Phuket, Day 5: Photo Gallery
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Phuket, Day 5: Gold medal favourite Rahmat Erwin knocked out of Paris Olympics by record-breaking team-mate Rizki Juniansyah
Rahmat Erwin, one of the strongest favourites for Olympic gold, has been knocked out of Paris 2024 by his Indonesian team-mate Rizki Juniansyah in one of the biggest upsets in weightlifting history. It happened on another day of drama in the 73kg category at the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand, the final qualifying competition for the Paris Games in which there have now been 14 world records in five days. “I can’t believe it, I don’t know what to think,” said Juniansyah afterwards. “I had appendix surgery about six months ago and I didn’t start training properly until January the first. “I can’t take it all in. It’s crazy. I’m so proud.” Rizki Juniansyah (INA) Erwin had led the rankings since December 5, 2022 when he won at the World Championships in Bogota, Colombia. He has set multiple world records at two different weights since then, and only two months ago he said, “It has to be gold,” when asked about his prospects in Paris. Erwin appeared to be under no threat of being overtaken by anyone from another country, including Shi Zhiyong from China, who had his best day since winning Olympic gold for a second time in Tokyo nearly three years ago. But because nations are limited to one athlete per weight category, Erwin had to protect his lead over team-mate Juniansyah. He failed. Juniansyah broke the world record on total when he made 201kg with his fifth attempt. He missed at 203kg but had gone ahead of Erwin by making 164-201-365, a 12kg improvement on his best effort at the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan in February. Rahmat Erwin (INA) Erwin, who had finished 10kg ahead of him there, had two attempts left to make 206kg. He was close with the first one, but not the final attempt, which he made after a break of only 35 seconds when he could have taken two minutes. Erwin, who congratulated Juniansyah, was distraught afterwards. His father Erwin Abdullah, who is also his coach, tried to console him before the medal presentations. Juniansyah said he had never made 206kg in training. “I’ve done 202,” he said. “I always thought I had a chance when I performed well at the Asian Championships. Yes, I was 10kg behind Rahmat and he is amazing, but I always believed. I don’t really know how I did it.” Erwin, who was third in snatch, finished on 160-195-355. He had never previously missed two clean and jerks during qualifying. Shi did well after a lower back injury caused him long-term problems. On his return from an 862-day absence at the Qatar Grand Prix in December he totalled 340kg. Here he led in snatch, and despite missing his last two attempts he improved that by 16kg on 165-191-356, leaving him 9kg behind Juniansyah in the rankings. Shi Zhiyong (CHN) There were other big improvers, including the Tokyo silver medallist Julio Mayora from Venezuela who moved up from 12th place to qualify on 151-188-339. That knocked David Sanchez from Spain – unable to lift here because of injury – out of the top 10. Apart from Erwin and Sanchez, everybody else who started in the top 10 stayed there even if the order changed: Shi, Masanori Miyamoto from Japan, Weeraphon Wichuma from Thailand, Bozhidar Andreev from Bulgaria, Bak Joohyo from Korea, Ritvars Suharevs from Latvia, Furkan Ozbek from Turkey and Luis Javier Mosquera from Colombia, who was a Tokyo silver medallist at 67kg. Karem Ben Hnia from Tunisia claimed the continental slot. Bektimar Reyimov from Turkmenistan started in 21st place and came close to making the top 10. He improved his best total by 10kg but failed with his last two attempts. There was a sea of red lights in the B Group, where 10 athletes managed only four good clean and jerks between them. Six bombed out as they chased a place in the top 10, trying to lift far more than they had ever done before. Two of them nearly made it. Caden Cahoy from the United States twice went close to his target of 193kg in clean and jerk. Cahoy, at 20 still a junior, had never lifted more than 180kg in a competition. He was too upset to talk afterwards but his father and coach Chad Cahoy said, “What a great effort. Caden showed the maturity of a professional athlete that you don’t usually get at that age. He’d never cleaned anything like that before, even in training. He got his adrenalin flowing after he so nearly jerked the first one at 187. I’m proud of him.” The Albanian Briken Calja was on course for a fourth Olympic Games after making his first four attempts – his best effort since finishing second to Erwin at the 2021 World Championships. But Calja, 34, who was fourth at this weight in Tokyo, failed with his last two attempts. He managed only four good clean and jerks in six qualifying competitions. Ri Won Ju (PRK) DPR Korea had its fifth winner of the week when Ri Won Ju broke a world record – the eighth for his team in Phuket - in the non-Olympic 67kg category. It was his third straight victory after successes at the Qatar Grand Prix and the Asian Championships. Another PRK lifter, Pak Jong Ju, had set the clean and jerk world record in 2019. Ri beat it on his final attempt and improved his best total by 12kg in making 144-189-333. He was in tears when his national anthem was played after the medal presentations. Sergio Massidda from Italy – a medal contender at 61kg in Paris - had led by 1kg at halfway. He was also in career-best form, improving his snatch by 4kg, clean and jerk by 7kg and total by 14kg. “When I go back down (to 61kg) I might lose four to six of those 14 kilos but I’ll keep the rest,” he said, looking ahead to Paris. He finished 145-172-317. Third place went to Ishimbek Muratbek Uulu from Kyrgyzstan on 122-172-294. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio
Phuket, Day 4: Photo Gallery
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Phuket, Day 4: Glory and tears for Olympic champions, and a world record for China in ‘best ever session’
Two Olympic champions earned a place at Paris 2024, and a third was in tears after being knocked out of contention by a team-mate on a night to remember at the IWF World Cup in Phuket. There was a world record for the Chinese winner Luo Shifang, who extended her lead at the top of the rankings. Ten athletes bombed out across the four 59kg sessions in their final attempt to qualify. Luo Shifang (CHN) All three Olympic gold medallists were competing at 59kg. Two of them had to move up or down in weight when the number of medal events was cut from 14 in Tokyo to 10 in Paris. “That was the single best session I have ever lifted in, and not because it was my best performance,” said Maude Charron, the Canadian who won 64kg gold in Tokyo in 2021. “Three Olympic champions in one competition, and Luo finishes it by breaking the world record. So much quality, so much professionalism out there on the platform… You could sense it even in the warm-up room. It was better than the Olympics. It’s insane.” Maude Charron (CAN) The 59kg Tokyo winner Kuo Hsing-Chun from Chinese Taipei could afford to decline her final attempt after making 100-130-230. She finished fifth in the rankings, and lost her world record on total when Luo made her final attempt at 140kg. Luo’s 108-140-248 stretched her rankings lead to 12kg ahead of Kamila Konotop from Ukraine, who withdrew after weighing in, and Charron both on 236kg. Charron’s 106-130-236 gave her career highs across the board. Charron was third on the night behind Luo and Kim Il Gyong, the snatch world record holder from DPR Korea. Kim, who had beaten Luo at the Asian Games in China in September, made 108-132-240. Hidilyn Diaz (PHI) Hidilyn Diaz, who found it hard to go up in weight after winning at 55kg in Tokyo, was in tears after losing her advantage over team-mate Elreen Ando. Diaz, 33, became the Philippines’ first Olympic champion in any sport in Tokyo. “I love this sport, I don’t want to stop,” Diaz said. “But what I have to do now is take a good rest and think about the priorities in my life. Today wasn’t my day, Paris was not to be. “But overall I’m happy. I’ve given a lot to this sport and it’s given a lot to me.” One thing Diaz missed during her years of total dedication to weightlifting was a honeymoon. “There will be time for that now,” she said. Her husband and coach Julius Naranjo said, “We gave it our best. Hidilyn is still a legend.” Naranjo had enjoyed success earlier in the day when one of the other athletes he coaches, Mattie Sasser, qualified for Paris in the C Group. Sasser lifted at Rio 2016 for the Marshall Islands, then switched to the United States for a while. Although she lives and trains in the US she is competing for Marshall Islands again. Kim Il Gyong (PRK) Sasser’s 99-117-216, a career best at this weight and enough for 12th place among the 44 entries in all groups, earned her the continental slot ahead of Kiana Elliott from Australia. Rafiatu Lawal from Nigeria also lifted in C, despite being seventh in the rankings when she started. Lawal improved her best total on 101-126-227 but dropped to eighth when Ando went past her on 100-128-228. Yenny Alvarez from Colombia, who was 9kg down on her best total today, was fourth in the rankings. Anyelin Venegas from Venezuela and Dora Tchakounte from France were the only two athletes to make six from six, taking sixth and ninth place in the rankings on 229kg and 224kg respectively. Janeth Gomez from Mexico took 10th place on 223kg, displacing the American Taylor Wilkins, who dropped to 11th. Nina Sterckx from Belgium, who is in the top 10 at 49kg, was 12th. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio
IWF Anti-Doping Seminar: combining Competition and Education in Phuket
Athletes and support personnel taking part in the IWF World Cup in Phuket (THA) gathered today in the IWF Anti-Doping Seminar, the first of its kind in 2024, but a customary initiative of our International Federation at its main events. Organised in collaboration with the ITA (International Testing Agency), IWF’s partner in all anti-doping activities, the meeting was attended by around 60 participants, who were welcomed by IWF General Secretary Antonio Urso, IWF First Vice-President Ursula Papandrea and IWF CEO Achilleas Tsogas. The Seminar was lectured by Christine Girard, from Canada, an ITA Ambassador and double Olympic medallist in weightlifting, and was also attended by a delegation of Thailand’s National Anti-Doping agency. “It is always with mixed feelings that I have the pleasure to meet all of you. I am happy because I see there is a real desire to be informed and briefed on such an important topic, but at the same time a bit unhappy, as all the resources we are allocating to this cause could be perhaps used in other areas, such as development or training science,” confessed Antonio Urso, when addressing to the attendees of the Seminar. “The reality is that there is a real culture of change at the IWF and the very fruitful co-operation with the ITA allows us to be in a much better situation than in past years,” also considered the IWF General Secretary. Antonio Urso, IWF General Secretary, opening the Seminar Christine Girard then proceeded with her presentation, focused on important points such as the definition of an anti-doping rule violation, the principle of strict athlete liability when it comes to the presence of prohibited substances in their bodies, the use of medication and supplements, and the reporting procedures. “Together, we must use all the tools that are available to eradicate doping from sport. It starts by being informed and then by respecting and abiding by all the established protocols that are in place,” explained the ITA Ambassador. Christine Girard during her presentation Having competed at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, respectively in Beijing (CHN) and London (GBR), Girard was given two medals (bronze and gold, respectively) from those events only in 2018, after a relocation of awards due to subsequent doping cases. “I was myself a victim of other athletes getting doped while competing. When I received my ‘correct’ medals, many years after I stopped competing, it wasn’t the same. The momentum had passed and all the privileges I could have had in 2008 or 2012 were not available any longer…” At the end of the seminar, it was reminded to all participants that those qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris should mandatorily follow an ADEL course on anti-doping education. In the meantime, a booth will be available at the competition venue in Phuket (THA) during the next two days. Athletes and coaches are welcome to pass by and ask for additional information to Christine Girard and to Melody Exhenry, the IWF Anti-Doping manager. IWF Communications Photos by Giorgio
Phuket, Day 3: Photo Gallery
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