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Tunis, Day 3: Egypt, Tunisia and Nigeria make moves in Paris weightlifting rankings

Weightlifters from Egypt, Tunisia and Nigeria made progress in the rankings for Paris 2024 with good performances in two Olympic weight categories at the African Championships in Tunis. Until two days ago the only African nation with athletes ranked in the top 10 was Egypt, which had Sara Samir at 81kg, and the women’s and men’s superheavyweights Halima Abelazim Sedky and Abdelrahman Mohamed El-Sayed. Rafiatu Lawal went joint 10th for Nigeria at 59kg on Monday, and while her team-mates Joy Eze and Joseph Umoafia did not make it that far they moved up impressively in the women’s 71kg and men’s 73kg today. Karem Ben Hnia won his eighth continental title in the 73kg class and if he had made more than two good lifts the popular Tunisian might have gone straight into the top 10. He is slightly lower than that after he was timed out on one attempt at an African record clean and jerk and failed with the next one too, finishing 146-180-326. One record he did set was for the most photos here when he was asked to pose with many friends and fans. After smiling through dozens of photos Ben Hnia said, “For the past month I have been training seriously only on my upper body because of pain in my left leg. “I know my body, I know what I can do. Before that I was training well enough to make 340. “I will be fine for Cuba (the next qualifier) next month and I promise you when I lift there I will be in the top 10 in the world.” Second-placed Samir Fardjallah from Algeria moved up a few places in the rankings with 141-174-315 and 20-year-old bronze medallist Umoafia is around 30th after his first 300-plus total on 142-170-312. The top two in the men’s 73kg Paris rankings, Rahmat Erwin and Rizki Junyansyah from Indonesia, both won gold at the weekend in the Southeast Asian Games. Junyansyah totalled 347kg, the same number he made at the IWF World Championships in Colombia in December, to win in Cambodia. Erwin, the world champion, went up to 81kg and totalled 359kg. Both men skipped the Asian Championships to win gold in Cambodia and said they would return to Paris qualifying in Cuba next month. In the women’s 71kg there were no Africans higher than 86th in the list until Neama Said from Egypt and teenager Eze finished well clear of their rivals with totals of 229kg and 227kg. Both will now be ranked just outside the top 10. Said, 20, was inspired by Sara Samir to take up weightlifting and is the only Egyptian woman to have matched her world title successes since she first competed internationally in 2018, when she took a silver medal at the Youth Olympic Games and won continental youth and junior titles. “Neama is from Al-Mahsama, a village near the Suez Canal that’s close to where Sara Samir is from,” said Mahmoud Mahgoub, the Weightlifting Federation of Africa (WFA) first vice-president who twice lifted at the Olympic Games for Egypt. “When Sara won her bronze medal at the Rio Olympics (the first by a woman from the Arab world) suddenly all the parents in that region wanted their daughters to be like her and we had a lot of new weightlifters. “Neama is the only one from Egypt besides Sara who has won world titles as a youth, junior and senior. “She is one of our best and still very young.” If Said had not failed, just, with her final attempt she would have gone straight into the Paris top 10. She made 102-126-229 and Eze finished 102-125-227, both from four good lifts. Ketty Lent from Mauritius was third on 89-108-197. Nigeria is struggling for funding and the team of five here travelled at the personal expense of national federation president Ibrahim Abdul, a successful businessman. “Weightlifting is not a big sport in Nigeria and we get very little support,” said Ibrahim. “We have a strong team, we have plenty of time to improve, and I hope our results will help us to find some funding.” In the men’s 81kg Ameur Messaoudi from Algeria made a career-best 145-170-315 for victory ahead of the Tunisians Hamza Ben Amor on 137-168-305 and Slim Bchini on 138-162-300. There was a delay of several minutes because of a dispute over a wrongly entered first attempt, which appeared to affect Bchini when he finally came out late to lift and failed. Two minutes later Bchini celebrated long and loud after making his final attempt, as did Ben Amor, but both men were some way behind when Messaoudi made 170kg at the first try after everyone else had finished. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

Tunis, Day 1 & 2: Azerbaijan weightlifter claims continental championships victory – in Africa

A weightlifter from Europe, who lost an Olympic qualifying opportunity when an Armenian burned the Azerbaijan flag, finished first in the African Championships today in Tunis (TUN). Isa Rustamov, 23, made a career-best effort to finish ahead of eight African competitors in the men’s 67kg category with a total that would have earned him a bronze medal at the European Championships last month. But Rustamov did not lift in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, because the Azerbaijan team withdrew before a lift was made after the controversial flag-burning incident at the Opening Ceremony. After that, Azerbaijan’s government ordered the weightlifting team to fly home. Because continental championships are qualifiers for Paris 2024, Azerbaijan had lost a chance to improve their rankings, so the IWF arranged for the same athletes entered in Yerevan to compete instead in Tunis. An Azerbaijan team official said Rustamov’s preparations had been targeted for April, but the extra weeks of training had not adversely affected him. But for a jury overturn of his final attempt, Rustamov would have had a six-from-six total of 306kg, enough for a silver medal in the European competition. The no-lift decision left him on 138-164-302, better than the African winner by 22kg. No medals are awarded to Azerbaijan’s “guest athletes” in Tunis, and the gold went to Ayoub Salem from Tunisia on 126-154-280. Akram Chekhchoukh from Algeria was second and another Tunisian, Mouhamed Ben Hadj, third with totals of 279kg and 273kg. There was an impressive result for Nigeria earlier in the women’s 59kg. Despite missing her first snatch and first clean and jerk, Commonwealth Games 59kg winner Rafiatu Lawal came out top with a 217kg total – enough to put her joint tenth in the Paris 2024 rankings. Lawal is the only African lifter from anywhere other than Egypt to feature in the top 10 in any men’s or women’s weight category. She broke continental records in snatch and total to make 95-122-217, finishing ahead of her team-mate Adijat Olarinoye, who won Commonwealth Games gold at 55kg last year. Olarinoye made 93-118-211. Three of the sessions featured only two lifters, the women’s 45kg and 55kg and men’s 55kg. The champions in those classes were respectively Nadia Katbi from Algeria on 51-65-116, Eya Aquadi from Tunisia on 72-93-165, and Davis Niyoyita from Uganda on 95-120-215. Of the three athletes competing in the women’s 49kg category, Maha Fejraslam from Morocco came out top on 64-79-143. Tunisia had a 1-2 finish in a more competitive women’s 64kg, where Chaima Rhamouni made 90-108-198 ahead of Jawaher Gesmi on 86-107-193. Both women had chances to go beyond 200kg but missed their final two clean and jerks. Ruby Malvina from the Seychelles was third on 80-107-187. Tunisia also took the men’s 61kg, in which Amine Bouhijbha finished 85kg clear of his nearest challenger on 117-140-257. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

Jinju, Final Day: Bahrain, China and young Korean shine at Asian Championships

Gor Minasyan was in record-breaking form to claim the super-heavyweight title and another two continental records on the final day of the Asian Championships here in Jinju. Minasyan has made 14 good lifts in 18 attempts for Bahrain and has set Asian records with nine of them. This was also the first sweep of golds in his career. He was not alone in making his mark - Alireza Yousefi from Iran claimed junior world records in clean and jerk and total. "Gor is the ultimate professional, so dedicated to his sport, so hard-working - if anybody deserves this it’s him," said Eshaq Ebrahim Eshaq, President of the Bahrain Weightlifting Federation. Eshaq, a member of the Asian Weightlifting Federation Executive Board added: "And what a great way to end a great Championships - with the Bahrain national anthem playing." Minasyan is second in the Paris 2024 rankings behind the Georgian world record holder Lasha Talakhadze, who will be the only lifter from outside Asia at the top of any of the 10 ranking lists when they are updated after this event. He improved his first qualifying effort by two kilograms, setting Asian snatch records with lifts number two and three, and the total record with his final clean and jerk.  The large audience, including the VIPs, clapped along to a very loud playing of Boney M’s Rivers of Babylon before Minasyan came out and made his records. Minasyan, who previously represented Armenia, made five from six and finished on 217-247-464. The next four finishers were separated by only two kilograms. Rustam Djangabaev was second on 196-241-437, and his Uzbekistan team-mate Akhbar Djuraev finished third on 195-242-437. Two Iranians were next, snatch silver medallist Ayat Sharifi on 197-239-436 and clean and jerk silver medallist Yousefi with those records in making 190-246-436. Olympic champion Li Wenwen had her ninth straight victory in the women’s super-heavyweights, and there was significant movement in the Paris rankings from the two Koreans who finished behind her. Park Hyejeong made six from six for a very impressive 127-168-295, a big improvement on her effort at the International Weightlifting Federation World Championships where she finished eighth on 274kg. The 20-year-old finished ahead of her training partner and friend Son Younghee, who is 10 years older, on 120-169-289. "We train together and cheer each other on," said Park, who took up weightlifting eight years ago after watching YouTube videos of Korea’s 2008 Olympic champion Jang Mi-ran. "I was too small to watch when Jang won in Beijing, but when I saw the videos I went to the federation and said ‘I want to be a weightlifter’.” Park, who met her hero when she was still at school, said the preparations for Colombia had not been anywhere as near as good as her training for these Championships. "My coach made me do less lifting and more exercising, it went very well and I got a lot of compliments from the training team. That gave me more power, and I am very grateful to them." Li made 140-175-315 to improve her ranking total by five kilograms. She retired after five good lifts and looked capable of plenty more. The finishing order here will now be the one-two-three in the Paris rankings. When Minasyan had made his final lift the tally of world and Asian records at these Championships was 39 in the various age groups, including five senior world records by Chinese athletes Li Dayin, Tian Tao and Liao Guifang. "We have shown the world again that Asia is the strongest continent in weightlifting, and China the strongest country," said Yousef Al Mana, President of the Asian Weightlifting Federation who presented Minasyan’s gold medal on total. "So many records, and such a well-organised competition by hospitable hosts," added Al Mana, who sits on the IWF Executive Board. "I would like to invite my fellow Board members at the IWF to come to Asia and see for themselves what we have to offer, and to help promote our sport. "They are all welcome and I will provide them free accommodation and $1,000 (£803/€918) for their air tickets. We are all one family - please come to Asia and experience the best." By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games Complete coverage of the event: Jinju, Day 8: Gold for Kazakhstan, and Iran’s 2016 Olympic champion Moradi starts Paris quest at 34 – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Jinju, Day 7: Good day for hosts Korea and China wins again at Asian Championships – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Jinju, Day 6: Three more world records for unstoppable China at Asian Championships – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Jinju, Day 5: China’s Liao takes two world records at Asian Championships – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Jinju, Day 4: Weightlifting gold for Japan and a women’s medal for Iran at Asian Championships – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Jinju, Day 3: Olympic champions beaten as China strike again at Asian Championships – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Jinju, Day 2: Records, bombouts and another China 1-2 at Asian Championships – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Jinju, Day 1: China and Thailand get Asian Championships off to top-quality start – International Weightlifting Federation

IWF Press Release – Executive Board meeting

Following an online meeting of its Executive Board (EB) today, the IWF decided to endorse and apply the IOC’s “Recommendations for International Federations and international sports event organisers on the participation of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport in international competitions.” These conditions relate to the eligibility criteria which athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport must adhere to in order to take part in IWF competitions, as well as the observance of their strict neutrality status during their participation in those events. As part of this process, individual checks will be performed by independent agencies on all athletes and respective support personnel with Russian or Belarusian passports, who are aiming to take part in IWF competitions. The IWF would like to highlight that this decision, also strongly supported by the IWF Athletes Commission, represents the best possible balance between, maintaining the IWF’s ongoing position of solidarity with Ukraine and the need to preserve as much as possible the opportunity for all individual neutral athletes to practice sport irrespective of their nationalities. From the beginning of this profound crisis, which deeply affects the conduct of international sport, the IWF has been mindful to observe the recommendations issued by the International Olympic Committee. Relevant documents: IWF PolicyDeclaration &

Jinju, Day 8: Gold for Kazakhstan, and Iran’s 2016 Olympic champion Moradi starts Paris quest at 34

One of Iran’s greatest weightlifters is hoping to put his injury nightmares behind him after beginning his attempt to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the age of 34. On a day when Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan had their first winners of the week at the Asian Championships here, Sohrab Moradi started in the 102kg B Group with a 362kg total that will put him outside the top 25 in the ranking list. At the top is Nurgissa Adiletuly, Kazakhstan’s first winner of the week who is the only man to have totalled 400kg in qualifying so far. Rio 2016 champion Moradi has to move into the top 10 to earn a place in Paris, where he will lift one month before his 36th birthday if he makes it. This was his first competition in more than two years after serious back and shoulder injuries wrecked his chances of qualifying for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics. He was so dominant before then that he still holds the total world record of 416kg at 96kg and all three in the old 94kg class that was dropped in 2018. Moradi is going “step by step” and believes he can find the improvement he needs, as do his coaches and his federation. Sajjad Anoushiravani, Olympic silver medallist and president of the Iran Weightlifting Federation, said, “I guarantee you, Sohrab will be in Paris.” Coach Vahid Rabiei explained that Moradi had undergone shoulder labrum surgery for a second time 10 months ago, and had been in training since he recovered. “He is better now, the doctors are happy and we all want to help him,” said Rabiei. Moradi made his first two snatches and his first clean and jerk, and retired on 162-200-362 after missing his fifth lift at 210kg. The Olympic and world champions Meso Hassona from Qatar and Lesman Parades from Bahrain both withdrew from the A Group after weighing in and will wait for full fitness before trying to match or better Adiletuly’s 400kg. Despite the presence of Olympic and world champions and world record holders in the entries, 22-year-old Adiletuly was not overawed. “I knew about Meso, Lesman and the others, I knew it would be a tough job competing here so I made sure I was fully ready,” he said. “My coaches told me that if I made six good lifts and a total of 400kg I would win, so all I have been thinking about in training is ‘six lifts, six lifts’. “The support of my family and the Kazakhstan nation really helped me to lift the bar.” It all worked out because Adiletuly, who shouted “Kazakhstan!” before each attempt, made all six, never looked like missing and hit the target on 181-219-400. Two Koreans were on the podium alongside Adiletuly on total. Jin Yunseong failed with his final attempt at 221kg and finished second on 180-218-398, just ahead of team-mate Jang Yeonhak, who won snatch gold and made 182-210-392. Bekdoolot Rasulbekov from Kyrgyzstan won bronze in clean and jerk on 217kg and Chen Po-Jen of Chinese Taipei was a snatch bronze medallist on 181kg. Only Adiletuly and Jin have posted bigger totals in Paris qualifying than the top two at 89kg, so plenty of movement in the rankings is expected over the coming months. Another Rio 2016 winner, the 105kg champion Ruslkan Nurudinov from Uzbekistan, was originally entered at 102kg but lifted instead at 109kg, where he made six from six to win. Nurudinov had to finish off with 228kg to claim gold and, cheered on by a small but noisy group of fans, he did it, finishing 177-228-405. It was another good session for Kazakhstan, whose two athletes finished second and third. Artyom Antropov had one failure in making 172-229-399 and Andas Samarkanov took bronze on 169-221-390. The snatch winner Ali Ammar Yusur from Iraq was fourth on 178-211-389 and Mehdi Karami from Iran, third in snatch, was fifth on total on 384kg. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games

Jinju, Day 7: Good day for hosts Korea and China wins again at Asian Championships

It was supposed to be a case of "anything you can do, I can do better" on day seven of the Asian Championships here in Jinju, but it did not go quite to plan for Liu Huanhua. The Chinese lifter won yet another title for his all-conquering team but, unlike his team-mates Li Dayin and Tian Tao the day before, he was not able to show world-record form. It was a good day for the hosts, as Korean lifters finished second in both the day’s medal events, the men’s 96 kilograms and women’s 87kg. Even if he had made either of his last two attempts Liu, 22, would not have gone into the record books because he was bumped up from 89kg to 96kg. Liu had been entered at 89kg along with Li and Tian Tao - who was there making a video on his phone as Liu tried to outlift him - before China’s coaches cut three to two and put Liu in the heavier category. He weighed in only 48 grams over the 89kg limit, giving most of his rivals a body weight advantage of more than six kilograms, and was clearly delighted to make 180kg in the snatch. After successfully starting with 210kg in clean and jerk, where he is stronger, Liu jumped to 223kg, which was one kilogram more than Tian Tao made in setting a world record at 89kg yesterday. He had two tries, had to work exceptionally hard to make the clean and failed with both. Liu had already done enough to win, making 175-210-390, but was unable to show team-mate Tian Tao that he could do even better than a world record. Sarat Sumpradit from Thailand, who equalled that 390kg total in the old 94kg category when he was fourth at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, might have taken second place but for two failures. He finished third on 173-207-380 after Korea’s Won Jonbeong made up ground in the clean and jerk.  Won took second place on 171-211-382. In a low-key women’s 87kg session, only the winner Lo Ying-Yuan from Chinese Taipei made a total bigger than China’s top two way down in the 59kg category earlier this week. Lo, oldest in the field at 26, made 110-131-241 ahead of the Korean Yun Ha Je on 99-132-231 and Rigina Adashbaeva from Uzbekistan on 103-127-230. Turkmenistan’s Anamjan Rustamova claimed snatch bronze on 102kg and Aisha Omarova of Kazakhstan was third in clean and jerk. China has no entries tomorrow but looks sure to add another title on Saturday (May 13) when Li Wenwen lifts in the women’s super-heavyweights. By Brian Oliver, Inside the