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Sofia, Day 8: Champion Tsikhantsou boosts Paris hopes – and Norway’s Koanda wins by 50kg

The 102kg Olympic rankings tightened up after four men from Armenia and Belarus put on a show at the European Championships in Sofia. Six lifters ranked behind the Chinese leader Liu Huanhua are now separated by only 4kg. Solfrid Koanda from Norway also showed her class in the evening session, the women’s 87kg. She won by 50kg in making career-high numbers to take her third straight European title. In the 102kg, champion Yauheni Tsikhantsou went for the biggest lift in qualifying at this weight, a 225kg clean and jerk. He failed but is confident of success next time. Yauheni Tsikhantsou (AIN) “I have made 225 many times in training, and I’ve also made 230,” he said. “With good preparation, it will come.” There was also an attempt at the biggest snatch to date in qualifying when Garik Karapetyan went for 187kg. He missed that one and two clean and jerks, losing ground to his Armenian team-mate Samvel Gasparyan in the process. Karapetyan is a triple junior world champion and, at 20, is one of one of the best young weightlifters in the world. He will not be in Paris unless he outperforms Gasparyan in the final qualifier, the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand which ends on April 11. Tsikhantsou, an individual neutral athlete from Belarus, made 181-217-398 to move above Lesman Paredes from Bahrain into fifth place. Gasparyan is seventh after his 180-216-396. Siarhei Sharankou made a 12kg improvement on his best qualifying total with 178-212-390 in fourth place, missing only his final attempt. Sharankou, 21, is also an individual neutral from Belarus and, like Karapetyan, he does not feature in the simplified rankings because he has a team-mate ahead of him. Nations cannot qualify more than one athlete in any weight category. Vasil Marinov from Bulgaria wasted a chance to move up when, after making his openers, he missed all his other attempts. Irakli Chkeidze from Georgia was below his best in fifth place on 174-212-386, just ahead of the B group winner Tudor Bratu from Moldova. Those two are ninth and 10th in the rankings respectively. After 11 attempts had been made in the first 25 minutes, two Polish lifters were already out of the competition. Daniel Goljasz and his 36-year-old team-mate Arsen Kasabijew both bombed out. The 32-year-old triple Olympian Arturs Plesnieks from Latvia bombed out in clean and jerk. Wes Kitts from the United States withdrew. He has had knee and hip injuries and was not at his best in the warm-up. Solfrid Koanda (NOR) Koanda, a medal contender at 81kg for Paris 2024, recovered from a snatch bombout at the World Championships last September with a sweep of personal bests on 120-160-280 here. She was up 3kg in snatch, 4kg in clean and jerk and 8kg on total. “I learned from what happened in Riyadh,” Koanda said afterwards. What did she learn, exactly? “Never to make the same mistakes again!” Her target in Thailand will be “just to push through and continue this good work”. Koanda weighed in light at 85.62kg. It is not often Denmark gets the better of Armenia in weightlifting. It did when Anne Sofie Jensen made all three snatches to take silver in that discipline ahead of Hripsime Khurshudyan. Jensen was sixth on total, 1kg behind three women who made 227kg – Khurshudyan, her team-mate Tatev Hakobyan and Busra Can from Turkey. Khurshudyan got there first for bronze behind Anastasiia Manievska from Ukraine on 102-128-230, who won silver despite finishing 50kg behind Koanda. Khurshudyan, 36, and the German Nina Schroth, 32, both retired from international competition after they left the platform.  Khurshudyan left with a medal, while Schroth ended her career with a jury review on her final attempt. No lift. Hristo Hristov (BUL) Hristo Hristov was a very happy silver medallist in the men’s 109kg, having become a father for the first time less than 24 hours earlier. His son was born at 19.49 on Sunday night in Varna, 500 kilometres away from Sofia. “I had to be here preparing for competition when he was born,” said happy Hristov. “I still managed to sleep OK. We have named him Maxim. Tomorrow morning I will drive to pick up mother and son from hospital in Varna.” Hristov, 23, made five good lifts for 175-205-380, finishing 8kg behind winner Dadash Dadashbayli from Azerbaijan. Dadashbayli tried to break the 400kg barrier with a final attempt at 225kg but failed and finished 176-212-388. Matthaeus Hofmann from Germany was third on 172-206-378. Fourth-placed Onur Demirci from Turkey took clean and jerk silver on 168-207-375. By Brian Oliver

Sofia, Day 7: Victory for Poland’s Zielinska, and no progress for USA pair in Paris rankings

Poland had its first winner at the 2024 European Championships when Weronika Zielinska made her final attempt to take the women’s 81kg.  It was a first senior victory for 26-year-old Zielinska, one of two former track and field athletes on the podium. She competed in heptathlon as a teenager, while the Belgian snatch bronze medallist Ilke Lagrou was a hammer thrower.  Neither of the two Americans going head to head for a place at Paris 2024 made any progress in the rankings. Mattie Rogers withdrew because of a quad injury and Tokyo silver medallist Kate Vibert missed five straight attempts before retiring. Weronika Zielinska (left) with coach and university tutor Paulina Szyszka Vibert, who weighed in at 76.89kg, had never lifted at 81kg before. She has moved up from 71kg, where team-mate Olivia Reeves is sure of qualifying, and will now be at the bottom of the 81kg rankings on zero while Rogers stays ninth on 252kg.  Rogers and Vibert will have another chance at the final Olympic qualifier, the IWF World Cup which ends in Thailand on April 11.  Zielinska will also be trying to qualify there.  Vibert was aiming for Reeves’ national record of 144kg in clean and jerk but missed twice at 140kg. She had already failed three times in snatch on 110kg.  Europe’s top two 81kg lifters did not compete today. Solfrid Koanda from Norway is already assured of a place in Paris and will go for the 87kg title in Sofia, while Marie Fegue from France weighed in without lifting at 76kg. Zielinska was unable to prepare properly because of a wrist injury that restricted her snatching. She missed two snatches but still took a sweep of golds on 103-132-235.  “In Thailand we will do better,” said her coach Paulina Szyszka, who is also her tutor. “The aim here was to go for a medal, not to improve the best qualifying total.”  Szyszka has written academic papers on the snatch after biomechanical analysis and other research. Zielinska’s PhD at the Warsaw University of Physical Education will also focus on the mechanics of the snatch. Lagrou bombed out in clean and jerk after holding third place at halfway on 103kg. The Tokyo Olympian Elena Erighina from Moldova was second on 103-131-234 and Dilara Narin from Turkey third on 97-125-222.  Men's 96kg podium Armenia had a 1-2 finish in the men’s 96kg, in which third and fourth places both went to individual neutral athletes from Belarus. There was a tense head-to-head contest between Hakob Mkrtchyan and the double champion Davit Hovhannisyan. When Mkrtchyan made all three clean and jerks for 166-209-375, Hovhannisyan had to make 210kg with his last lift for a third straight European title. He failed, finishing 169-205-374 for second place.  Mkrtchyan, 26, was world and European champion at 89kg in 2019 but until this victory had not won since. Pavel Khadasevich made only two good lifts for 165-195-360, enough for third place ahead of his team-mate Yulian Kurlovich, who took clean and jerk bronze on 157-196-353.  Tudor Bratu (MDA) and his coaches Tudor Bratu from Moldova may have to return to the podium on day eight after a good performance in the 102kg B Group. Bratu moved into the top 10 of the Olympic rankings when he hit form at the IWF Grand Prix in Doha in December. But for being laid low by a virus after that competition he might have moved further up here.  “I could only train properly for four weeks,” he said. There was also Covid in the team. “Of course the target is 400, and I will be trying my best for it in Thailand,” said Bratu, who failed with his final attempt in making 175-210-385. That is enough to challenge for medals. By Brian

EWF Congress: Moldova to host 2025 European Championships, and former president Urso says farewell

Europe’s “weightlifting family” heard about new projects focused on athletes, spectators and competition formats during the EWF Congress in Sofia, where IWF president Mohammed Jalood said there was evidence of “a new culture” in the sport. Hosting arrangements for next year’s senior, junior and youth championships were announced. The senior European Championships will be in Moldova in April, the Youth/U15 event in Poland in August, and the Junior/U23 Championships in Albania in October. Precise dates and details will be announced soon. EWF president Antonio Conflitti and Jalood both spoke optimistically about the future. That future will not feature one of weightlifting’s most prominent leaders during recent years of reform. Antonio Urso, the Italian who served three terms as EWF president and is now general secretary of the IWF, announced that he will retire from the sport. “This is my last year in weightlifting,” said Urso, who will stay in office until the next IWF elections in the first half of 2025. “From next year my life will drive me in another direction. “I started in international activities in 2008 when I was elected EWF president. It has been not just a professional experience by a life experience for me. I want to thank all of you.” Antonio Conflitti and Antonio Urso Urso, whose future work will concern the coaching of children in a range of sports, has spoken before of the need for weightlifting to modernise. “It is time to find a new way for development. We need a completely new model for our sport,” Urso told delegates. Conflitti raised the topic of modernisation in his report to Congress, which highlighted innovations at competitions. At the Youth Championships in Chisinau, Moldova last year the EWF piloted a fan zone “to bring the audience closer to the athletes”. The EWF Cup was staged outdoors at Ancient Olympia, and there was also an outdoor event at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Maribor, Slovenia. “Times demand that we adapt to modern needs, particularly those of the younger generation,” said Conflitti, who also said he was proud of the launch of EWF Web TV. Six nominated members of the new EWF Athletes Commission were voted in by Congress. The athletes will now elect one of their own members to represent them on the EWF board. Jenny Tong from Britain, who thanked delegates for approving her and five colleagues to the Commission, spoke about the importance of giving athletes “a meaningful voice in the EWF”. She suggested that the Commission should have joint chairs, one male and one female, for gender parity. Tong, Anais Michel Cozzela from France, and Despina Polaktsidou from Greece are the women members. The men are David Litvinov from Israel, Arturs Plesnieks from Latvia and Sean Brown from Ireland. Brown was on the platform in the 89kg B Group, setting a national clean and jerk record, when the members were approved. At the outset the members were nominated by the EWF executive board. In future, now that the Commission exists, they will go through the same election procedure as candidates for the board. Colin Buckley from Ireland, chair of the EWF Coaching and Research Committee, reported on the success of the ongoing coaching licence project launched by the EWF last year in collaboration with the IWF. There has been 100% compliance with the project by EWF member federations, he said. “This is a project for the future, one that is very important for our sport,” Buckley said. He reported that, of 334 coaches registered in Europe, half had been though formal learning for their role, but 20% had taught themselves by watching videos. “We have a duty to bring coaches up to a minimum standard,” he said. There are plans to hold a master class for European coaches next year. “The IWF has the strongest anti-doping policy of all sports, and this will make it even stronger,” said Jalood, who pointed out that coaches are far more responsible for doping than athletes. Coaches whose athletes commit doping violations will be liable to lose their licence. Jalood had more news about the fight against doping. There had been nearly 700 athletes at the IWF World Championships and zero doping positives, he said. “Then at Asian Games zero, World Junior Championships in Mexico zero, Grand Prix in Qatar zero. “This shows that the culture in weightlifting is changing, we are going in the right direction. Let’s hope there are zero in Paris. We will all be happy if weightlifting’s presence is increased in the Olympic Games in future. If there is doping in Paris that will be difficult.” Mohammed Jalood (right) receiving the EWF Gold Collar from Antonio Conflitti  As a tribute for his action as IWF President, Jalood was awarded the highest EWF recognition, the “Gold Collar”. “Considering your admirable commitment in supporting sport and Olympic values, considering also the outstanding achievements in leading the IWF through the worst moment in our sport's history, confirming weightlifting in the Olympic program, and establishing confidence with the IOC, I am honoured to present you this recognition,” considered Conflitti, the leader of the European continental

Sofia, Day 6: ‘You lifted the weights with me’ Nasar tells huge home crowd after record-breaking win

Karlos Nasar did not disappoint a European Championships sell-out crowd of 3,000 at Arena Sofia. “I love you all, you lifted the weights with me!” he told the noisy Bulgarian fans after winning the European 89kg title for a second time at the age of 19. Nasar broke his own junior world record in snatch and was within sight of his senior world record in clean and jerk with one attempt to come. The crowd roared when the number 224 went up on the board, but Nasar declined the attempt. “I had cramp,” he said. “But what a great day. I expected to win but this was so exciting because of the crowd.” Karlos Nasar (BUL) at the top of the podium at home Nasar made five good lifts for 176-215-391, which was 4kg lower than his best total in Olympic qualifying. He remains 1kg behind Li Dayin from China, who leads the Paris rankings on 396kg. A huge crowd in Sofia Among the many people who congratulated him before the medal ceremony was Blagoy Blagoev, one of the sport’s great names. Blagoev was IWF World Weightlifter of the Year twice in the early 1980s. He set 13 world records in snatch, the discipline in which he believes Nasar still needs to improve. “He surprised them in the snatch today, though,” Blagoev said. “They expected him to make 170. He was prepared for 224 in clean and jerk. The crowd wanted it and maybe he would have gone for it if this wasn’t an Olympic year, but it was a smart move to retire if he was cramping.   “Karlos is great for Bulgarian weightlifting after so many years of underachievement. But what we really need is a whole team, not just one world-class lifter.” Nasar with Bulgarian legend Blagoy Blagoev Second-placed Nino Pizzolato from Italy finished 170-210 from only two good lifts, equalling his best qualifying total. Olympic medallist Pizzolato went for a big one on his final attempt, 222kg, and although he failed he looked capable of improvement on only his second competition since a long-term back injury. Pizzolato said, “I went for 222 to try to bring the title home, but the real goal remains the Olympics and I will be ready.” Marin Robu from Moldova took bronze on total. He also appeared to be lifted by the crowd, making five from six and winning snatch silver on his way to a career-best 171-207-378. That 8kg improvement moved Robu from 12th to eighth in the rankings, a place ahead of the Armenian Andranik Karapetyan, who had a bad day in fifth place. Karapetyan made only two good lifts in totalling 365kg, down 12kg on his best qualifying effort. Another improver was Petr Asayonak, the individual neutral athlete from Belarus. Asayonak fought hard after missing his first two snatches, made a good save on his second clean and jerk and finished fourth on 167-207-374. After Karim Abokahla posted a good total at the African Championships, the upward moves by Robu and Asayonak have bumped Canada’s Boady Santavy down to 11th. Santavy is entered at the Pan American Championships in Venezuela next week. Nathan Damron from the United States lost ground when he bombed out in snatch. The Albanian Ertjan Kofsha, a junior world medallist last November, also bombed out in snatch. The women's 76kg podium An Italian newcomer took the women’s 76kg. Genna Toko made a 220kg total in winning the national championships two months ago, and improved on that to take a sweep of medals on her first international appearance. Toko, 21, originally from Cameroon but brought up in Tuscany, made 101-126-227 to win by 11kg. She failed with her final attempt at 131kg. Nicole Rubanovich from Israel declined final attempt on 99-117-216 in second place. Lara Dancz from Germany was third in her first senior international appearance on 101-114-215. There was a clean and jerk bronze for seventh-placed Laura Tolstrup from Denmark, who made 89-116-205. Laura Horvath, labelled “the fittest woman in the world” in CrossFit after winning the 2023 CrossFit Games, made two good lifts for 90-115-205. That was 5kg better than her only other total in international weightlifting three years ago. By Brian

Sofia, Day 5: Toma takes sixth European title as American Reeves’ perfect run ends

Loredana Toma from Romania won her sixth European title despite missing her last two attempts in the women’s 71kg at the European Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. The American Olivia Reeves, lifting as a guest and unable to win medals, made 14kg more than Toma. After three straight six-from-six performances Reeves missed three attempts and was 7kg lower than her best total in Olympic qualifying. Siuzanna Valodzka had a chance to overtake Toma on her final attempt at 137kg but barely got the bar above her knees. Toma and Valodzka, the individual neutral athlete from Belarus, were both well down on their best effort in the Paris rankings and remain fourth and ninth respectively. The celebration of the Romanian team The biggest move was by third-placed Lisa Marie Schweizer from Germany, up from 22nd to 15th. Schweizer was close to making all six lifts, losing only one for a press-out on a jury review. Team-mate Max Lang also had a ‘good lift’ overturned on review in the men’s 73kg on Thursday, and like Schweizer he is a few kilos outside the top 10. “I will have to analyse the video but I didn’t think it was a pressout,” said Schweizer, who improved her career-best snatch by 4kg, clean and jerk by 2kg and total by 6kg. She made 107-124-231 and will need at least 10kg more to make the top 10 in the final, the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand which ends on April 11. “I’ll go all in there,” she said. “I’m confident.” Lisa Marie Schweizer (GER) The two American guests would have finished first and third in an open contest. Reeves, 20, who is second in the rankings behind China’s Liao Guifang, finished on 115-140-255. She was close to making her final clean and jerk at 148kg, getting the bar above her head before losing it forwards. Meredith Alwine made all three clean and jerks for 98-135-233. Celia Gold has competed against the Americans in national competitions, and said she lifted against Alwine 10 years ago to the day. Today she won a medal for Israel. The dual-national took clean and jerk silver on 98-128-226, a rankings improvement of 4kg. “You’ll see more in Thailand,” she said. Celia Gold (ISR) Valodzka took gold in clean and jerk in her 105-130-235. Toma won snatch gold ahead of Valodzka and Schweizer, then finished fourth in clean and jerk on 114-127-241. Once again Toma weighed in well below the limit, this time on 68.96kg. Britain’s Sarah Davies was third in clean and jerk, finishing sixth on 98-128-226. Giulia Miserendino from Italy, who is 14th in the rankings, did not travel to Sofia after an injury flared up. She will lift in Phuket. Eyglo Sturludottir had a chance to improve her ranking and win a medal for Iceland, but missed her final two clean and jerks after a run of 19 straight good lifts in qualifying. She made 105-125-230. The Finnish teenager Janette Ylisoini improved her best ranking total by 5kg but remains outside the top 20. Ylisoini, 17, made 101-123-224.  Oscar Reyes from Italy completed an impressive hat-trick of major titles when he won the men’s 81kg, in which a B Group lifter took silver.Reyes declined his final attempt after making 155-191-346. He won the European title last April and became world champion in Saudi Arabia in September.Albania had a good day. Erkand Qerimaj took snatch silver in his 155-180-335, but the 35-year-old was eclipsed by team-mate Kristi Ramadani.Ramadani, 23, had not lifted since last year’s European Championships and was in the B Group. He made five good lifts for 151-190-341, taking silver in clean and jerk and total. It was 24kg more than his previous best.Rafik Harityunyan from Armenia was third on 154-182-336. By Brian

Sofia, Day 4: Bulgarian crowd roars record breaker Andreev to victory – and third place in Paris rankings

The Bulgarian Bozhidar Andreev had a large home crowd on their feet as he broke the continental clean and jerk record on his way to victory in an exciting men’s 73kg at the European Championships in Sofia.Andreev earned a huge cheer when he broke the record on 193kg with his final attempt, and the crowd roared again when he performed his trademark celebratory somersault. After missing his first snatch, Andreev made five good lifts for a sweep of golds on 155-193-348.That left him 12kg clear of Furkan Ozbek from Turkey, with last year’s winner Ritvars Suharevs from Latvia third. Both of them failed with two clean and jerks in a session that featured more no-lifts than good lifts. Men's 73kg podiumAndreev, 27, moved from seventh place to third in the Olympic rankings.“This was my first competition in Bulgaria, and what an experience,” he said. “The crowd was perfect for me, the support really helped.”Ozbek missed his first two clean and jerks after snatching 150kg for the first time in his career. He made 150-186-336, a 2kg improvement in the rankings that will take him to eighth place.Suharevs, who drops to fifth, was 10kg down on his best qualifying total, making 154-177-331.Mirko Zanni from Italy failed three times to make 183kg in clean and jerk, and will surely need to improve his 335kg best qualifying total to make it to Paris. He is 10th now, and vulnerable to improvers.There was a turnaround in the rankings for three nations – Germany, Albania and the United States, lifting here as guests - when the man in pole position was overtaken by a team-mate.Roberto Gutu from Germany went ahead of Max Lang when he won the B Group on 151-178-329. Lang needed his final lift and made it, only to lose it on jury review for bending and extending his elbow. That lift would have given Lang a six-from-six total of 333kg.Briken Calja had not made a single clean and jerk in qualifying before today, bombing out four times. He finally did it and moved from 63rd place, on zero, to 16th with two good lifts for 148-180-328. He is now ahead of team-mate Erkand Qerimaj. For the US, Ryan Grimsland was overtaken by Caden Cahoy, who made 144-185-329. Chris Murray (GBR)Of all four athletes who bombed out, Britain’s Chris Murray was by far the happiest. The 73kg newcomer set a national snatch record before failing with his jerks in the B Group. He cleaned all three before failing twice at 179kg and then at 183kg.  If he had made any of them he would have beaten his best total at 81kg, at which weight he lifted for five years.“It was dizziness because of losing so much weight in a 12-week drop after the World Championships,” he said. “I had to do it to stay in Olympic qualifying and I needed the pressure to do it. I’ve come to realise that I was complacent about everything as an 81.“We’re always complaining in the west that other nations are better than us because they’re doping but now I’m thinking, ‘Maybe it’s actually because they do things properly.’“Now I’m doing it properly too. I’ve found a nutritionist, I have a new sleep routine, regular massages, better physio and recovery. It’s costing me a lot so I won’t be putting down a deposit on a house any time soon.“But if I’m going to be a weightlifter I’m going to do it properly. I spent too long looking at  what the best Brits have done. Now I’m looking at the best out there, as well as looking inwards for change.“I’m learning a lot through this qualification process. I need to look at what happened here, maybe change my technique to make the cleans quicker, talk again to my nutritionist. Coming down, I still don’t know what my training volume is.“But I’m up there now as a 73. I’m confident that over the next four years I can do numbers that will challenge for medals. I’ve done everything as well as I can to this point, I’m feeling great and I’m really excited about going to Thailand (for the final Olympic qualifier six weeks from now).”Britain has sent its biggest ever team of 39 to these Championships, including athletes, coaches, support personnel and technical officials. Women's 64kg podiumUkraine had a 1-2 finish in the women’s 64kg when Hanna Davydova made 100-120-220 to edge ahead of team-mate Svitlana Samuliak on 101-118-219. Both lifters had their final attempts overturned by the jury for bending and extending.Wiktoria Wolk from Poland missed her first two snatches then made four good lifts to take clean and jerk gold and third place overall on 94-121-215, ahead of snatch bronze medallist Aysel Ozkan from Turkey.Samuliak was a European silver medallist at 55kg last year, as well as junior champion at 59kg. She weighed in lightest today at 61.46kg but will have to pile on some weight in the next few weeks if she is to try for a place at Paris 2024. Kamila Konotop’s presence at 59kg means the only weight category open to her is 71kg, where she would need to improve by about 25kg on today’s total. Sabine Kusterer (GER)Double Olympian Sabine Kusterer from Germany left her shoes on the platform after making all three clean and jerks to bring to an end an international career that began 17 years ago. “My first international youth competition was in 2007 and my first senior was 2010,” said Kusterer, 33, wearing a ‘Time to say goodbye’ t-shirt. She will also leave the military, where she has been in the army sport group, to study economics and turn to coaching. By Brian