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Bahrain, Day 4: Six world titles in a row for PRK – and Olympic champion Rizki is back after family tragedy

PRK made it six world titles in a row when they won both events, and set two more world records, on day four of the IWF World Championships in Bahrain. On a day full of drama, Olympic champion Rizki Juniansyah from Indonesia made a medal-winning return to competition after losing his father less than two months ago. He finished second from the B Group. Rizki Juniansyah (INA) “I couldn’t believe it. I was sleeping in my hotel when my coach called to tell me I’d won a medal,” Rizki said. “I got here quickly because the hotel is only a few minutes away.” Eight nations won medals in the two events, women’s 59kg and men’s 73kg. PRK won five, China four, Colombia three and Indonesia two. Snatch or clean and jerk medals went to Italy, Germany, Turkmenistan and Korea. Kim Il Gyong claimed PRK’s first victory when she finished the 59kg session in spectacular style. After appearing to struggle with her first clean and jerk on 130kg, Kim was only 1kg ahead of Pei Xinyi from China with two attempts each to come. Kim Il Gyong (PRK) Pei missed both of hers, while Kim made 134kg and then jumped up to 141kg to claim world records from two Olympic champions, giving her all three at this weight. The clean and jerk mark was set by Kuo Hsing-Chun, the Tokyo winner, more than five years ago and the total was set by Paris champion Luo Shifang at the IWF World Cup in Thailand in April, where Kim had finished second. Yenny Alvarez (COL) Kim made a six-from-six 108-141-249. Pei finished 107-130-237 and Yenny Alvarez from Colombia was third on 98-126-224. Alvarez, the 2022 world champion, declined her final attempt after moving ahead of Suratwadee Yodsarn from Thailand. She was the first medallist on total from a Pan American nation. Colombia was on the podium again in the men’s contest, which was won by Ri Ryong Hyon. B Group lifter Edwin Lagarejo took snatch gold and finished fourth on total. Lagarejo, who won the Pan American title in February, had been unable to get into the team until this year because of Luis Javier Mosquera’s dominance. The other snatch medallists, Bunyad Rashidov from Turkmenistan and Roberto Gutu from Germany, dropped to 15th and seventh on total in the A session. Ri Ryong Hyon (PRK) Ri, 23, tried for a spectacular finish when he went for Rahmat Erwin’s clean and jerk world record on 205kg but he failed. In only his second international competition – the other was the Asian Juniors in 2019 – Ri made 152-197-349, giving PRK six wins in the past three days. Rizki had failed with his final attempt on 200kg, finishing 150-190-340, and Zhong Zhuguang from China was third on 150-186-336, ahead of Lagarejo by 1kg. “I only trained for this competition for two weeks, and I still got these,” Rizki said afterwards as he held up his medals, silver on total and bronze in clean and jerk behind Ri and Lee Sangyeon from Korea, who made 191kg. “I had a break from training after the Olympics, and in October I lost my father in a motorcycle accident. It was a difficult preparation.” Rizki is eyeing the new 79kg category at Los Angeles 2028 and hopes his team-mate Rahmat Erwin will go at 88kg. “It’s not good to have two strong lifters from Indonesia in one category.” There was a big reaction from the American Caden Cahoy when he made his last lift on 187kg in the B Group. Cahoy, the 20-year-old junior world champion, hit the total he needed to secure funding and take his career on towards LA2028. His 145-187-332 was a 6kg improvement on his world title total in Spain in September. Luis Javier Mosquera, a silver medallist at 67kg in Tokyo, made his final attempt to avoid a bombout, and survived a jury review, but he finished 11kg behind team-mate Lagarejo on 324kg. Lucrezia Magistris (ITA) Italy’s medallist was Lucrezia Magistris, who took snatch bronze in the 59kg to end a run of disappointments. Magistris had toiled throughout Olympic qualifying and made only nine good lifts in seven competitions before finishing 11th in Paris. Here she started on lower openers. “It’s better for me, makes me more sure of myself,” said Magistris, who intends to use the same strategy at the European Championships in April. “In qualifying I started very high and there was a lot of pressure. This was an excellent restart after the Olympics." She needs to improve her clean and jerk, having missed her final two attempts today to finish 99-111-210. “I had an ankle injury two years ago. I have some technical issues to work on in clean and jerk, which is low compared to snatch.” Magistris doubles up her weightlifting with studying to be a doctor at Pavia university. “I have to decide which is more important and right now it’s sport, so I’m taking my time over my studies,” said the 25-year-old. She started out in biotechnology and is now into her second year of medical studies. By Brian Oliver Photos by

Cyrille Tchatchet at the IWF/ITA Clean Sport Seminar: “Education is of paramount importance!”

In a full-packed room, the IWF/ITA Clean Sport Seminar attracted today in Manama (BRN) more than 90 attendees, namely athletes and support personnel participating in the IWF World Championships. Cyrille Tchatchet, member of the IWF Athletes Commission, Olympian in Tokyo 2020ne, and candidate to the WADA Athlete Council was a distinguished guest at the gathering and used the opportunity to stress the importance of this topic in the consolidation of a fair and clean environment within the sport of weightlifting. Cyrille Tchatchet at the IWF/ITA Clean Sport Seminar “Education is of paramount importance when talking about anti-doping programmes. Mistakes in this area are easily happening, so informing our athletes about all possible scenarios certainly avoids many bad surprises,” declared Tchatchet. Still an active athlete, the British lifter (his native country is Cameroon and he competed for the Olympic Refugee Team in Japan) was pleased with how the information was passed to the participants. “A lot of analogies and examples were given and this is quite good – sometimes complicated things are better understood if we use some analogies to explain them”. Thais Cevada lecturing the seminar Before him, the Seminar was opened by Antonio Urso, IWF General Secretary. “Sport is mainly about ethics. You can train, you may win or not win, but nothing is possible without ethics. Sport has these unique characteristics – it gathers people from the five continents and it hopefully forms better citizens in life. Please don’t waste this opportunity and always abide by ethics!” declared Mr Urso. Antonio Urso (IWF General Secretary) welcoming the attendees The meeting was then lectured by Thais Cevada, a former international-level gymnast for Brazil, and presently a member of the IWF Anti-Doping Commission and International Testing Agency (ITA) Ambassador. Cevada briefed the participants about the importance of correctly knowing the rights and responsibilities of each protagonist in this process – athletes, coaches, and doctors. “Don’t forget that the anti-doping rules have a principle of strict liability – this means that any substance found in an athlete’s body is his or her responsibility”. The ITA Ambassador then spoke at length about the mechanisms to report any wrongdoing and recalled the importance of a cautious attitude regarding supplements taken by athletes. “There is no supplement in the world that is 100% sure. They are not prohibited, but please keep in mind that they are also not recommended,” Cevada explained. After the Seminar, all participants are invited to visit the IWF/ITA Clean Sport booth, located in the competition venue of the Championships. For the next couple of days, Thais Cevada will be available to continue informing athletes and their entourage about practical aspects related to these matters. IWF Communications

Bahrain, Day 3: Photo Gallery

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Bahrain, Day 3: PRK star needs world record to beat newcomer team-mate – and Turkiye celebrates double success

A spectacular contest between PRK team-mates was the highlight on day three of the IWF World Championships in Bahrain, which featured three more world records and the first medals on total for Europe. PRK won both events, 67kg for men and 55kg for women, and claimed one of those world records. Turkiye had a double success in the men’s contest when Kaan Kahriman broke a junior world record and Yusuf Fehmi Genc finished third on total. There were six junior world record attempts in the women’s evening session but only one was successful, a clean and jerk by third-placed Aleksandra Grigoryan from Armenia. Ri Won Ju (PRK) Five minutes before the end of the 67kg contest it looked as if the clean and jerk world record holder and multiple winner Ri Won Ju would be beaten by 21-year-old Pak Pyol, who had never lifted internationally before today. Pak won snatch gold and still led by 4kg with two attempts remaining. He missed the first, a world record clean and jerk attempt at 190kg. Ri then made 190kg to improve his own world record by 1kg. Aleksandra Grigoryan (ARM) Out came Pak to try again at 191kg, which would have given him the world record on total too. He failed, leaving Ri with a five-from-six 146-190-336 for his fourth straight victory. Pak made 150-182-332, and the PRK pair finished clear of Genc on 146-181-327. Zheng Xinhao from China, the snatch silver medallist, was fourth on 148-176-324. Kahriman took snatch bronze on 148kg, a junior world record, and finished fifth on 148-175-323. Kaan Kahriman (TUR) Hector Garcia from Colombia, who was off the international stage for seven years until this year, made a career-best 145-164-309 in the B Group for sixth place. Garcia, who suffered persistent knee problems, finished second in this year’s Pan American Championships on 292kg and made a big improvement here despite failing with his final two attempts at 170kg. Eko Yuli Irawan (INA) Eko Yuli Irawan from Indonesia, who failed in his attempt to become the first weightlifter to win medals at five Olympic Games when he bombed out in Paris, made his first total in 15 months. Irawan, back for more at the age of 35, started low and looked happy after making 131-161-292 in the B Group. After making a total in 36 successive international competitions spanning 17 years, that Paris disappointment was the fourth straight clean and jerk bombout for Irawan, who had been suffering with knee and thigh injuries. Kang Hyon Gyong, who has set seven world records at 55kg since PRK returned to the international stage 15 months ago, went for an eighth with her final attempt on 132kg but failed. She was 15kg clear regardless, finishing 100-126-226 and making it four wins in two days for her team. Kang Hyon Gyong (PRK) Last year’s winner, Chen Guan-Ling from Chinese Taipei, was second on 93-118-211 and European champion Grigoryan third on 85-120-205, a career-best by 9kg. Zhang Haiqin from China, making her international debut, was second in snatch but failed with all three junior world record attempts at 122kg in clean and jerk. Garance Rigaud from France was fourth on 91-110-201, just ahead of the B Group lifter Onome Didih from Nigeria, who made a big impression despite making only two good lifts. “This was my first international competition, I enjoyed it,” said Didih after her 90-110-200, which was better than four A Group athletes. “My next one should be the Commonwealth Championships in India in August.” Onome Didih (NGR) Given that Didih, 20, finished ahead of athletes from five Commonwealth nations – India, Canada, Australia, Ghana and Malta – she already looks a likely medal contender for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, especially if she opts for the new 53kg category. Didih was within 1kg of the African clean and jerk record when she made her final lift at 115kg, but she lost it on jury review for bending and extending. By Brian Oliver Photos by

Bahrain, Day 2: Photo Gallery

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Bahrain, Day 2: Two golds and big numbers for PRK – and more world records for a China newcomer

PRK went to the top of the medals table, where they are expected to remain, by winning both medal events on day two of the IWF World Championships in Bahrain. Their champions, Ri Song Gum in the women’s 49kg and Pak Myong Jin in the men’s 61kg, posted impressive numbers, as did China’s international debutant Xiang Linxiang. All three made totals that would have been good enough for a place on the podium at the Paris Olympic Games, where these two weights were on the programme. Xiang was not in China’s Olympic qualifying team, while PRK athletes were not eligible because they did not return from a lengthy Covid-related absence in time to qualify for Paris. None of the six Olympic medallists at these weights lifted here today. Ri Song Gum (PRK) Ri missed three of her six lifts, two of which were world record attempts, but she held off a strong challenge from Xiang, who set four junior world records. Ri’s winning total of 213kg was 7kg more than Xiang’s team-mate Hou Zhihui made for gold in Paris four months ago. Pak Myong Jin was the only man to surpass 300kg in the 61kg session, finishing well clear of Aniq Kasdan from Malaysia, who had finished fourth in Paris. A Chinese newcomer had gone head-to-head with one of PRK’s many women’s world record holders on Friday. Zhao Jinhong surprised multiple winner Won Hyon Sim at 45kg, taking two of her world records and finishing 9kg clear. Today, 20-year-old Xiang marked herself out as a serious contender in the coming years but she could not stop Ri claiming  PRK’s first victory of the Championships. Xiang Linxiang (CHN) Xiang took China’s tally to eight world records in two days, four senior and four junior, when she made 92-120-212, a 5kg improvement on her best domestic total this year. She set junior records in clean and jerk and total twice when she made 117kg and 120kg with her final two attempts. Ri was not so lucky with her world record attempts, failing with a 98kg snatch and a 126kg clean and jerk. She made 91-122-213. Finishing ahead of Chinese athletes is special for Ri. She had to wait a long nine years from the Youth Olympic Games in 2014, when she was 16, to get the better of Jiang Huihua or her team-mate and double Olympic champion Hou Zhihui. Ri has beaten both and set seven world records since September last year. Now she will have to improve again to contend with Xiang’s challenge. Xiang improved the junior world records, previously held by Jiang Huihua, by 6kg in both clean and jerk and total. Rosegie Ramos from the Philippines was third, 20kg behind Ri on 88-105-193. That was a career best for Ramos, who had made four straight totals of 190kg or 191kg in the past year. Lin Cheng-Jing from Chinese Taipei won clean and jerk bronze with 107kg. She was fourth, one place ahead of Gyaneshwari Yadav from India, who had a career-best total of 182kg. Pak Myong Jin (PRK) Pak had a sweep of golds on 132-173-305, failing only with his second snatch attempt. Aniq was second on 130-166-296 and Tran Anh Tuan Nguyen from Vietnam was third on 131-160-291, ahead of Wei Haixian from China who made only two good lifts in totalling 288kg.  Tran’s Olympian team-mate Trinh Van Vinh failed with all three clean and jerks and bombed out for the fifth time in his past 10 competitions. The men's 61kg podium There was a B Group snatch bronze for Garnik Cholakyan from Armenia on 130kg, and newcomer Wei won silver in clean and jerk on 160kg. The United States Air Force was represented in the morning session, the men’s 67kg C Group, by a man who hails from a remote Pacific island, graduated in Colorado Springs and is now stationed in Japan, where he trains in his garage. Leowell Cristobal is from Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), which presents him with a big challenge in reaching his ambition of lifting at the Olympic Games. NMI is an unincorporated territory of the US. Other nations with a broadly similar status, such as Puerto Rico, Guam and Marshall Islands have National Olympic Committees but MNI does not. Cristobal realised a boyhood dream when he joined the US Air Force, but his other big goal, competing at the Olympic Games, depends on NMI gaining recognition from the International Olympic Committee after many years of trying. “I need it to happen in time for LA 2028,” said Cristobal, 26, who would have a chance of a tripartite place if it did. He moved from Saipan to the US to graduate at the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs, and switched from track and field in 2018 when he found he liked lifting weights more than running. “My role is battle management, which is managing the airspace,” he said. Leowell Cristobal (NMI) While based in Japan, Cristobal is performing his USAF duties, training four to five times a week, and studying online for a Masters in kinesiology. His training programme is devised by the American coach Jackie Black, whose arranged for her friend Kyle Pierce to take on the coaching duties in Bahrain. “I only met him yesterday,” said Pierce. “He’s very focused and I’m sure he can improve.” The next competition for Cristobal, who made a career-best 105-143-248, will be the Pacific Mini Games in Palau in July. He will probably need to improve his total by at least 30kg to be Oceania’s top lifter if he opts for the new 65kg category. Two members of the USA team are also familiar with aircraft. Gabe Chhum, who finished first and second at the past two World Juniors, is an aircraft engineer and Preston Powell, also a World Juniors medallist in 2023, is training to be a commercial pilot. By Brian Oliver Photos by