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Guadalajara, Day 4: Venezuelan wins despite travel trouble – and Canadian teen has a day to remember

Reinner Arango, whose journey from Venezuela was delayed by a day, was standing on top of the podium eight hours after he landed in Mexico. He claimed the best result of his career by winning the men’s 73kg title at the World Junior Championships in Guadalajara. There was drama, too, in the other event on day four. Katie Estep became the United States’ second champion of the week and the Canadian B Group lifter Charlotte Simoneau had a day she will never forget in the women’s 64kg. Two Venezuelan women in that session had travelled with Arango and had to head straight from the airport to weigh in. When they missed a connecting flight, the three athletes had to stay overnight in Cancun and fly to Guadalajara on Saturday morning. Claudia Rengifo and Keily Silva, aged 16 and 17, finished eighth and 11th despite their lack of preparation. Reinner Arango (VEN) Arango, 19, made five good lifts in his 141-176-317, a 16kg improvement on the total that won him the Pan American junior title in May. He was more interested in talking about his future than the troubled journey. “This is definitely the best performance of my career,” he said. “I was a 67 for a very long time before I moved up at the Pan American juniors, and when I made 301kg there it was my first try at the new weight. Since then I’ve done a lot of hard work in training and I’m more used to the new weight. “Now I want to be part of the elite in senior competitions. I might still be a junior but I want to go in and beat the seniors - I can do it.” Europe had six of the eight A Group athletes, including five of the top six finishers at this year’s European Junior Championships. But the only non-Europeans in the field finished first and second, Arango and the Japanese debutant Rakuei Azuma, who made an impressive 140-176-316. Azuma got his final attempt at 178kg above his head but lost the lift backwards. Rakuei Azuma (JPN) Snatch winner Ismail Jamali from Spain was third on 145-170-315 ahead of the European champion Tiberiu Donose from Romania, who was second in snatch and fourth on total. The United States went top of the medals table when Estep won. The target to beat for her and four other gold medal hopefuls was 213kg, set by 18-year-old Simoneau three hours earlier in the B Group. Simoneau’s 95-118-213 was 28kg higher than her entry total, 23kg up on her previous international best, and her first six-from-six at this level. Katie Estep (USA) She was asked to stay at the venue until the end of the A session because she was in contention for the top three, and spent the next few hours watching the men’s 73 B Group, then the 64kg A Group, nervously wondering where she might finish. It was so emotionally draining that by the end of the session, and also after the medal ceremony, Simoneau was in tears. “It feels so special to win any medal,” said Simoneau. “I was very emotional. I will have a good sleep tonight and when I get home I’m going to celebrate with my family.” With three lifts to come in snatch, Simoneau was in with a chance of gold but also at risk of finishing out of the medals. The Individual Neutral Athlete Katsiaryna Yakushava, from Belarus, went into the lead, then the other two – Olha Ivzhenko from Ukraine and Tugs-Ederne Otgonchimeg from Mongolia - failed and Simoneau was left in second place at halfway. With Estep and her USA team-mate Sophia Shaft also in contention there was only 3kg between the top six in snatch. It was just as tense during the last few clean and jerks. Yakushava missed all three attempts and failed to make a total, Otgonchimeg missed her last two, and at the finish there were three contenders for gold on total – Ivzhenko, Estep, and Simoneau. Women's 64kg podium Ivzhenko did not go high enough to overtake Simoneau, aiming instead for clean and jerk gold. With two attempts to go only Estep could overtake Simoneau, and she did it with a lift to spare by making 120kg. “I knew my clean and jerks were really good,” said Estep. “I was aware (of Simoneau’s B Group numbers) but worrying about what other people do doesn’t help. I like to focus only on myself and usually it works out.” This was the first international competition at 64kg for both Estep and Simoneau, and the second for third-placed Ivzhenko. “It feels good, I feel stronger,” said Estep, who is studying business and pre-medical. “I was 55kg from age 12 to 17 and it feels nice to not have to worry about what I eat, especially as I’m in college right now.” She is hoping that 64kg will be one of the weight categories for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, the long-term target for the top USA juniors. “I want somewhere where I feel comfortable, where I don’t have to either stuff my face or starve myself,” she said. The decision on 2028 weight classes is more than a year away. Simoneau, from Saint-Hyacinthe in Quebec, said she and her coach, Yvan Darsigny, opted for the less pressurised B Group because moving up the national rankings was a priority. “I’m not saying I didn’t want a medal, but I needed a good total. Moving up the rankings can help with funding and it makes a big difference to me.” Estep made 94-120-214, a career best by 9kg, Simoneau 95-118-213 and Ivzhenko 93-115-208. Yakushava won the snatch on 96kg, with Otgonchimeg third behind Simoneau on 95kg.   Yakushava, 19, looked strong and her failures in clean and jerk were a surprise. Her 96kg was better than the snatch efforts posted by her older team-mate Dziyana Maiseyevich in winning two senior competitions this year.  By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

When sports performances and environmental causes meet in Guadalajara

The organisers had announced it proudly: the 2023 edition of the IWF World Junior Championships, presently staged in Guadalajara, wouldn’t be limited to the great performances of the young lifters competing in Mexico. After the conclusion of the event, an important legacy would be associated with the competition: environmental protection. For that, various initiatives took place during the event, namely today’s planting of trees, in a space adjacent to the competition venue.   The idea is that each national delegation present in the capital of Jalisco would plant a tree, which will stay as a testimony of the sports world to the cause of ecology. The ceremony took place between the two A sessions of this fourth day of competition and happily mobilised the delegations competing in Mexico. Secretary General Antonio Urso planting the IWF tree The IWF had also its tree, with Secretary General Antonio Urso executing the task in a quick and efficient way. “It looks like I’m doing this for my entire life,” joked Mr Urso. On a more serious note, he emphasised the importance of this simple, yet very symbolic moment. “The organisers in Mexico had this brilliant idea and the IWF immediately supported it. It is a sign we are sending to affirm the social strength of sport to mobilise the citizens in Guadalajara to these essential causes”.   From the athletes’ side, the 44 national teams “played the game” and the lifters were happy to know that after their departure a tree will testify in the future their presence in Guadalajara in this month of November 2023. Among them, the team of El Salvador fought a bit to get its tree well planted: “We need to enlarge the hole, but we are strong people, we will make it”. Five minutes later, the tiny tree was finally solidly fixed in the land. From Japan, in a more discrete way, three members of the national team were also happy when they saw the successful outcome of their work.   The IWF President Mohammed Jalood has already left Mexico but had the opportunity to also be associated with this initiative, planting his tree in the first two days of the competition.  From left to right: José Quiñones (President of the Pan-American Weightlifting Federation); Astrit Hasani (European Weightlifting Federation Treasurer); Mohammed Jalood (IWF President); Rosalio Alvarado (President of the Mexican Weightlifting Federation) Besides the tree legacy, these Championships, held in a huge sportive infrastructure (comprising for example a velodrome and a swimming and diving facility), also provided electrical buses for the transport of the teams and facilitated the installation of brand new public trash bins, each aimed at recycling a specific kind of material.  It is worth noting that this project is part of the agreement signed between the Pan-American Weightlifting Federation and the United Nations - "Sports for Climate Action" -, aimed at contributing to the fight against global warming through concrete initiatives within the frame of sports organisations.  IWF

Guadalajara, Day 3: Second gold for Armenia, and USA’s Morris gives his Paris 2024 hopes a huge boost  

Armenia displaced the United States at the top of the medals table when Gor Sahakyan claimed his nation’s second World Junior Championships victory at the Guadalajara Weightlifting Forum. Sahakyan won the men’s 67kg ahead of the pumped-up American Hampton Morris, who roared his way to a career-best total and boosted his confidence in his quest to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The other winner on day three was Svitlana Samuliak from Ukraine at 59kg, despite her preparations being disrupted during the war in her homeland. Sahakyan has excelled in senior competitions this year and he looked on course for a wide-margin win after making 140kg in the snatch, which was 15kg more than Morris down in seventh place at halfway. Gor Sahakyan (ARM) But Morris, lifting at 67kg for the first time internationally, smashed his personal best in clean and jerk by 10kg, broke the 300kg mark for the first time and finished only 2kg behind Sahakyan. “I wasn’t expecting a gold medal, that’s for sure,” said Morris as he clutched the clean and jerk gold. “It was really exciting, competing out of my weight class while I’m also trying to lose weight for the Grand Prix in Qatar in two weeks. I wasn’t really sure what to expect.” Morris, 19, had set a junior world record at 61kg with his last international lift in September, making 168kg in clean and jerk at the senior World Championships. He had failed with all three snatches, though, and did not make a total. With the Paris qualifier in Qatar starting on December 4, and a world junior title already secured last year, Morris could have skipped this event. His father and coach, Tripp, decided it would be a good idea for Morris to lift in Guadalajara at a heavier weight to gain confidence for Qatar and, hopefully, improve his snatch. Hampton Morris (USA) It worked out well. Morris failed with his final snatch attempt at 130kg but 125kg was still a career high. “I definitely have a lot of catching up to do in snatch,” said Morris, who will do intensive work in that respect in January. Morris stands 11th in the Paris 2024 rankings on 290kg. If the January work pays off and he maintains his progress, he could be a few places higher when qualifying ends next April. “I have to lose a few kilos in the next two weeks but everything’s going to plan right now, I’m on track,” he said. Asked what numbers he hoped to make when he is back at 61kg, he said, “Better than today – in a perfect world.” He went for, and made, an American record with his final lift of 178kg, which was up 8kg on his second lift. Could he have gone even further and made 181kg for victory on total? “Probably - but an 11kg jump is a lot. This heavy, I’d never even done an 8kg jump.” While Morris had never totalled 300kg before, Sahakyan did it for the seventh time despite missing his last two clean and jerks. He won the European 67kg title in his home country in April and finished third in the senior World Championships in September. Sahakyan made 140-165-305, Morris 125-178-303 and third-placed Yahor Papou, an Individual Neutral Athlete, 136-158-294. Yahor Hrynko, another Individual Neutral Athlete who, like Papou, is from Belarus, took clean and jerk bronze on 163kg. The host nation had a medallist from the B Group. Herseleid Carrazco, a 19-year-old who won a World Youth medal last year, took snatch bronze on 130kg. Carrazco, who has yet to lift in a senior competition, made all six lifts and finished fourth on 130-162-292. “Honestly no, I didn’t expect to win a medal,” Carrazco said. “I was focused on making all six lifts, and because I did it I won this medal.” Svitlana Samuliak (UKR) Samuliak, 20, also made six from six in her 98-116-214, ahead of 17-year-old Jessica Palacios from Ecuador on 92-115-207 and the Japanese debutant Sei Higa on 90-106-196. Chiu Yu Ling from Chinese Taipei took clean and jerk bronze on 108kg. The war in Ukraine has forced Samuliak to train at a small, four-platform gym in the Carpathian mountains near the border with Slovakia. “There is much more equipment and better facilities in Kyiv but it is too dangerous there,” she said. “Our soldiers are fighting at the front. For me, the platform is my front, the place where I can show the world that Ukraine is strong.” The women's 59kg podium Her father was a weightlifter who encouraged Samuliak and her younger brother Stepan, who made his international debut at this year’s European Juniors, to take up the sport. Palacios also had family support. Her elder sisters Neisi (Dajomes) and Angie are respectively Olympic champion and world record holder, and her 20-year-old brother German is a continental junior champion. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

IWF/ITA Anti-Doping Education Seminar: “We are here to protect the athletes’ career”

Athletes and coaches gathered this morning in the competition venue of the IWF World Junior Championships, taking place in Guadalajara (MEX), for the IWF Anti-Doping Education Seminar, organised in partnership with the International Testing Agency (ITA). Lectured by ITA Ambassador Thais Cevada, from Brazil, and a former international-level athlete in Artistic Gymnastics, this initiative is aimed at briefing the lifters and their respective entourage about the anti-doping main regulations and procedures. Around 90 attentive spectators recalled their knowledge of the definition of an anti-doping rule violation, the prohibited substance list, the principle of strict liability, the importance of checking the eventual medicines athletes are taking, the danger of supplements, and the possibilities of reporting any past, present or future violation or suspect behaviour. “This is a fundamental cause for the sport of weightlifting. We are spending around 12 million US dollars each Olympic cycle in the fight against doping. This is a huge investment, which could otherwise be used for the direct benefit of our athletes and of our national federations,” considered Antonio Urso, the IWF Secretary General in his introductory words to the attendants. Antonio Urso, IWF Secretary General “But the necessary change of culture is progressively and successfully taking place. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, we had no positive cases, at the Bogota 2022 World Championships, we had only one, and at the 2023 IWF showcase in Riyadh, all the cases were negative. This proves that our strategy is functioning and producing practical effects,” also declared Mr Urso. “But we must continue being vigilant in this very sensitive topic. For that, I count on your co-operation and support. Working hand in hand with us, the ITA has played an essential role in this merciless fight, and we are very grateful for that!” concluded the IWF Secretary General. Also with a PhD in neurosciences and acting as a DCO (Doping Control Officer) at sports events, Thais Cevada then summarised the practices and procedures in this field. “This is particularly important for this age group. They should be given the priority for this kind of seminar. The earlier they begin their education on this topic, the better it is,” confessed Cevada after the conclusion of the seminar. “Our goal is quite obvious: we are here to protect their career, but also to safeguard their health – as it must be understood that doping has not only effects on the sports results and performances, it profoundly affects the health of the athletes, sometimes in an irreversible way”. Thais Cevada, ITA Ambassador Conducted in both English and Spanish by the Brazilian expert, the level of interaction was quite good and the one-hour seminar was punctuated by relevant questions and comments. Cevada will remain in Guadalajara to animate the IWF/ITA educational booth, located in the competition venue and open until this Sunday. There, athletes and coaches can have the opportunity to get additional information or test their knowledge on interesting quizzes. This is the third seminar held by the IWF in 2023, after similar gatherings at the World Youth Championships in March (in Durres, Albania) and at the World Championships in September (in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia). IWF Communications Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia

Guadalajara, Day 2: From aircraft mechanic to world champion – a remarkable journey for USA teenager Chhum

An American teenager who trains at 3am after finishing his shift as an aircraft engine mechanic has become a junior world champion, only two years after he introduced himself to weightlifting via YouTube. Gabriel Chhum won decisively at 61kg at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. The other winner on day two was Aleksandra Grigoryan from Armenia, who held off the challenge of two impressive Japanese women at 55kg. Gabriel Chhum (USA) “I started weightlifting because I quit football, and I needed to do something competitive to fill that gap,” said Chhum after a career-best 117-145-262 that earned a sweep of golds. “When I started watching videos I realised that there were body weight categories and I didn’t have to worry about how small I was. I fell in love with in and it went from there.” Chhum, from Georgia, bought his own equipment, watched YouTube tutorials for beginners, “and really taught myself in my garage with a jaggedy bar and some steel plates. It was pretty rough”. Several months later he found a coach, Jeremy Warner, and not long later he was in the USA team for the senior World Championships. Warner has been especially impressed by Chhum’s attention to detail and his commitment to hard work. “Once he taught me how to snatch properly it made a big, big difference,” said Chhum, 19. “If I had a message to anybody taking up weightlifting, it would be ‘do what your coach says’ – and if you don’t have a coach, get one.” Despite winning the Pan American junior title at 55kg last year, as well as making the senior World Championships team in Colombia where he finished 10th, Chhum has had to pay his own way much of the time. He is on a USA Weightlifting development stipend, but has to balance his work and sport. Men's 61kg podium “It’s pretty rough trying to figure out the time slots for training and meals. I usually start training after work at three in the morning, get home around six and sleep till 2pm. The hours mess with your sleep schedule. “So far I’ve been able to do both the job and the weightlifting. I don’t really have much of a life apart from that – I spend most of my time resting.” After nearly a year of hard work in the gym, this was Chhum’s first competition since the senior Worlds last December. Next stop, if all goes well, will be the Pan American Championships in February. “My main goal in the long term is working towards going to the Olympics in 2028,” he said. Elsayed Ali, from Egypt, finished second on 111-143-254, and Abraham Rivera from Venezuela was third on 113-135-248. Adolfo Tun Dzib from Mexico, the fourth man in the smallest field of these Championships, took clean and jerk bronze on 141kg. Aleksandra Grigoryan (ARM) Grigoryan held her nerve to win the women’s 55kg with her final lift of 107kg, edging ahead of two Japanese rivals who lacked experience but not talent. Grigoryan had made only two good lifts in finishing seventh at the senior World Championships in Saudi Arabia in September and had to dig deep for victory. She started with two good lifts but was fifth at halfway after missing her third. After failing with her first clean and jerk Grigoryan, 18, was in trouble. But she made the next one at 102kg and successfully went up 5kg to take gold, finishing 81-107-188. Nanasa Kawasaki, whose only previous international appearance was three years ago in the Asian Juniors, was 1kg behind on 84-103-187 and her team-mate Mao Tsutsumi was third on her debut on 83-103-186. Nanasa Kawasaki (JPN) Kawasaki, 20, had a head start in the sport. Her coach is her mother, a World Championships silver medallist in 1990 under her pre-marriage name of Satori Saito. Tsutsumi, 19, went into weightlifting nine years ago after being spotted by a high school coach during a talent ID session, but had never performed at international level before. “I was nervous for my first competition but I felt strong and performed well,” she said. When asked if they had expected to win a medal both women laughed and said, “Yes!” They train together, support each other, and are good friends. Tsutsumi is studying sport science at university in Tokyo and Kawasaki is hoping to join the same course next year. Malgorzata Myjak from Poland, who was third in snatch on 83kg, finished 7kg behind the top three on total. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Guadalajara, Day 1: Sensational start by USA teenager – and landmark gold medal for hosts Mexico

While athletes from Mexico and Turkey ended their junior careers in fine style, the American teenager Isabella Rodriguez began hers with a remarkable performance on the opening day of the 2023 World Junior Championships in Guadalajara. José Poox just about timed it right to win the men’s 55kg for the host nation. According to his national federation, it was the first time a Mexican had won a men’s junior world title. José Poox (MEX) Cansu Bektas from Turkey won the first event, the women’s 45kg, and 18-year-old Huang Yi-Chen from Chinese Taipei held off her challengers in an exciting 49kg contest in which the first four finishers were separated by 2kg. Arguably the best effort, however, came from Rodriguez, who finished 1kg behind Huang in the final few minutes of an eight-hour day at the Weightlifting Forum. Until the end of last year Rodriguez, 19, was a track sprinter. She first lifted at a local meet 13 months ago and this was her international debut. Among the first to congratulate her after she made huge gains in the clean and jerk - despite having her second attempt overruled by the jury – was IWF President Mohammed Jalood. “She was seventh in the snatch but you could see she had very good technique, and I told her she could win a medal,” Jalood said. “She reminded me of (Olympic champion) Hidilyn Diaz.” Isabella Rodriguez (USA) Another who saw something special, before Rodriguez ever lifted a barbell, was her coach Spencer Arnold. “She was running as a sprinter at my old school (in Georgia). When I saw her power out of the blocks I knew she could be good as a weightlifter,” Arnold said. “She played basketball but she’s five feet tall, she’s made for weightlifting.” The first person Rodriguez spoke to after her medal-winning debut was her training partner Jourdan Delacruz who, like Canada’s Olympic champion Maude Charron, is also coached by Arnold. “Jourdan helped me with this entire competition prep, and has helped me as long as I’ve been lifting,” said Rodriguez, 19. “She just told me to go out, trust my technique and strength, and here we are. “I was still a track athlete until the end of 2022, the 100-metre dash and 200-metre dash. It took Spencer nearly three years to persuade me to take up weightlifting and I didn’t do it until after my last meet as a sprinter. “Honestly I should have listened to him earlier, I should have taken it up in my sophomore year when I was 15. Now my plan is to be a full-time weightlifter. “Where I’m at right now as far as my training, my environment, the amount of hours I put in, I’m in a good spot. Now my long-term ambition is to make LA 2028." Rodriguez made four good lifts, took clean and jerk gold, and bettered her national-meet numbers across the board, finishing 72-99-171. Huang made 76-96-172, and Nozomi Abe from Japan edged out Kerlys Montilla from Venezuela for third place on total. Huang Yi-Chen (TPE) Montilla won silver in snatch and bronze in clean and jerk but, remarkably, was out of the medals on total because she failed with two clean and jerks and made her 170kg total after Abe. Poox, 20, had won silver and bronze in junior and youth IWF championships, and plenty more medals besides but today was the day he wanted gold above all others. “I’m so happy, so proud. I’ve waited so long for this and now I have won gold in my own country,” said Poox, whose first international competition came just after his 14th birthday in 2017. “I knew it was my last chance in the juniors.” He made all six lifts in his 103-131-234 for a sweep of golds, despite a worrying moment when he came out for his first clean and jerk attempt. “I thought I had a full minute but then somebody shouted (from the audience) and I looked at the clock and saw I had less than 15 seconds.” Poox was still chalking his hands and trying to calm his nerves at the time, and the clock dipped below 10 seconds when he dashed on to the platform and rushed the lift. He took a deep breath, beat the clock and made a good lift.  “I was a bit anxious, but now I’m so happy to be champion,” he said. After 11 straight competitions at the minimum weight of 55kg, Poox is planning to go up to 61kg next year. Kento Kousaka from Japan finished second on 97-130-227 and Andrii Revko from Ukraine, who failed with his final two attempts, was third on 100-120-220. Poox’s team-mate Wilfredo Aleman took bronze in clean and jerk on 121kg. The women's 45kg podium Turkey took gold and bronze in the opening event of the Championships when Bektas and Gamze Altun both made career bests at 45kg in their final competition as juniors. Bektas continued her remarkable run of success with a clear-cut victory on 73-90-163, posting personal bests in snatch and total. In 12 international competitions she has finished on the podium 11 times, winning world and European youth and junior titles, as well as senior continental gold and a senior Worlds bronze this year. “Yes, it was a good way to finish as a junior,” said a happy Bektas. “It was my best total in competition but I’ve done 170 in training.” Bektas is already looking forward to trying for another senior Worlds medal next year, when she expects to move up to 49kg. Her 16-year-old sister Aysu has a promising career too, having won European Under-15 gold and silver medals. Altun, also 20, made a remarkable improvement after sitting in 10th place at halfway. “In the snatch I was so disappointed, but after that I knew I could lift perfectly in clean and jerk,” she said. “With the help of God I got third place.” Altun made 63-91-154, winning clean and jerk gold and improving her career best by 2kg. Second place went to Marta Garcia from Spain, another 20-year-old, who made 71-86-157. Habiba Saad from Egypt took snatch bronze on 69kg. This session featured the two youngest athletes among the 229 entries, Kateryna Malashchuk from Ukraine and Kim Camilleri from Malta, both 15. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia