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Yerevan, Final Day: Lasha dashes home crowd’s hopes by taking seventh European weightlifting title

More than 4,000 people turned up hoping to cheer their Armenian heroes to victory on the final day of the European Weightlifting Championships here in Yerevan, but instead they saw another masterful display by Lasha Talakhadze. The audience of 4,400, the biggest crowd this century to watch a single session at the European Championships, roared every success by Simon Martrosyan and Armenia’s big hope for the future, 23-year-old Varazdat Lalayan. But while both Armenians missed lifts Talakhadze, the multiple world record holder from Georgia, did not. He extended his unbeaten run in the super-heavyweights to seven years five months on 222-252-474. Talakhadze made five from five and declined his final attempt when he led by 12kg from Lalayan, who had a career-best total on 212-250-462. Martirosyan was third on 195-245-440. These three super-heavyweights were the only lifters to surpass the world record 89kg total of 395kg made by the Bulgarian teenager Karlos Nasar, who took the best male athlete award for the Championships. The women’s winner was Kamila Konotop from Ukraine, who made 235kg to top the Olympic rankings at 59kg. Talakhadze won by only 4kg from runner-up Gor Minasyan and 5kg from Lalayan in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Bogota, Colombia last December – the first Paris Olympic qualifier. He had been struggling with his fitness and weighed nearly 10kg less than his 175.78kg here. Minasyan, another Armenian who now lifts for Bahrain, was in the audience here. “I feel better now, fitter than I did in Colombia,” Talkhadze said. “I enjoyed competing here, I enjoyed winning my seventh European title and I hope to be back for my seventh world title too.” He was referring to the possibility of Armenia – one of five bidders – hosting the 2024 IWF World Championships late next year, after the Olympic Games. Talakhadze improved his World Championships total by 6kg with a lift to spare, making 210-217-222 in snatch and 246-252 in clean and jerk. Lalayan missed two of his attempts, and Martirosyan missed one, declining his final attempt when he could not better third place. Britain’s Olympic silver medallist Emily Campbell won her third European weightlifting title despite recent injury problems that meant “I couldn’t even walk about two weeks ago.” She had knee surgery at the start of the year, then an “ongoing back issue” that almost wrecked her preparations for the European Championships here in Yerevan. “I haven’t talked about it while it was happening, but I didn’t lift the bar above my head until last Monday and I was never sure I was even going to compete,” said Campbell. “I did no squats, no pulls no deadlifts, nothing.” She came close to failure after missing her first two snatch attempts, and after recovering she posted her lowest total in more than four years on 110-143-253 but it was still enough to take a third straight continental title in the super-heavyweights. “My team have worked so hard to get me out there on the platform, my family have given me so much support – I love you all,” said Campbell, 28. The 11 lifters had 28 white lights and only five reds in the snatch, and unfortunately for Campbell two of the reds were alongside her name at 110kg. That was 12kg lower than her best effort in Bogotá, Colombia in December in the first qualifier for Paris 2024, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships. “I’d usually take 110 for granted, no problem, but this time it took me to miss twice to get going,” she said. “I expected to be champion and I nearly let it go but I managed to pull it out of the bag.” Things went better after the break, when Campbell came out after everybody else had finished to make 136kg for clean and jerk gold, then 143kg for gold on total before declining her final attempt. Between her attempts Campbell settled herself with her headphones on, listening to Caribbean carnival music. She enjoyed the experience at the Karen Demirchyan Complex – “the best venue we’ve ever had for a European Championships” – and blew kisses to the large crowd. “It’s been great here, lovely place, lovely people, I’ve been really surprised,” Campbell said. She will go to Cuba for the next Paris qualifier, the IWF Grand Prix in June, but is likely to wait until the IWF World Championships before lifting again, she said, giving herself plenty of time to get back to full fitness. Cuba would still count as a “participation” in Paris qualifying if Campbell weighs in, and would leave her with a lengthy period between September and next April to decide on her next move. The IWF Grand Prix in Qatar in December and next year’s European Championships in Turkey in February would be optional, and the IWF World Cup in Thailand a year from now is compulsory for all potential qualifiers. Second place went to Anastasiia Hotfrid from Georgia, who made her best total since returning to the sport after giving birth to a son, Erhard, who will be four next month. “It’s like 500 times harder to be a mum and a weightlifter rather than just a weightlifter,” said Hotfrid, a world champion in the old 90kg weight category in 2017. “Erhard is always there at training with me, he wants to be with me all the time.” His dad is there too, because Hotfrid’s personal coach is her husband Denys, an Olympic lifter for Ukraine before he switched nationality. Hotfrid, who weighed in 30kg lighter than Campbell, returned to training a month after giving birth and took nine months to get back to somewhere near her best. She lifted at Rio 2016 and will wait on her Federation’s decision about where she goes next in her attempt to qualify for Paris. Erhard was not watching on television. “He misses me so much, we try not to let him see pictures of mum so he doesn’t cry.” Hotfrid won snatch gold and made 117-135-252, ahead of the Ukrainian Valentyna Kisil on 111-133-244. Meline Gunal of Turkey made 110kg to finish third in the snatch, where Campbell was off the podium, and Sarah Fischer took clean and jerk bronze on 134kg, winning Austria’s second medal of the weekend. Announcer Luca Di Marco constantly had to request silence from the crowd when lifters were readying themselves in both the women’s and men’s super-heavyweights. The fans have livened up the nine-day Championships by creating a very good atmosphere throughout the week but have cheered failures by others when it benefitted Armenian medal contenders, drawing criticism from the IWF Athletes Commission member Cyrille Tchatchet from Britain. Armenia was hosting its first European Championships, and an organising committee official told insidethegames: “The crowd will learn, perhaps if we host the World Championships next year it will be different. “It’s the first time we have had a big championships, the first time they have watched something like this. “We will show information on how it should be in the media and on social media.” EWF president Antonio Conflitti declared the Championships “a great success”. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games Photos by yantsimages.com  Check the updated Olympic Qualification Ranking here Complete coverage of the event: Yerevan, Day 8: Solfrid Koanda wins in style and Armenia top medals table at European Championships – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Yerevan, Day 7: Armenia starts its move towards top at European Championships – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Yerevan, Day 6: Two more weightlifting world records for sensational Bulgarian teen Nasar – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Yerevan, Day 5: Fourth European title for Toma and Italy’s Reyes wins first gold – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Yerevan, Day 4: Latvia’s Suharevs and Britain’s Smith fit and firing at European Championships – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Yerevan, Day 3: Konotop heads Paris weightlifting rankings after sensational European triumph – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Yerevan, Day 2: “I saw angels” says Romania’s second champion at European Championships – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Yerevan, Day 1: First ever medal for Ireland and records for Romania at European Weightlifting Championships – International Weightlifting Federation (iwf.sport) Pizzolato can help Italy bounce back at European Championships – International Weightlifting Federation

Yerevan, Day 8: Solfrid Koanda wins in style and Armenia top medals table at European Championships

Europe’s female weightlifter of the year Solfrid Koanda won another continental title on an entertaining day at the European Championships in Yerevan, her final outing before she cuts weight to lift in the Olympic 81kg category. In her past three competitions Koanda has won two continental titles and become Norway’s first ever female world champion. “Now I want gold at the Olympic Games,” she said after making career-best totals across the board. The host nation Armenia had plenty to celebrate – and a large crowd did it very noisily - when they took an unassailable lead in the medals table with a day to go. Hripsime Khurshudyan was third behind Koanda and there were victories for Garik Karapetyan and Samvel Gasparyan at 102kg and 109kg, plus a third-place podium finish for Petros Petrosyan alongside Gasparyan. There was controversy when a record-breaking lift by Karapetyan barely touched the platform when he dropped it, and another talking point was the sensational Bulgarian teenager Karlos Nasar. Since the 18-year old broke two world records at 89kg on Thursday nobody lifting at 96kg, 102kg or 109kg has bettered his 395kg total, which he made with a lift to spare. The triple Olympic champion Kakhi Kakhiashvili, who is here with the Georgia team, knows how it feels to outlift a higher weight category because he did it at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. “I have experience of this and I know it comes from hard work and dedication, and makes you very proud,” he said. “If you go up to the next weight category when you have done this (outlifted them) you have already built a very good foundation to go and win again. “Karlos Nasar has a really good future ahead of him.” World champion Koanda went into the 87kg competition saying her goal was to retain her continental title before dropping down to 81kg for the final year of Paris qualifying, and she was more than halfway there when she weighed in at 83.86kg. Koanda won in style despite missing her first snatch and weighing less than she has done in any previous international competition, making 117-155-272. “When I had it overhead it was feeling like an easy weight, and I sort of lost focus,” she said. “I was angry for the next one and didn’t even cheer when I made it – it gave me some fuel to say to the coaches ‘put whatever you want on the bar and I’ll do it.’ “Going up 7kg is a huge jump for me in the snatch but I am better in snatch now than ever, I feel very mentally strong. “Previously in the snatch I was lacking confidence and now I’ve had different eyes looking at my technique, we’ve done a lot of video analysis, and also I’ve been training in Germany a lot, competing in the Bundesliga, and I feel that the Germans are very strong in the snatch. “This year I’m a full-time athlete for the first time and I have more time to work on having the mindset of an athlete, to focus on one goal. “That has improved my training quality a lot and it showed today. “I feel very confident to be able to weigh less and lift more, and that’s what it’s all about.” Anastasiia Manievska from Ukraine was second on 108-130-238 and Khurshudyan third on 107-120-227. Fourth-placed Jessica Almeida put in a good performance for Portugal given that, at 29, she had never lifted in international competition before and Portugal had not competed at the European Championships for 24 years. Almeida, who lived in London for 20 years, made 96-118-214. When Garik Karapetyan was born in 2003, his father Aleksander was in the middle of a spell of lifting for Australia that featured Commonwealth Games golds at Manchester 2002 and Melbourne 2006, having already won a World Championships medal for Armenia. Karapetyan senior, long since back home in Armenia’s second city Gyumri, where Garik was born, told his son before he lifted, “Just believe in yourself.” He claimed a sweep of European junior records and a world junior record in clean and jerk when he made 178-214-392, up 22kg on his previous best made at 96kg. “I make you a promise – you will hear my name again,” said Karapetyan, the world and European junior champion. Half of the top 10 at this weight at the IWF World Championships in Colombia in December were Europeans, the continent’s best top-10 representation in any weight category there. Only two of them lifted here: the absentees were world bronze medallist Gasparyan, who moved up to 109kg with Bulgaria’s Vasil Marinov, and the Spaniard Marcos Ruiz who withdrew after the weigh-in. Those who lifted at 102kg again were Arturs Plesnieks from Latvia and Irakli Chkheidze from Georgia, who finished second on 173-214-387. Plesnieks, a Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist at 109kg, has been struggling with injury. Although he was within one lift of a medal he declined his final clean and jerk to avoid risking another setback, and finished fourth behind Tudor Bratu of Moldova on 170-204-374. There was controversy over Karapetyan’s final snatch at 178kg when his shoe extended beyond the platform and he dropped the barbell right at the forward limit.   The Georgians thought it was a no-lift but jury president Denise Offerman explained that it had just touched the front edge of the platform and although very close it was a good lift, which was a unanimous verdict. Chkeidze’s cousin also finished second to an Armenian winner in the 109kg. Giorgi Chkheidze made 173-208-381, finishing 14kg behind Gasparyan – who had not lifted at 109kg since October 2019 - on 175-220-395. Third place went to Petrosyan on 165-214-379. There were silver and bronze snatch medals for Bulgaria’s Marinov on 174kg and the Austrian Sargis Martirosjan - cheered by the crowd because he is originally from Armenia - on 173kg.  Zaza Lomtadze of Georgia took bronze in clean and jerk with 213kg. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games Photos by

Yerevan, Day 7: Armenia starts its move towards top at European Championships

Weightlifters from host nation Armenia were roared on to the podium by a big crowd at the European Championships here in Yerevan. Davit Hovhannisyan and Ara Aghanyan, first and second last year in Albania, repeated the feat in front of their own fans, helped by a slew of red lights for rivals from France and Italy. The 96kg result takes the host nation up to second place behind Romania in the medals table and with several more chances over the weekend they look certainties to finish top. Another certainty is a packed house at the Karen Demirchyan Complex on Saturday and Sunday. More than 4,000 tickets have been sold for the final men’s super-heavyweight session of the Championships, which features multiple champion and world record holder Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia and the young Armenian challenger Varazdat Lalayan. Hovhannisyan led his team-mate by 7kg in the snatch and stretched the advantage to 13kg, finishing on 172-205-377, with Aghanyan on 165-199-364. Between them they declined three attempts, having seen off all challengers. Cristiano Ficco from Italy made only two good lifts for third place on 165-198-363, ahead of the snatch silver medallist from Turkey, Hakan Kurnaz in fourth on 361kg and Britain’s Cyrille Tchatchet in fifth on 350kg. Both French athletes, Redon Manushi and Romain Imadouchene – fourth at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships last December – bombed out in the snatch. In the other medal event of the day, the women’s 81kg, Iryna Dekha from Ukraine won a sweep of gold medals to claim her fourth continental title. For the third session in a row the winner finished way clear: for Karlos Nasar and Marie Fegue yesterday the margin was 21kg and 27kg, and for 26-year-old Dekha it was 23kg after she made 123-135-258. Dekha has always thrived in the snatch by comparison with clean and jerk, having bombed out twice with three failures in the latter part of a competition – including at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Here she made her first clean and jerk but missed the last two, which is exactly what happened in December at the first Paris 2024 qualifier, the IWF World Championships,  where Dekha won snatch gold then dropped to fourth place. Turkey won four more medals and it has 21, more than any other nation after seven days. Dilara Narin finished second on 101-134-235 and Sara Yenigun on 131kg. Elina Erighina of Moldova was third on total with104-130-234. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games Photos by

IWF launches Athletes Direct Support Programme en route to Paris 2024 Olympics

The IWF is pleased to announce the launch of an Athletes Direct Support Programme, an initiative aimed at assisting 10 weightlifters in their preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris (FRA). These scholarships will be awarded to five male and five female athletes from developing nations and under the following eligibility criteria: participation in at least one IWF Olympic qualification event until July 1, 2023; inclusion in the top-25 of the IWF Olympic Ranking; absence of sanction for an anti-doping violation; provision of whereabouts for the entire period of the programme (July-December 2023). Taking these requirements into consideration, the IWF Selection Panel will evenly choose a maximum of two athletes per continent, one competitor per Olympic body category, and one lifter per country. This Panel is formed by the Chair of the IWF Athletes Commission Forrester Osei, a member of that Commission (Maude Charron), the IWF Vice-President Pyrros Dimas, and an independent member (Ioannis Mournianakis). The allocated amount for this project is US 30’000, including US 5’000 personally donated by the IWF President Mohammed Jalood. Each of the selected athletes will receive US$ 3’000, to be distributed in three payments (July, October, and December 2023). “We would like to show our appreciation to the IWF Executive Board for taking this very important initiative. It shows that our leadership is listening and taking into account the athletes’ voice. The support given to these 10 athletes will be a strong help in their qualification path for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. As Athletes Commission, we are very happy to ‘pilot’ this project, which we hope won’t be limited to 2023 but will become part of our yearly budget in the future,” considers AC Chair Forrester Osei. “To all those trying to qualify for Paris, we wish them the best of luck – we hope to see them in the Olympics, representing their nation with pride and dignity. The AC has a lot of projects that align with their goals – we are here for them and fighting to ensure their voice is heard,” Osei concludes. To apply for this programme, interested lifters have to send their application form to the IWF by no later than May 31, 2023. The relevant documents on this topic are: Athlete Scholarship Application Form IWF AC Direct Support Program

Yerevan, Day 6: Two more weightlifting world records for sensational Bulgarian teen Nasar

The world's most remarkable teenage weightlifter claimed two more senior world records along with the continental 89 kilograms title on day six of the European Championships. Karlos Nasar made five good lifts and declined the last one having already bettered his own world best in clean and jerk and claimed the total record from Italy’s Antonio Pizzolato, who withdrew after weighing in because he was not fully fit. The 18-year-old Bulgarian made 174-221-395 and now holds 11 world records in youth, junior and senior weightlifting. That total not only puts him top of the 89kg Olympic rankings, it would place him second in the 102kg category, ahead of the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Meso Hassona of Qatar. A large crowd turned up to cheer on Armenia's Andranik Karapetyan, who surprised Nasar by outperforming him in the snatch but was a distant second on 178-196-374, with Marin Robu from Moldova third on 166-198-364. Nasar bombed out in the snatch in the first Olympic qualifier, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Bogotá, Colombia, last December, where he came out and broke the clean and jerk world record but failed to register in the Paris rankings. After his sensational performance here, he could simply enter, weigh in and wave to the crowd at three more qualifiers in the next year without having to lift, because he is not going to drop out of the top 10 with a 395kg total. What will he do? "I very much want to compete and make more records in the remaining competitions, not just weigh in," he said. "I really enjoyed it here in Armenia, I prepared well, good arena, nice environment - everything was good and I’m happy to perform so well here. "I won’t have time to celebrate because I’m flying home tonight, but back in Bulgaria I will celebrate according to our customs." Bulgarian weightlifting has been stuck in a rut for two years of constant wrangling over the National Federation’s leadership, during which the athletes went unpaid and threatened to go on strike. That is resolved now and Arif Majed has taken over as President. "I’m happy that things are getting along, finally," Nasar said. "When people work together great things can happen." Nasar indicated just how great when asked about his best clean and jerk in training. The answer was 233kg, which means we will very likely see more world records before the Olympic Games in August 2024. Pizzolato, who set the beaten world record total of 392kg in an epic contest with Nasar in last year's European Championships in Albania, decided to withdraw rather than risk worsening an injury. The Italian, third in the Tokyo Olympic Games at 81kg, is without a total after the first two Olympic qualifiers but he has five more opportunities in the next year and was not 100 per cent. He has had a long-term back injury and arrived in Armenia hoping to compete for the first time in nine months, but his pre-competition training did not go as well as expected. "A possible serious relapse would really jeopardise the route to Paris," said a statement from the Italian Weightlifting Federation (FIPE). "During the last training sessions in Armenia, the technical and health staff encountered the possibility of a serious relapse after the lumbar problems already encountered at the end of 2022, the same ones that prevented him from being present at the Bogotá World Championships." Pizzolato said, "I'm really sorry I can't compete to defend the title and I'm sorry for the fans but I can't compromise my work for qualifying in Paris. "I believe it is right to announce before the competition that I will perform the qualifying, weigh-in and presentation routine, but I will not go on the platform." The next qualifier open to Pizzolato is the IWF Grand Prix in Cuba in June. Krenar Shoraj from Albania also pulled out, taking into double figures the number of nations who have withdrawn lifters after the weigh-in at Olympic qualifying events. A buzz went around the large crowd at the Karen Demirchyan Complex when the scoreboard signalled Pizzolato’s withdrawal after lifting had started, and the buzz became a roar when Karapetyan came out and made all three snatches. When it dawned on them that their man had no chance against Nasar in clean and jerk, the audience showed their appreciation for the new champion, who had more media attention afterwards than in any of his previous five competitions. Both Armenia and Latvia had two medallists today. Tatev Hakobyan was second on total in the women's 76kg on 104-122-226, behind the clear French winner Marie Fegue. In this non-Olympic weight category, the 31-year-old Fegue, who won Commonwealth Games gold for Cameroon before switching, made 113-140-253 to win by 27kg, a wider margin than Nasar. Latvia's Daniela Ivanova moved up from fifth in snatch - where Israel’s Nicole Rubanovich was third - to third on total with 96-126-222, after her team-mate Amands Mezinskis had taken clean and jerk bronze in the men's event with 198kg. Nico Mueller of Germany was second on 199kg. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games Photos by

Yerevan, Day 5: Fourth European title for Toma and Italy’s Reyes wins first gold

World champion Loredana Toma added another continental title to her long list of achievements today with an easy win at the European Weightlifting Championships here in Armenia. Giulia Miserendino was 10kg back in second place, and her team-mate Oscar Reyes made it a great day for Italy by winning the men’s 81kg later in the day. Toma did not have to match her efforts in the first Olympic qualifier last December, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Colombia, where she set a snatch world record and totalled 256kg. This time four good lifts and 110-130-240 was enough, giving Toma her fourth continental title to add to two silver medals in the past 10 years. Miserendino made 105-125-230 and Sarah Davies was Britain’s second medallist in two days after Zoe Smith finished third at 64kg yesterday. Davies, who took silver in clean and jerk and bronze on total with 100-126-225, improved on her World Championships effort by 3kg but might have moved up to second place. A controversial “no lift” decision on her second clean and jerk was eventually upheld by the jury, after a lengthy deliberation, when Britain’s coaches made a challenge. “When I went out for the third lift I was powered by rage, I wasn’t thinking much other than ‘I’ll show you,’ that’s the polite way of putting it,” Davies said. “I’d like to see the replay and see what they (referees and jury) saw. “You can throw a lift down and celebrate when you know it’s a bit dodgy but there was nothing wrong with that lift.” Britain’s coaches agreed, but the jury finally decided there had been a press-out. “I’m disappointed, but we got there,” Davies said. “I was in much better shape than the board shows but to have another total in the Olympic rankings… I can’t really complain.” Her next outing will be at the IWF World Championships in Saudi Arabia in September. There were good performances by the Israeli-American Celia Gold and Eyglo Sturludottir from Iceland, who finished fifth and sixth behind Germany’s Lisa Marie Schweizer, the snatch bronze medallist. Both have to fit in their weightlifting training with full-time work or studies but both made personal bests in international competition. Gold, who works for Google, made 99-123-222 and failed only with her final attempt for a medal, while 22-year-old medical student Sturludottir posted 96-121-217. Gold, who won a Pan American junior title for the United States, switched to Israel and made a lower total at 76kg in the IWF World Championships. Sturludottir is two years into a six-year medical degree course and will have to study another few years after that when she chooses a specialism as a doctor. “It’s school and gym every day,” she said. “I have a boyfriend but he doesn’t get much attention! He’s a bodybuilder and physio who stopped lifting weights when I started lifting more than him.” Although her daily schedule is full, Sturludottir says it would be “too much” to go full-time in weightlifting. “It’s good to have school to get away from weightlifting, and weightlifting to get away from school.” Reyes claimed a fifth medal of the Championships for Italy, on total, with two more chances of gold to come from Antonino Pizzolato at 89kg and Cristiano Ficco at 96kg in the next two days. Reyes, 26, who moved from Cuba and is now an Italian citizen, was able to decline his last two attempts because none of the other contenders could catch him after he made his first clean and jerk at 188kg. He finished 155-188-343, ahead of Batuhan Yuksel of Turkey on 152-187-339. Armenia’s Rafik Harutyunyan was cheered on by a large crowd but missed three lifts in making 150-187-337 for third place. Hmayak Misakyan, of Armenian descent and lifting for Austria, also had plenty of support and took bronze in the snatch. For the second day in a row an Albanian failed to make a total, maintaining the team’s dreadful record. On Tuesday Briken Calja completed a hat-trick of bombouts in the 73kg, and today Daniel Godelli took his stats to seven bombouts in his past 11 competitions on the IWF database. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games Photos by