tashkent

Tashkent had a lot to offer on the fourth day of the IWF Junior World Championships. After the second day’s record achieved by Kamila Konotop, the fourth day saw more incredible lifts and records. The fourth day was the day for the Men 73 KG and the Women 64 KG categories, divided into Group A and Group B. The Italian Fabrizio Veglia, who had the best lift in C&J Group B with a lift of 172 KG won the Clean&Jerk Bronze medal as he lifted this weight before Achinta Sheuli (IND) in Group A. Men 73 KG Group A At 16:00, Uzbekistan time, the A sessions began. In Snatch, the well-deserved Gold went to Rizki Juniansyah from Indonesia after accomplishing a 155 KG lift that not only got him the medal, but also the Snatch Junior World Record in his category. The Silver medal went to Gevorg Serobian from Russia with a successful 143 KG second attempt and Achinta Sheuli from India won the Bronze medal with a 141 KG lift. Later, in the C&J we could enjoy another record, coming from the same lifter, Rizki Juniansyah (INA), who with his 194 KG lift on his third attempt, broke the previous record by 1 KG.  The Silver medal was won by Saikhan Taisuyev from Kazakhstan with a 175 KG lift and the Bronze, as said above, went to the Italian lifter from Group B, Fabrizio Veglia with a 172 KG Clean&Jerk. In Total Rizki Juniansyah (INA) won the Gold medal with 349 KG, broke the total Junior World Record as well, Achinta Sheuli (IND) won the Silver with a 313 KG Total and Gevorg Serobian (RUS) the Bronze with 308 KG. Women 64 KG Group A After the Men 73 KG Group A, it was the turn for the women. Ecuador's Angie Palacios, who came second in Snatch and first in Clean&Jerk had no chance to medal since like other lifters, she went from being a junior to a senior during the pandemic year. Still, the IWF invited her to participate in this championship which gave her the opportunity to earn points towards the Olympics. In Snatch, the Gold medal went to Raluca-Andreea Olaru of Romania, who managed to lift 98 KG on her third attempt after missing the same weight on her second lift. The Silver medal was won by Giulia Miserendino from Italy with a lift of 97 KG, just two kilos short of Gold, and the Bronze went to Tunisia's Chaima Rahmouni, with a Snatch of 92 KG. In the Clean&Jerk, the Gold once again went to Romania's Raluca-Andreea Olaru with the lift of 116 KG, the Silver to Gulnur Ybray of Kazakhstan with a successful third lift of 115 KG, and the Bronze medal went to Indonesia's Restu Anggi with the third lift of 114 KG. In Total, the Gold went to Raluca-Andreea Olaru (ROU) with a total of 214 KG, the Silver to Giulia Miserendino (ITA) with a total of 207 KG, and finally the Bronze to Gulnur Ybray (KAZ) who achieved a total of 205

Third Day of the 2021 IWF Junior World Championships

The third day saw the Women 59 KG and the Men 67 KG categories, both divided into two groups: A and B. The morning in Tashkent began with the B categories and the best totals were achieved by Faith Mallory Garza from the USA with 178 KG and Andrei Fralou from Belarus with 281 KG. After them, it was the turn of the A Groups. Women 59 KG Group A The session began with the Snatch and the Gold medal went to Ghofrane Belkhir, from Tunisia with 91 KG on her second lift, as she declined her third attempt. The Silver medal went to the Turkish weightlifter Cansel Ozkan who lifted 90 KG and the Bronze medal was won by the Italian lifter, Chiara Piccinno with a Snatch of 86 KG. In Clean&Jerk, Ghofrane Belkhir started hard with the first lift of 112 KG, 6 KG higher than anyone in her group. From there she risked adding 8 KG more to the bar and got successful on her third lift reaching 120 KG. The Silver was won by Monika Malgorzata Szymanek from Poland who progressively made it to 111 KG and the Bronze went to Nelly from Indonesia who lifted 110 KG. In the Total of Group A, Ghofrane Belkhir (TUN) finished with 211 KG, Cansel Ozkan (TUR) with 194 KG, and Chiara Piccinno (ITA) with 192 KG. Men 67 KG Group A The day concluded with the Men 67 KG Group A. The Gold went to the Turkish Muhammed Furkan Ozbek in Snatch, who had the best first attempt of 138 KG, felt confident with the second one with 141 KG, that won him the Gold, and tried to beat the Snatch Junior World Record in his category with the attempt of 147 KG but it was a no lift at the end. The Silver medal was won with just one triumphant attempt of 135 KG from Jeremy Lalrinnunga (IND) and the Bronze went to the Russian Albert Sharkov with 134 KG. The session followed on with the Clean&Jerk and a draw took place when Sairamkez Akmolda (KAZ) and Muhammed Furkan Ozbek (TUR) lifted the same weight: 176 KG. As Akmolda lifted this weight first he got the Gold medal. He even tried to overcome that weight on his third attempt but he did not manage to do so. Muhammed Furkan Ozbek from Turkey got the Silver and his fellow countryman Fehmi Yusuf Genc won the Bronze medal with a C&J of 168 KG. In total Muhammed Furkan Ozbek (TUR) won the Gold with 317 KG, Sairamkez Akmolda (KAZ) the Silver with 308 KG, and Fehmi Yusuf Genc (TUR) completed the podium and won a Bronze medal with a 301 KG

Successful Chinese National Weightlifting Championships witnessed by spectators in the field and in television

Chinese National Weightlifting Championships concluded on May 21 has seen many young talents springing up and even presented world-record level performances. The state broadcaster CCTV shows its great interest in and full support to the Championships as it always did to Chinese weightlifting, by live broadcasting Group A on television and Group B and C via Internet. The Championships is open for spectators in the field, who simply need to wear a face mask in the venue, thanks to COVID-19 being under control and few local confirmed cases for months in China. There emerged a few prominent young athletes, despite the Chinese National Team lifters are still in the 4-week quarantine after going back from the Uzbekistan Asian Championships. Altogether 280 male lifters and 229 female lifters participate in the event. Source: Chinese Weightlifting

Second Day of Competition – IWF Junior World Championships, Tashkent

The second day in Tashkent moved on with the categories Men 61 KG, divided in 2 groups (A and B) and Women 55 KG Group A. Men 61 kg Group A    In the Group’s A opening, in Snatch, the Gold medal went to Sergio Massidda (ITA) with a lift of 129 KG. The Italian's initial strategy was too strong for the rest. Nobody managed to lift more than his starting weight, and so, by clinching the first lift, he also secured the Gold medal. Alexey Drozdov (KAZ) progressively made it to 128 KG and thus to the Silver medal. Rok Shin (KOR) lifted 125 KG and won the Bronze medal. In Clean&Jerk, Massidda started 4 KG higher than his competitors (154 KG). However, in the second attempt, he was tied by Drozdov. This lift was enough for the young athlete from Kazakhstan to win the Silver medal. The Italian lifted 156 KG in his second attempt to win the Gold medal. On his third lift he tried for a Junior World Record but did a no lift. Davide Ruiu (ITA) reversed a bad performance in Snatch (3 failed attempts) by getting the Bronze medal in C&J. In the Total table of Group A, Sergio Massidda (ITA) finished with 285 KG, Alexey Drozdov (KAZ) 282 KG and Vanik Mkhitarian (RUS) 265 KG. Women 55 kg Group A   Finishing the evening in Uzbekistan, it was the women’s turn. Kamila Konotop (UKR) started with a lift of 89 KG.  She then made a clear difference with the other lifters as she only fought against the last snatch of Nina Sterckx (BEL) who lifted 90 KG. Then the Ukrainian overcame her with 93 KG in the second attempt and 96 KG in the third and was only 2 KG away from the Junior World Record in Snatch (W 55 KG), which is currently 97 KG. Andreea Cotruta (ROU) also joined the podium: she lifted 83 KG as did Olha Ivzhenko (UKR) and Duygu Alici (TUR) but the Romanian won the Bronze as she was the first to lift 83 KG. In Clean & Jerk, the dominance of Kamila Konotop (UKR) continued. Not only did she win the Gold medal with a lift of 116 KG, but with this lift she also set a new Junior World Record in the total with 212 KG. She beat the previous record of 211 KG by 1 KG. Nina Sterckx (BEL) won the Silver medal in C&J with a 108 KG lift and the Silver medal in Total with 198 KG. The bronze medal in this discipline went to Juliana Klarisa (INA) with 105 KG. In the Total, Kamila Konotop (UKR) won the Gold with 212 KG, Nina Sterckx (BEL) the Silver with 198 KG and Andreea Cotruta (ROU) with 188 KG added the Bronze medal and completed the

First day of the IWF Junior World Championships in Tashkent.

After a long wait, a successful opening day of one of the last qualifying championships for Tokyo 2020 took place. The IWF Junior World Championships in Tashkent had 3 bodyweight categories in action on the first day. Women 45 kg Group A Turkey dominated the field in the women 45kg category. Cansu Bektas (TUR) was the one who stood out getting the Gold medal in Snatch, Clean & Jerk and Total. Her compatriot, Melisa Gunes won Silver medal in Total and Bronze in Snatch. The Total podium was completed by Teodora-Luminita Hincu (MDA) and in Snatch Lada Latushkina from Russia. Cosmina Adriana Pana (ROU) did not have a successful attempt in Snatch, however she won the Silver medal in C&J. Men 55 kg Group A      In the second round, before the opening ceremony, the men's 55 KG category was contested. The clear leader was Ablay Auyelkhanov (KAZ) who won in Snatch and Clean & Jerk and Total, leading the overall table with a difference of 15 kg over the local Ogabek Nafasov (UZB) who won the Silver in Snatch, C&J and Total. Latin America shared the bronze. In Snatch, Juan Miguel Martinez Gonzalez (PAN) won the Bronze. This was the first medal for Panama after 82 years, so it was a historic moment. On the other hand, Benjamin José Zurita Vallejo (ECU) won the Bronze medals in Total and in the C&J after the final unsuccessful attempt (131 kg) of Federico La Barbera (ITA). Women 49 kg Group A    Before the conclusion of the first day, the Women 49 kg Group A competition took place. Windy Aisah Cantika (INA) dominated the competition from the start and managed to take gold in Snatch, C&J and Total with a 6 kg lead of her competitor Mihaela-Valentina Cambei (ROU) who won 3 Silver medals. Russia's Elizaveta Zhatkina took bronze in C&J and Total. Giulia Imperio (ITA) climbed to third place in Snatch and added a bronze for Italy. Colombian Manuela Berrio competed in the extra category. Since last year’s Junior World Championships was postponed due to the health situation of COVID-19, those who were still juniors in 2020 were given the possibility to compete next to the juniors this year even though they are already in the seniors. Those who are competing as “extras” are not able to win medals at the Junior World Championships, they are only here for the qualification points for Tokyo. RESULTS