Bahrain, Day 1: Photo Gallery
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Bahrain, Day 1: Historic podium place for Brazil, gold for Thailand and world records for China’s newcomer Zhao
There were victories for China and Thailand, plus world records for China as Asian athletes filled five of the six podium places on total on day one of the 2024 IWF World Championships in Bahrain. It would have been six out of six for Asia but for a remarkable performance by Thiago Felix from Brazil, whose silver at 55kg was a first ever senior Worlds medal on total for one of the sport’s most improved nations. He was in the lead until Natthawat Chomchuen from Thailand made his fifth lift. Chomchuen finished 120-153-273, up 14kg on his total when he was third at last year’s World Championships. Natthawat Chomchuen (THA) Pang Un Chol from PRK took clean and jerk gold but had bombed out in snatch, while Yang Yang from China could not build on second place in snatch, dropping to fifth on total. Fernando Agad from the Philippines was third. The triple Olympic super-heavyweight champion Lasha Talakhadze, who weighs more than all three men on the podium, was among the medal presenters. He is not competing in Bahrain but took part in the opening ceremony on Thursday. Felix excelled in gymnastics and took up CrossFit before he became a weightlifter seven years ago, despite coming from a non-sporting Sao Paulo family. He competed at 61kg for more than four years before taking a break from competition to drop down to 55kg and prepare for this event. Thiago Felix (BRA) “This medal was always the target, I thought I could do it,” said Felix, who will be 24 later this month. “I took my time to lose the weight, had good nutrition, kept calm and found it quite easy to cut down. “Now I have to go back up again because of the change in weight categories, but there’s more than six months till the Pan American Championships so I can take my time again.” Brazil’s national coach Dragos Doru Stanica also put in quite a performance, enhancing his reputation as the loudest coach in weightlifting. “I nearly lost my voice, and as you can see it’s moments like these that make me lose my hair,” he said. “I’m so proud of Thiago, competing against China, PRK, Thailand, Vietnam. He is well suited to 55 and wasn’t going anywhere at 61, so that’s why we went down. This is a great result.” Felix made a six-from-six 121-148-269 for snatch gold, clean and jerk bronze and second place on total. It was only 2kg below his best total at 61kg. Agad made 116-147-263 to finish 1kg ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Mansour Al Saleem, who was fourth. Four athletes failed to make a total, including two from Vietnam. There were good moments for Brazil in August and September, too. Laura Amaro – who also likes to make a lot of noise - finished seventh at the Paris Olympic Games after qualifying at 81kg, and Mattheus Pessanha briefly held a junior world record when he was second at the World Juniors in Spain in September. Zhao Jinhong (CHN) China entered the women’s 45kg category at a World Championships for the first - and only – time and ended with a sweep of gold medals plus two world records that will probably never be beaten. Zhao Jinhong, who was competing internationally for the first time at the age of 23, finished well clear of PRK’s reigning champion Won Hyon Sim. Won started the session with all three world records but finished with only one. The 45kg category will cease to exist from June next year, after the IWF agreed on new weights and a reduction from 10 categories to eight. The last time China had entered the lightest women’s category at a World Championships was in 2015, when Jiang Huihua won aged 17. That was at 48kg, before the categories changed in 2018. Won Hyon Sim (PRK) Zhao showed that she might have won many more times in the past few years if China had opted to challenge in the non-Olympic 45kg category. Her first lift on the world stage gave her the lead ahead of Won, and her third was a snatch world record attempt. She failed on 88kg, but Zhao made amends when her fifth lift on 110kg gave her two world records, in clean and jerk and total. Zhao bettered them on her final attempt, finishing 87-113-200. It was no great surprise because last year Zhao had totalled 198kg in a national championship, 2kg better than the world record. Won retained her snatch world record – both she and Zhao failed to beat it on 88kg – but missed her final two attempts and finished 9kg behind on 86-105-191. Pham Dinh Thi from Vietnam moved up from fifth in snatch to third on total with 73-97-170. Cicely Kyle (USA) There might have been three world records for Cicely Kyle from the United States, too – in Masters weightlifting. Kyle, who finished fifth, is the oldest athlete in the Championships at 40. She made three good lifts on 72-95-167, narrowly failing with an American clean and jerk record attempt at 98kg. “That would have been nice – but they’re Masters records for sure!” Kyle said. At national level, yes, but despite exceeding the 40-44 age group world records by some distance, they will not count because they were not made in a Masters competition. Kyle was in gymnastics and competitive fitness before starting in weightlifting about 10 years ago. “I had my first international competition in 2020, when I was 36, and then the world shut down because of Covid,” she said. Fifteen months later she won the Pan American title. Kyle is a physician’s assistant in the critical care department of a hospital. Her medical training helped her to pull off a remarkable feat six months ago, when she dislocated a finger performing a clean at a national competition, popped it back into place with the barbell across her shoulders, and completed the lift. “It’s still pretty much out of shape,” Kyle said, holding up her crooked finger. Asked which body parts hurt the most when you’re still competing at 40, she said, “The knees, definitely. “I don’t know whether I’ll keep going after this – it depends what my knees are telling me. They’re feeling good now but tomorrow they might be telling me something different.” By Brian Oliver Photos by
IWF 2024 Worlds Opening: Photo Gallery
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Cyrille Tchatchet: “My trajectory in weightlifting and in life can be useful at the WADA Athlete Council”
His life could be a book, but it almost became a movie. When presenting the Paris 2024 Olympic Refugee Team, the International Olympic Committee produced an inspiring documentary about the journey of these athletes before and during the Tokyo 2020ne Games. One of the profiled stars was Cyrille Tchatchet, born and raised in Cameroon, then a refugee in England, and now already a British citizen. He is in Manama, Bahrein, and will be an active spectator of the IWF World Championships starting this Friday. At the same time, we will also campaign for his most recent endeavour – the candidature to a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Athlete Council membership. “The idea of weightlifting came at a cousin’s baptism, while in Cameroon. During the celebration, I saw a picture of his father (my uncle), a lifter, and I liked that image so much that I decided I would also try,” recalls Cyrille, also an IWF Athlete Commission member. “But, back then – I was only 14 -, there weren’t many conditions to practice the sport. I was nevertheless strong – in the space of few months, I could snatch 70kg… - and I started to get some encouraging results, both on a local and national level”. Cyrille Tchatchet: "Weightlifting is now a credible sport!" That is when his life changed forever. In 2014, at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, he competes for his country, but never returns home. “I felt it wasn’t safe any longer to come back. With the distance and time, I think the decision was taken too much in a hurry, without really thinking about the consequences”. And those challenges were huge. “I had no acquaintances in the UK, no family, no friends, nothing. I ended up living in the street, and then being detained in many immigration centres. In one of these places, there was a club and could eventually train… That saved me, but I went through a very painful personal experience, mainly from a psychological point of view,” Cyrille admits. In 2016, he finally gets his asylum request accepted and he enters university to conclude his studies. He always wanted to be a nurse and got specialised in mental health care, which is now his main job. “While enduring my difficult experience, I always had people that helped me, so I felt that I wanted also to assist others”. In parallel, with a new status and residing in the UK, he could eventually get a membership to compete at British Weightlifting events. Which he did, with remarkable success. In 2018, his efforts paid off, and he was offered an IOC scholarship – that would be the first step into getting his place in the Olympic Refugee Team. 2020 meant a worldwide COVID pandemic and the Tokyo Games had to be postponed. “To be honest, it served quite well my interests. I got a hip injury by that time and the additional year to the Olympics was precious to fully recover,” Cyrille recalls. When the team is formalised, he learns with joy that he will be in the Japanese capital, lifting in the most important sports event on the planet. “It was surreal, a kind of dream. Every athlete trains with the ultimate goal of being at the Olympics, but given my history and the complicated circumstances I lived in, it was quite unthinkable to envisage Olympic participation. But I was there, and it was great, despite the limitations related to COVID. The competition day arrived and I did 155-195, which was a bit below my best expectations, but still quite good taking into account my injury. Moreover, in the snatch part, I had a problem with my elbow, so I couldn’t make the clean and jerk in the best possible conditions”. Competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games After Tokyo, and already with a university degree in the pocket, Cyrille starts working as a mental health nurse in the community, alternating his activities between a medical structure and home visits to patients needing his assistance. On the sports side, he continues to train and competes in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where he lifts a very good snatch of 158kg, but then misses the clean and jerk part. At the 2023 Europeans, he is fourth (156-194-350) in the 96kg bodyweight category. “My goal is to compete at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and earn a medal there. As they are also in Glasgow, it would be a good way to close somehow the circle since 2014,” he admits. "It is important that our voice and representation became stronger" Proposed by the Chair of the IWF Athletes Commission Forrester Osei, on behalf of our International Federation, to a membership position in the WADA Athlete Council, Cyrille sincerely thinks he has the legitimacy to advocate for it: “In recent years, there was a profound change of culture in weightlifting. The dark period we endured in the past, namely related to doping cases, is now closed. Our sport became credible and our athletes feel that they can enter into an event and compete fairly with the others,” Cyrille explains. Moreover, working in the health industry, the successful lifter also believes that he can bring an added-value to the WADA Council. “The athletes’ voice and representation have become stronger over the years. This is important. With my background both in terms of mental health, and also in elite sport, I think I can combine that for the benefit of the WADA. The circumstances of my life made me a strong and resilient person, not only in competition, but also off the platform. This is important for any job or endeavour you take in your life!” Cyrille concludes. Pedro AdregaIWF Communications
IWF to partner with SBD in landmark 8-year agreement
The IWF is thrilled to announce an 8-year partnership with SBD, a leading global sports brand, designing and manufacturing technical clothing, supports and accessories. This partnership aims to elevate the profile of weightlifting on all five continents through innovative projects and initiatives designed to enhance awareness and foster a positive perception of the sport. IWF with SBD: From left to right: Forrester Osei (IWF Athletes Commission chair), Matthew Curtain (IWF EB member and British Weightlifting CEO), Mohammed Jalood (IWF President), Benjamin Banks (SBD CEO), William Islip (SBD Commercial Director) and Antonio Urso (IWF General Secretary) With a shared vision to develop weightlifting at all levels, this collaboration will focus on grassroots growth, sport development, and athlete support. The agreement also highlights a strong commitment to promoting inclusion, ensuring the sport remains accessible and welcoming to participants of all backgrounds. IWF President, Mohammed Jalood stated: "This partnership with SBD marks a significant milestone in the evolution of our sport. Together, we are committed to creating opportunities and building a sustainable future for weightlifting around the world." SBD representatives (William Islip and Benjamin Banks) presenting the IWF-SBD partnership at the IWF Congress in Manama (BRN) SBD CEO, Benjamin Banks considered: “We are delighted to enter into a long-term partnership with the IWF. This is a very exciting opportunity for us to establish our business within weightlifting, as it will enable us to enhance our offering to sponsored athletes, coaches and our customer base across the globe, whilst supporting the IWF’s long term objectives.” Further details about this transformative collaboration will be unveiled in the coming months. IWF
IWF Congress approves in Manama (BRN) amendments to the IWF Constitution
The IWF Congress, gathering representatives of 135 National Member Federations approved today in Manama (BRN), several amendments to the IWF Constitution, thus leading also to the validation of the IWF By-Laws, approved by the IWF Executive Board last November 25. Both documents will enter into effect from tomorrow, December 5, 2024. In his welcome speech, the IWF President Mohammed Jalood expressed his gratitude to the Bahrain authorities for their hospitality and the excellent preparation for the 2024 IWF World Championships, from December 5-15. “We will experience a great time here in Manama and the entire IWF family feels at home in Bahrain. I am sure that exciting performances will be produced here, namely many new World Records,” declared Mr Jalood. “This Congress is held in a time of great unity within our International Federation and this is leading to enormous progress. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games were a great success – moreover, we are happy to report that we didn’t have any positive doping tests! – and these achievements greatly help our Sport to secure its presence in the Olympic programme,” concluded the IWF President. IWF President Mohammed Jalood With delegates of 93 national bodies present in person in the capital of Bahrain and another 42 connecting with the assembly online, the new IWF Constitution was approved with 134 votes in favour and only one vote against. The changes voted by the delegates do not alter the document's substance, whose last update was made in September 2023. They are essentially aimed at providing a simpler language, to remove redundant provisions and details not belonging to a constitutional text. Four new modifications were however made: 1. Conditions for IWF Membership (Article 6); 2. Time limit for payment of outstanding amounts by MFs (Article 11); 3. Composition of the Executive Board (Article 16); 4. Two changes in the eligibility criteria (Article 25). On the side of the IWF By-Laws, they now incorporate large sections of the former Constitution, namely related to operational and technical provisions in the ‘Schedules’ sections. After this important vote, the Congress proceeded with the presentation of the various IWF Committees and Commissions reports (who had already made successful presentations to the IWF Executive Board on December 3). IWF Athletes Commission Chair Forrester Osei IWF commercial partners (Eleiko, ZKC, Uekasa, and SBD) were next on the programme, and the presentations’ time came to an end with the update of the IWF upcoming competitions, namely the 2025 World Junior and Youth World Championships in Lima (PER), and the 2025, 2026 and 2027 IWF World Championships, respectively in Forde (NOR), Ningbo (CHN) and Yerevan (ARM). The IWF Congress concluded with the grant of IWF awards for their contribution to weightlifting to: Michel Raynaud (FRA, Merit Certificate), Waldemar Gospodarek (POL, Gold Collar), Taisto Kuppola (FIN, Gold Collar), Stian Grimseth (NOR, Gold Collar), Karl Rimböck (GER, IWF Hall of Fame induction) and David Montero (BRA, IWF Hall of Fame induction). After intense days of meetings, the IWF family will gather this Thursday for the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 IWF World Championships in Manama, and on Friday for the first day of the competition. IWF Communications Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia For more Congress photos, please visit our Gallery here
