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Jinju, Day 1: China and Thailand get Asian Championships off to top-quality start

China’s Jiang Huihua just failed with a world record attempt and Thailand won its first continental title in six years on day one of the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Jinju, Korea. It was a good day all round for both nations, and also for Vietnam despite bombouts for its first two athletes. This is a qualifier for the Olympic Games and if anybody deserves a place at Paris 2024 it is Jiang, who has won three world titles and has never finished outside the first two in any competition in a career that began in 2013. She has never lifted at the Olympic Games, though. In a very high-quality women’s 49kg session Jiang made her first five lifts to improve her No 1 position in the rankings by 1kg, but failed with a final attempt at 120kg that would have given her world records in clean and jerk and total. For the first time at this weight the top four finishers, from China and Thailand, all made totals of 200kg or more. That number might have been five – the same as the number of world champions in a formidable line-up - but for Mirabai Chanu declining her final two attempts. The Olympic silver medallist from India spent many weeks recovering from back and shoulder injuries and did not want to risk another setback after making a total of 194kg. Chanu, 28, already has a 200kg total from the first Olympic qualifier, the IWF World Championships in Colombia last December, where Jiang was also the winner. Jiang made 94-113-207 – her eighth straight total of 200kg-plus – ahead of her team-mate and Olympic champion Hou Zhihui on 93-111-204. Hou improved on her World Championships performance by 6kg. Thanyathon Sukcharoen, the 45kg world champion, was third in the snatch and made six from six for 90-110-200, but was edged out of third place on total because her team-mate Surodchana Khambao got to 200kg before her. Although she made only three good lifts, Khambao also finished on 90-110-200. The Japanese lifter Rira Suzuki missed her first attempt then made the next five to finish fifth from the B Group and move into the Paris top 10 with 83-111-194. Asked about the quality of the competition and her Olympic chances, Jiang said afterwards, “Yes, it's rare to see so many lifters over 200 in total at this category in all my years of competition, which proves that everyone is improving now. “It is true that the last two Olympics I missed the opportunity. This time I will hold on to it. I hope I could go to Paris, which will prove myself an excellent athlete and leave no regrets in my sports career. “My training before the Asian Championships was quite good, especially snatch, which helps improve my confidence and the feeling of strength. Snatch was pretty much what I expected, but it was a pity that the 120 clean and jerk failed. The clean was quite light, but the jerk was weak because I got a bit dizzy.” Earlier, Thailand won its first Asian Championships title since Sukcharoen claimed the old 48kg gold (under her previous forename Thunya) in 2017. Siriwimon Pramongkhol made 77-100-177 to take the women’s 45kg, the opening event of the Championships. Pramongkhol has also changed her forename: as Chayuttra she was one of the nine Thai lifters disqualified for doping at the 2018 IWF World Championships, where her winning total at 49kg was 209kg, nearly 30kg higher than today. Thailand’s programme of reforms is off to a good start in Olympic qualifying and there is also progress off the platform. Rose Jean Ramos from the Philippines was well back in second place on 73-88-161, and the Indonesian Siti Hariroh was third on 71-88-159. Vietnam, who prepared with a training camp in China, came within one lift of a hat-trick of bombouts before a recovery gave them a 1-2 finish in the men’s 55kg. The first two Vietnamese lifters of the day both failed with all three snatch attempts, last year’s winner Khong My Phuong in the women’s 45kg and Nguyen Hoai Huong in the 49kg B Group. Do Tu Tung then failed with his first two snatch attempts but made his third, then all three clean and jerks for 116-147-263. That was a career-best for Do, twice Asian junior champion and still young enough to lift in the juniors at 19. His team-mate Ngo Son Dinh was second on 117-143-260 and snatch winner Arli Chontey of Kazakhstan edged out Saudi Arabia’s Mansour Al Saleem for third place on 117-141-258. Al Mansour was third in the snatch, where Do was out of the medals, and also took bronze in clean and jerk but was fourth on total. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games

Asian Championships: China and Kazakhstan set to make mark in Paris weightlifting rankings

Chinese weightlifters are top of the Paris 2024 rankings in four of the 10 weight categories, and after the Asian Championships which start in Jinju, Korea on Friday they may take that number up to seven or eight. High altitude at the first Olympic qualifier, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Bogota, Colombia in December appeared to affect China as much as most other teams and their results were below their best. While the Korean hosts have targeted the non-Olympic classes in search of medals, China’s big guns are interested in the Olympic categories. They have two top contenders in seven sessions and Li Wenwen – who is on a different level to all her fellow women’s super-heavyweights – going it alone. China is not interested in the two heaviest men’s classes and has three athletes in two non-Olympic categories, 67kg and 96kg. Kazakhstan will also be expecting their men to improve their Olympic hopes. Nurgissa Adiletuly is likely to be their main contender if he can bring recent training numbers to the competition platform in the men’s 102kg. Kazakhstan’s Artyom Antropov was alongside 22-year-old Adiletuly in the preliminary entries but he has moved up to 109kg, as has the Rio 2016 champion Ruslan Nurudinov from Uzbekistan. Nurudinov won at 105kg and has not competed below that weight since 2011. Alexey Churkin at 73kg and Sergey Petrovich at 89kg could also move up the rankings for Kazakhstan. There are likely to be big changes to the rankings after the men’s 61kg because all nine A Group lifters have entry totals big enough to make the current top eight. Two Chinese Olympic champions go head to head, the 61kg and 67kg winners Li Fabin and Chen Lijun. Chen has not competed at such a low weight since he began his career by taking the junior world title in 2010, when he weighed in at 60.88kg in the old 62kg category. The 73kg is wide open because Rahmat Erwin and Rizki Juniansyah from Indonesia, one and two in the Paris standings, have opted to chase medals in the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia on May 14, and China’s Olympic champion Shi Zhiyong is expected to sit out the session here. Shi, who is in the B Group here, also withdrew in Colombia, along with many others there and at the subsequent Pan American and European Championships. Entering to comply with anti-doping requirements, weighing in and being introduced to the crowd counts as a “participation” in qualifying, where only the single best total from a minimum of five “participations” counts in the rankings. Tian Tao has not competed for more than two years because of injury setbacks and here he will be at his lightest since finishing second to Kianoush Rostami at 85kg in Rio. The two meet again at 89kg, with Li Dayin adding further quality. Rostami is said to be in good form, while Tian Tao, the 96kg clean and jerk world record holder, has made totals above 400kg five times since he went up in weight after Rio. It will be a surprise if everybody lifts at 102kg, where the entries include the Tokyo 96kg winner Meso Hassona, Bahrain’s 96kg world champion Lesman Paredes, and the Rio 94kg champion Sohrab Moradi, from Iran. Moradi is making a steady recovery after bad shoulder and back injuries and goes in the B Group, with his team-mate Reza Dehdar lifting in the A session. He might yet make it into the Paris top 10 here. Despite the fact that the field features Olympic and world champions, two of them world record holders, Adiletuly is free of fitness worries and could surprise them, as could Korea’s Jin Yunseong. In the women’s events Chinese athletes have a huge advantage, which is evident in the entry totals: there are wide gaps between the best from China and the rest in some classes. Mirabai Chanu from India is a Tokyo silver medallist and former world champion, but she is not even sure to make the podium at 49kg, where Jiang Huihua and Hou Zhihui are China’s contenders. Chanu, who has never done better than third place in the Asian Championships, has had a lengthy rehabilitation from back and shoulder injuries since she made a 200kg total at the IWF World Championships. China’s Luo Shifang was below her best in Colombia and can improve at 59kg, where Pei Xinyi joins her. The Tokyo 59kg winner Kuo Hsing-chun from Chinese Taipei will make it a high-class contest, as will the presence of Olympic 55kg champion Hidilyn Diaz. Diaz has moved higher up the weights for only the second time in a career that began in 2008, and her Philippines team-mate Elreen Ando may do better here. At 71kg and 81kg China can finish 1-2, respectively through Liao Guifang and Zeng Tiantian, then Wang Zhouyu and Liang Xiaomei. In the super-heavyweights, Li Wenwen is on a different level. Korea can give home supporters plenty to cheer, most notably through Sangyeon Lee in the men’s 67kg. Lee was badly injured in 2018, and made only two good lifts in finishing sixth on his comeback in Colombia, where Korea also suffered from altitude problems. Korea has good medal hopes in the men’s 81kg and 96kg, and the women’s 76kg where Kim Suhyeon could put on a show, as she did in finishing third at the World Championships. Of the 100 top-ranked lifters for Paris – the top 10 in all 10 weight classes – 26 got there with a total made at a continental championships, either the Pan Americans in Argentina or the Europeans in Armenia. After the Asian Championships, which run until May 13, that number is likely to be way higher. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

2022 IWF/ITA report: one step forward in the anti-doping strategy!

The IWF has received the ITA (International Testing Agency) report for the Anti-Doping activities in 2022 and is happy to communicate on the numbers concerning our strategy to fight against cheating in our sport. Last year, a total of 3555 samples were collected around the world, including 2151 in-competition and 1404 out-of-competition. Moreover, in terms of urine/blood proportion, there were respectively 2610 and 945 samples. This amount of collected samples resulted in a total of 2725 completed tests, performed on 1333 athletes (53% men, 47% women) from 124 countries. Among them, the list of the top-10 tested nations includes (by alphabetical order): Armenia, China, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela. Concerning the Results Management of these tests, 65 of them constitute potential Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRV). In 2022, the IWF/ITA received 16 TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemptions) applications. All info on IWF/ITA Anti-Doping activities

2024-2032 IWF Strategic Plan: the work has begun!

Following the recent decision by the IWF Executive Board on March 30 to create a “2024-2032 IWF Strategic Plan”, the working group in charge of this project had its first meeting last April 25 and sent today to the IWF National Member Federations an initial survey, as part of the extensive consultative process with the IWF main stakeholders. In this early stage, the IWF is interested in establishing a portrait of the strengths, but also the challenges our Federation is confronted with, and to establish a list of priorities that are felt essential by our members, and that will therefore have a special place in the “2024-2032 IWF Strategic Plan”. The document is intended to constitute a solid roadmap for action in the years to come and will be ultimately approved by the IWF Congress, taking place in Riyadh, next September, with the occasion of the IWF World Championships in Saudi Arabia. Due to the changing nature of the sports international environment, this will also be an “evolving” document, which has to be regularly monitored and eventually fine-tuned in due course, so that it is adapted to new circumstances around and inside the IWF functioning. “This Plan will constitute an important working frame for the IWF and its stakeholders and needs therefore to be a consensual document, in which each member of the weightlifting community can easily identify the priorities and necessary actions in his/her respective field. Ideally, it should also be a useful tool to evaluate the means and resources to achieve such goals and objectives. Finally, it has to be ambitious enough to drive the IWF to a central place in the Olympic Movement, a place it rightfully deserves for the sake of all those that devoted their lives to this Sport – our Athletes, Coaches, Officials and Administrators, at all levels,” jointly write the IWF President Mohammed Jalood and the IWF Secretary General Antonio Urso in their message to the National Member

IWF in mourning – Marcello Zoratti (ITA)

The IWF has learnt with great sadness about the loss of Mr Marcello Zoratti, a prominent administrator of our sport in Italy. For more than 60 years deeply connected with weightlifting, Mr Zoratti has been also an important official within the European Federation (EWF). At home, he was namely one of the founders, in 1965, of the renowned ALPE ADRIA International Tournament, an event initially gathering competitors from neighbouring countries Slovenia, Austria and Italy – the competition has eventually grown and included lifters from other nations. Institutionally, he served as Vice-President of the Italian Weightlifting Federation and his action is widely recognised as a source of development of the sport in his country. Internationally, Mr Zoratti, was EWF Vice-President from 1987 to 1999, and then again from 2003 to 2008. He was also member of the EWF Technical Committee from 1981 to 2008. In this heartfelt moment, the IWF addresses its sincere condolences to Mr Zoratti’s family and friends, and to the entire Italian weightlifting

Olympic rankings updated after Armenia

After the completion of the third Qualifying Event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the Olympic Qualification Ranking is updated on the IWF website. Following the IWF World Championships in Bogota (COL) last December, the Pan-American Championships at the end of March in Bariloche (ARG), and the recent European Championships in Yerevan (ARM), the provisional list of the best lifters for the Olympic rendezvous is available here These rankings may however change soon, as the Asian Championships will unfold in Jinju (KOR) from May 3-13 and the African continental showcase will take place in Tunis (TUN) on May 11-20. Moreover, the next IWF event qualifying for the Paris rendezvous is scheduled for June 8-18, when La Havana, the Cuban capital, will stage the first (out of two) Grand Prix in 2023. According to the Olympic qualification rules, the highest ranked 10 lifters in each body category (10 for men and 10 for women) are eligible to take part in the 2024 Olympic Games. Besides these 100 competitors, continental qualification will select 10 athletes (five men/five women), the host nation is entitled to four athletes (two per gender), and six (3/3) other lifters will enter through Universality Places for a total of 120 weightlifters at the Games. The relevant documents can be found below: Olympic Qualifiication System Qualification System overview and