Ismailia, Day 7: Photo Gallery
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Ismailia, Day 7: 15-year-old Hu makes historic total – and Iran’s heavyweights complete a ‘double 1-2’ again
Hu Wenxun made her mark in weightlifting history on the final day of the IWF World Junior Championships in Ismailia, Egypt. In finishing second to her team-mate Zhang Yuxin in the women’s super-heavyweights, the 15-year-old from China had a sweep of youth world records on 125-163-288. That is the heaviest total ever by a youth female, and equal to Emily Campbell’s effort that earned her an Olympic bronze medal in Paris two years ago. Iran also had a memorable day, finishing 1-2 in both the heaviest men’s categories for the second year in a row. That put them top of the men’s medal table despite their late arrival in Ismailia and their disrupted preparations. Hu Wenxun (CHN) Hu was born in October 2010, which means she will be eligible for youth competitions (age 13-17) until the end of 2027. She claimed all three youth world records on her only previous international appearance at the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain last year, where she made 115-152-267. Today’s effort was way better than the winning numbers for three senior continental champions last month – Campbell from Britain in Europe, Lisseth Ayovi from Ecuador in the Pan Ams, and Iuniarra Sipaia from Samoa in Oceania. Hu surpassed the previous best total by a female youth by 16kg. That was 272kg by Nadezhda Nogay from Kazakhstan in 2011. It might have been a wider margin – and victory over Zhang - if Hu had made her final attempt on 166kg, the only one she missed. Zhang Yuxin (CHN) Zhang, 18, also failed once in her 126-164-290. Tuana Suren from Turkiye was third, 43kg behind the winner on 109-138-247. Barbara Mendoza completed a successful championships for Venezuela by taking snatch bronze on 110kg. Hu said she has been in weightlifting for seven years, having started at school. “I started weightlifting because I wanted to lose weight,” she laughed. It did not quite turn out that way: Hu weighed in today at 123kg, second highest of the 12 athletes. She said her best numbers in training were 120-165, so was very happy with her performance, especially in snatch. And what’s next? “I hope my next competition will be the World Youth Championships in Colombia,” she said. That is in July, by which time the numbers might have improved again. Abolfazi Zare (IRI) Iran’s stars were Abolfazl Zare, who hit the 400kg mark to win at 110kg, and Hamidreza Mohammaditanha, who won the super-heavyweights for the second straight year with a six-from-six 180-221-401. It was a first victory for Zare after he finished second twice at the World Juniors. Zare, 19, made five good lifts for 180-220-400, ahead of his team-mate Farhad Gholizadeh on 179-208-387. Simone Abati from Italy was third with a six-from-six 173-200-373, his best by 16kg. Wang Guizhou from China, who bombed out in snatch, missed his first two clean and jerks but made the last one on 207kg for a bronze medal. Marcin Ziolkowski from Poland was in contention for third place but failed twice in clean and jerk and Abati claimed a rare heavyweight medal for Italy. Zare jumped 11kg for his final attempt despite having won already. “He has done 185-226 in training,” said Sajjad Anoushirivani, president of the Iran Weightlifting Federation. “We are very strong at 110kg. We have four athletes all trying to qualify for the Olympic Games.” They are today’s two medallists plus Amirhosein Sepah and Alireza Nasiri, all aged 19 or 20. Hamidreza Mohammaditanha (IRI) Nasiri won last year – his second junior world title – and set junior world records of 231kg in clean and jerk and 414kg on total at the senior World Championships in Norway. He will lift at the Asian Championships in India next weekend. Omadillo Olimov from Uzbekistan threatened to ruin Iran’s 1-2 finish in the super-heavyweights when he made his final attempt to finish 169-219-388. But Taha Nemati responded with his fifth good lift to take silver on 172-220-392. Selahattin Altin from Turkiye took snatch bronze on 170kg and finished fourth. Iran’s ‘big four’ collectively weighed 528kg and lifted 1,580kg – slightly up on last year in body weight and kilos lifted. When the Championships began last weekend, Iran’s participation was uncertain. The Egyptian sports minister, after prompting from the IWF president Mohammed Jalood, helped to clear the way for Iran’s visas and they arrived on Tuesday. “The long journey and lack of rest affected our first two athletes but the others were fine and performed well,” said Anoushirivani. The team’s one-month training camp had to be cancelled because of the war, and the juniors – whose head coach is the 2016 Olympic champion Sohrab Moradi – instead trained alongside the seniors for two weeks. Iran finished the Championships with two golds, two silvers and one bronze on total. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio
Ismailia, Day 6: Photo Gallery
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Ismailia, Day 6: Venezuela strikes gold again and Turkmenistan’s champion reveals the secret of success – get off your phone
Venezuela had another hugely impressive winner at the IWF World Junior Championships in Ismailia, Egypt when Mauricio Loaiza made all six attempts to take the 94kg title in his first competition outside Latin America. Loaiza was Venezuela’s second champion in successive days after Angel Rodriguez won at 88kg on Wednesday. Anamjan Rustamova from Turkmenistan came out on top in the closest finish yet at these Championships to win the women’s 86kg. After singing her anthem at the medal ceremony, Rustamova, who will be 20 on Friday, revealed the key to her success. Anamjan Rustamova (TKM) “I gave up my mobile phone for two months at training camp to focus only on my preparations,” she said. “It was my decision, not the coach’s. “I didn’t want any distractions, I just wanted to work hard. Of course there were times when I wanted to call my parents so I had to ask my coach if I could borrow his phone.” The scoreboard showed the top three on 253-252-251 with one attempt each to come. Emma Poghosyan from Armenia was in the lead, Xu Linyue from China was second and Rustamova third. Xu went first and led with a six-from-six 110-146-256. Rustamova had failed at 145kg but needed 147kg to overtake Xu. She did it, finishing 12kg better than her previous highest total on 110-147-257. The Women's 86kg podium Poghosyan, 4kg behind, was already well up on her best total and could not make the 149kg she needed. She made 109-144-253 in third place. For the second straight year Rustamova was a junior world champion. “We are still here tomorrow and I will be celebrating my birthday in Egypt,” she said. “There will be cake, of course.” Remarkably for someone who is still a teenager - at least for a day - Rustamova was competing in her eighth World Championships, one in the Youths, five in the Juniors and two in the seniors. She will go to the Asian Games and a third senior World Championships before the year is out. “Maybe I should give up my phone again next time,” she said. Rustamova was “never nervous, always confident” despite being 4kg behind the snatch gold medallist Rahma Ahmed at halfway and needing that final lift to overtake Xu. Ahmed, from Egypt, bombed out in clean and jerk, failing three times on 131kg. Mauricio Loaiza (VEN) Marian Murgvliani from Georgia took snatch silver on 111kg and, like her team-mate Nana Khorava the day before, finished fourth on total. Georgia fared better in the men’s 94kg when Goga Jajvani rescued a medal with his last lift. He won snatch gold but missed twice at 198kg and was in danger of a bombout when he made 200kg to finish 167-200-367 for second place. Goga Jajvani (GEO) Jajvani won the 89kg title last year, when he finished one kilogram ahead of yesterday’s winner Rodriguez. Another Venezuelan got the better of him this time. Loaiza, who last competed 10 months ago, prepared well and put 28kg on his best total, making 166-207-373. Just like Rodriguez, he looked very impressive throughout. There was still a chance that Loaiza could be beaten. Hamidreza Zarei from Iran, who was 5kg behind at halfway and 7kg behind with one attempt left, cleaned 212kg and got the bar above his head but he could not complete the lift. Zarei was third on 162-204-366. Hamidreza Zarei (IRI) Valerik Movsisyan from Armenia took snatch bronze on 164kg before bombing out in clean and jerk. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio
Ismailia, Day 5: Photo Gallery
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Ismailia, Day 5: Golds for Venezuela and Armenia – and 17-year-old wins medal after 16kg weight gain
Angel Rodriguez was an impressive winner for Venezuela and Anna Amroyan from Armenia was in tears after a dramatic victory with the last lift of the day at the IWF World Junior Championships in Ismailia, Egypt. It was the first day without a winner from Asia. The top three in the women’s 77kg had all won medals at the senior European Championships in Georgia 12 days ago, where Amroyan set a junior continental record in clean and jerk after bombing out in snatch. The leading two in Georgia, Janette Ylisoini from Finland and 17-year-old Varvara Kuzminova from Russia, finished second and third here. Anna Amroyan (ARM) This time Amroyan made all six attempts to finish 106-134-240. She won with her final lift, then fell flat on her back in tears. There were more tears on the podium as her anthem was played. Ylisoini made only one snatch but it was enough for gold. She missed her final clean and jerk and finished 108-131-239. Kuzminova made 107-130-237 and with the Georgian snatch silver medallist Nana Khorava next on 108-126-234, the top four were all European. Seine Stowers, the Samoan who was within 3kg of the junior world record when she won the Oceania title on 254kg last month, had the highest entry total but did not make it to Egypt. Anna Ylisoini (FIN) Ylisoini was competing internationally for the 22nd time in less than five years. She likes to keep busy but said, “I had only five days at home after Georgia before I flew to Egypt. I need a break so I will take some rest now and my next competition will be the World Championships in China (in October and November).” The Women's 77kg podium Rodriguez, narrowly beaten last year, made five good lifts for 168-197-365 at 88kg. Asian athletes still had cause to celebrate when Kazakhstan’s two men in the session both won medals. One of them, 17-year-old Alikhan Askerbay, increased his body weight by 23.43 per cent in 190 days – and said he will put on more weight yet. Angel Rodriguez (VEN) At last year ‘s World Juniors Rodriguez weighed in light in the 89kg category and gave a 4kg body weight advantage to the Georgian winner Goga Jajvani. He was beaten by one kilogram. Venezuela had high hopes of Rodriguez, who prepared well and weighed in within a few grams of the limit this time. He dominated from the start and led by 7kg at halfway. After missing his final attempt on 200kg he was 9kg clear of Yerasyl Saulebekov, who needed to equal the world record in clean and jerk to overtake him. He could not do it. “I tried very hard and did what I could but I’m not satisfied with silver,” Saulebekov said. “I was here for gold.” Yerasyl Saulebekov (KAZ) Askerbay weighed 70.73kg and lifted in the 71kg category at the Asian Youth Games in October 2025, his last international competition before today. In Ismailia 190 days later he was 87.3kg, up by 16.57kg. “I ate a lot of horse meat, I ate a lot of everything,” he said of his remarkable weight gain. “I’m going to get even heavier because the plan is for me to go up and Yerasyl to go down to 85.” The Men's 88kg podium Askerbay, who holds all three youth world records at 71kg, took silver in snatch, bronze in clean and jerk and finished third on total. He made all six lifts for 161-194-355. Saulebekov, a Youth world champion at 67kg and 73kg, improved his best total by 12kg on 157-199-356. Fourth-placed Moustafa Bakry from Egypt won snatch bronze on 158kg. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio
