Phuket, Day 8: Photo Gallery
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Phuket, Day 8: USA’s Olivia Reeves turns tables on China and PRK with sensational World Cup victory
Olivia Reeves from the United States achieved the best result of her career when she defeated all three world record holders in the women’s 71kg at the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand. At the final qualifier for Paris 2024, Reeves made all six lifts for career bests across the board on 118-150-268. That put her on top of the podium ahead of the best lifters from China and DPR Korea. The Stars and Stripes sat above the flags of China and PRK at the medal ceremony. When Mike Gattone, USA Weightlifting’s head of performance and coaching, was asked when that had last happened he said it was a question of if, not when. “I can’t recall it ever happening,” he said. Olivia Reeves (USA) Between them, China and PRK hold all but two of the current women’s world records. While 20-year-old Reeves improved her best Olympic ranking total by 6kg in second place, the athletes standing first, third and fourth were collectively 46kg down on their best. Reeves has put 23kg on her total since qualifying began 16 months ago and is a genuine gold medal contender for Paris. The rankings leader Liao Guifang from China holds the world record on total, Song Kuk Hyang from DPR Korea set the clean and jerk mark at the Asian Championships two months ago, and snatch specialist Angie Palacios from Ecuador remains the only non-Asian holder of a current women’s world record. Liao Guifang (CHN) Liao was second on 115-149-264, Song third on 115-146-261 and Palacios sixth on 113-132-245. All three of them made only two good lifts. The only other athlete in the top 10 to improve her total was the Tokyo 64kg bronze medallist Chen Wen-Huei from Chinese Taipei, fourth here on 105-141-246. Reeves, youngest of 11 athletes in the A Group, had said before the competition, “My goal is to get as close as I can to China, see what I can push there.” After finishing 4kg ahead of Liao she said, “It certainly went to plan. I couldn’t have asked for better, especially after a short turnaround from Bulgaria (the last qualifier in February). It’s as good as it gets. “I can’t quite believe I got 150 – I’m going to have to watch that again.” Reeves had finished behind Liao and Song at the Qatar Grand Prix in December. Asked how she had turned third place into first, she said: “I lifted more weight, that’s all there is to it. Nothing else changed, I just have confidence in my lifts.” Besides Liao, Reeves, Palacios and Chen, the others ranked in the top 10 are Loredana Toma from Romania, Vanessa Sarno from the Philippines, Neama Said from Egypt, who weighed in without lifting here, Mari Leivis Sanchez from Colombia, the Individual Neutral Athlete Siuzanna Valodzka from Belarus, and Marie Fegue from France, who lifts at 76kg on Monday. Sarno and Valodzka both opted to lift in the B Group. There was heartbreak in the final half-hour of that tense session. Four lifters had two tries each to earn a place in Paris, including one who started the day in 20th place. All eight attempts were no-lifts. Yeniuska Mirabal from Cuba had made her first four when she failed twice at 133kg. She would have moved up 10 places to tenth if she had done it. Mun Minhee from Korea missed twice at 134kg, again after four good lifts, and Pham Thi Hong Thanh from Vietnam failed both times at 135kg. Eyglo Sturludottir (ISL) Eyglo Sturludottir from Iceland was “really happy and positive” despite missing attempts at 134kg that would have earned qualification. Sturlodottir, a 22-year-old medical student whose big aims are to become a doctor and lift at the Olympic Games, competed in all seven qualifiers. She improved from 94-119-213 in the first to 106-130-236 in the last. “I’ll keep training, keep competing and hopefully in the next qualification for Los Angeles I will be more secure in the rankings,” she said. “I’ll graduate in 2027, then I’ll have a year of no school, just train for the 2028 Games. I’m not done. I’ll be a doctor at the next Olympics. See you there.” There is still a chance that Sturludottir will be in Paris. Iceland has applied for a universality place on her behalf. The International Olympic Committee Tripartite Commission will assess the 32 applications and send invitations to six athletes – three men and three women - in mid-June. Joy Eze from Nigeria was another athlete who failed with a final attempt that would have put her in the top 10. It happened in the previous day’s C Group, where Eze totalled 239kg and moved up to 11th place. That might be enough to qualify depending on the reallocation of France’s host nation places. Amanda Schott from Brazil is 12th and, despite being unable to lift here because of injury, is not without hope. If China opts not to compete in this category in Paris – it can select a maximum three women from the five who have qualified – Schott could move up. The men's 96kg podium Won Jongbeom won the non-Olympic men’s 96kg by a wide margin. He declined his final attempt after making 170-219-389 to finish clear of Karim Abokahla from Egypt – who declined his last two – on 165-205-370. Braydon Kennedy from Canada was third on 165-193-358. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio
Phuket, Day 7: Photo Gallery
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Phuket, Day 7: World records help Nasar and Lopez to dominate while challengers drop away
The European and Pan American 89kg champions Karlos Nasar and Yeison Lopez were in world record form as they finished well clear of Asia’s contenders on another day of excitement at the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand. Between them Nasar, from Bulgaria, and Colombian Lopez made six senior record attempts, two of which were successful. Nasar, the world’s top teenage weightlifter, also claimed two junior world records. At the end of a messy session in which only four of the 11 athletes made a total, Nasar had joined Li Dayin from China at the top of the Olympic rankings on 396kg. Lopez, second on the night and third in the rankings, improved his best total to 392kg. Karlos Nasar (BUL) Li made only two good lifts, finishing 13kg down on his best total in third place here, ahead of the Italian Nino Pizzolato. These four were joined in the Paris top 10 by five who were already there before today – Keydomar Vallenilla from Venezuela, Mir Mostafa from Iran, Karim Abokahla from Egypt, Marin Robu from Moldova and Andranik Karapetyan from Armenia. Tenth place changed hands. Petr Asayonak, the Individual Neutral Athlete from Belarus, dropped to 11th after Yu Dongju from Korea made a big move from the B Group. Asayonak might still make it to Paris if China opts not to contest this category. China has four athletes ranked high enough but nations can take a maximum of three per gender to the Olympic Games. Three of the first six athletes on to the platform bombed out in snatch and a fourth, world champion Mir Mostafa, declined his second two attempts after making 160kg. They were Asayonak, Boady Santavy from Canada, who has had knee problems, and Nathan Damron from the United States. Yeison Lopez Lopez (COL) The real excitement started in the last few minutes of the snatch contest. Lopez went for a world record on 181kg and failed. Nasar made the same weight to set junior and senior world records, improving his career best by 5kg. His senior record lasted for one minute before Lopez came out to make 182kg, earning huge cheers from a noisy and appreciative audience. In clean and jerk Nasar made 215kg for a junior world record on total, then went close but failed twice at 224kg, which would have given him senior records in clean and jerk and total. Lopez tried and failed once. “I trained specifically to improve my snatch for this. That was my goal and it went well,” said Lopez. “Now I will return to Colombia, then I’ll go to Madrid and prepare for the Olympics in Europe." The last man to bomb out, after Nasar and Lopez had finished, was China’s second contender Tian Tao. He was faced with the impossible task of making 226kg to overtake Li. Tian Tao announced his retirement from international competition afterwards, although he will continue at national level. Nasar finished 181-215-396, Lopez 182-210-392 and Li 172-210-382. Yu’s move from 17th place to 10th was the best effort by a B Group lifter in the first week of the World Cup, which ends on April 11. He qualified for his third Olympic Games. His eight rivals made a total of five snatches and three clean and jerks between them. Only three made a total. Yu had two attempts at a career-best 209kg. He missed the first, then sat on the steps of the platform for a minute and a half to compose himself. He calmly went out and made his final attempt, finishing 166-209-375. “That was unbelievable. I’m so, so happy,” he said. Ri Chong Song (PRK) In the earlier 81kg Ri Chong Song from DPR Korea had two more attempts at taking Rahmat Erwin’s clean and jerk world record. Just as he had done at the Asian Championships in February, Ri failed both times on 210kg. Ri, PRK’s seventh winner here, made 166-200-366 ahead of Maksad Meredov from Turkmenistan on 146-182-328 and Samuel Guertin from Canada on 140-175-315. The two oldest competitors at the World Cup, both from South Africa, teamed up for the second successive day. Chantelle Burger, 41, lifted at 64kg on Friday with Andre Gadney, who will be 44 next month, as her coach. Andre Gadney (RSA) Today Burger was coach when Gadney finished four places and 115kg behind Ri. Gadney said he enjoyed himself even though he knew his numbers would be uncompetitive here. “What a fantastic competition. It’s inspiring for the young lifters I coach when they see I’m at an event like this. Some of them are making good numbers and I want to be coaching them at big competitions. It’s for the future.” It was a big day for Jose Garcia, the only international weightlifter from Timor Leste. He desperately needed to make a total to support his application for a Universality place in Paris. Six of these will be awarded to weightlifters by the International Olympic Committee. He finished last but Garcia did what he needed to do by making a 205kg total. Australia is all but certain to claim another place in Paris after Jacqueline Nichele finished ahead of her team-mate Sarah Cochrane and Maximina Uepa from Nauru in the early sessions of the women’s 71kg. That should give 23-year-old Nichele the continental slot because all other continents have athletes in the top 10, a situation that is highly unlikely to change in Sunday’s A and B Groups. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio
Phuket, Day 6: Photo Gallery
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Phuket, Day 6: Sixth gold for PRK, and Australian Bruce strikes late to beat team-mate in race for Paris
DPR Korea had its sixth winner in six days at the IWF World Cup in Phuket when Rim Un Sim beat her team-mate Ri Suk in the women’s 64kg. That means their remarkable tally since PRK returned to international weightlifting seven months ago is 32 gold medals on total and 27 world records. This time, despite two attempts by Ri and one by Rim, there were no world records. The one they both went for was Ri’s clean and jerk of 146kg. Rim Un Sim (PRK) - Photo by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia Ri failed twice at 147kg and finished 108-140-248. That was the lowest of her three totals since she returned to the platform after a four-year absence in December, and the first time she had been beaten. The Asian Games champion Rim missed once at 147kg, making 114-144-258. Svitlana Samuliak from Ukraine was third on 101-120-221. Tenishia Thornton, the 18-year-old from Malta, made all six lifts for career-best numbers across the board on 90-111-201 in fifth place. The women's 64kg podium - Photo by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia Although there was no Olympic category A Group there was more drama in qualifying when Kyle Bruce won a head-to-head battle with fellow Australian Oliver Saxton on his final lift. Barring an extraordinary series of results in today’s 89kg A Group, a trip to Paris is Bruce’s prize. Continental qualifying places go to the highest ranked athlete from any continental federation not represented in the top 10 of each weight category. Asia, Europe, Pan America and Africa all have athletes in the top six at 89kg. Saxton, who knew nothing about Olympic qualifying until less than a year ago, was on course for Paris after making career bests across the board for 150-185-335 in the D Group. That set the target at 336kg for Bruce in the C Group. Oliver Saxton (AUS) with his parents and girlfriend - Photo by Brian Oliver About two hours later Bruce missed his first two attempts to make the 187kg clean and jerk he needed. He did it with the third, as Saxton, his parents and girlfriend all watched in the audience. The only threat to Bruce is if Karim Abokahla from Egypt, sixth in the rankings, is knocked out of the top 10 on Saturday night and Africa takes the continental place. Even in a competition as extraordinary as the World Cup, that is highly unlikely. Abokahla is confident enough to chase medals at 96kg rather than lift at 89kg. Saxton, 20, whose parents were both international lifters for Britain and Australia, said, “Less than a year ago I was maybe thinking about buying a ticket to go watch in Paris, but as for competing, I didn’t even know anything about qualifying.” Paul Coffa, the Oceania Federation general secretary who coaches Australia’s top lifter Eileen Cikamatana, sat down at dinner at a training camp and told Saxton he could join in. Saxton ditched plans to go to the World Juniors in Mexico, and lifted at five qualifiers in seven months starting with the World Championships in Saudi Arabia last September. Kyle Bruce (AUS) with his coaches - Photo by Brian Oliver Bruce said, “Congratulations to Oliver. He pushed me extremely hard. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake until he came along and shaped up. That takes a lot of resilience in someone so young. He has a great career ahead in the sport. “It’s good for us to be pushing each other and it’s good for Australian weightlifting. He got a new best competition total and so did I. It wasn’t a really big weight for me, 187, but I rushed the first two before calming down to make the last one. “I’m number one in Oceania and I’m confident of being in Paris but it’s not over yet. I feel like the top ten’s pretty much done, certainly the top six. I’ll come tomorrow night to watch and enjoy it.” Bruce was especially happy to have his coach Ali Azari with him in Phuket. “He’s coached me since I was 16. He took me under his wing after my father passed away and I had nothing. He’s like a father to me now and I’m so happy he’s here to see – hopefully - my qualification for the Olympics.” By Brian Oliver
