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Double gold for Arab nations: ‘Now come on Morocco’ says Elbakh

By Brian Oliver Fares ELBAKH (QAT) and Sara Samir AHMED (EGY) both won a world title for the first time on a good day for Arab nations at the IWF World Championships. Samir won the women’s 76kg and Elbakh the men’s 102kg, after which he said, “It’s a good omen for Arab nations, now we want Morocco to win as well.” Morocco play France in the World Cup semi-finals today (Wednesday) in Qatar, Elbakh’s home nation. “I’ve been following it on TV and I’ve got my VVIP ticket sorted for the final on Sunday,” he said. ‘I’m hoping it will be Morocco but if France beat them I’ll be cheering for Argentina in the final.” Samir, though, will not be cheering for anybody. “I don’t like football,” she said. There were six medallists in the men’s 102kg, in which Artyom ANTROPOV (KAZ) gained nine places after finishing 15th in the snatch and came within one missed lift of a medal on total. His 163kg would not have made the top four in the B Group, and his best clean and jerk was 59kg higher at 222kg – good enough for gold. In a very tight finish Antropov was sixth after failing at 227kg. Elbakh, who declined his last two attempts as he had already won, finished on 174-217-391. As in the Asian Championships in October, Elbakh – the Olympic champion at 96kg – posted a lower total than Lesman PAREDES (BRN), despite competing in a heavier weight category. The two are friends are expected to face each other in the 102kg category at Paris 2024, and Elbakh said it will be “a case of he who laughs last”. There was only 3kg between first place and sixth in the snatch, where the medals  went to Reza DEHDAR (IRI) on 177kg, Marcos RUIZ (ESP) on 176kg, and Samvel GASPARYAN (ARM)  on 175kg. In the clean and jerk Antropov won gold, Elbakh was second on 217kg with his only lift, and Bekdoolot RASULBEKOV (KGZ) took bronze, also on 217kg. On total it was Elbakh first,  Dehdar second on 177-213-390 and Gasparyan third on 175-214-389. Samir, who became the first woman from an Arab nation to win an Olympic weightlifting medal in 2016, when she was third at 69kg, wants the big one in 2024. “I was very pleased with my performance today – now I want the gold medal in Paris,” she said. Samir won the African title in October at 81kg, and cut weight to win at 76kg category here on 113-148-261, the same total that won her the African title. Now she will go back up to 81kg for her next competition, which is expected to be the African Championships in Tunis in May. All the top three, Samir, Mattie ROGERS (USA) and KIM Suhyeon (KOR), enjoyed themselves and it showed in a lively medal ceremony. “We all had fun today, and we’re a happy group here… especially her,” said Rogers, pointing to Kim, who had been in tears after her medal-winning final lift before beaming as she left the platform. Kim had failed to make a total at the Tokyo Olympic Games last year but this time she made four from six for 108-137-245. Rogers had a sweep of silvers on 109-138-247, and the snatch bronze went to Bella Paredes of Ecuador, with Kim

Toma takes 71kg gold and a makes a rare world record for Europe

By Brian Oliver Loredana-Elena TOMA (ROU) won her second world title when she took the 71kg at the IWF World Championships in Bogotá, and in the process she became the only non-Asian holder of a current world record in women’s weightlifting. In the other medal event of the day, Lesman PAREDES (BRN) won at 96kg to give Bahrain its  first ever world title. Paredes had won at the same weight in last year’s IWF World Championships for Colombia, his homeland, before switching nationality. In a tense finish to the women’s 71kg, Toma had to wait for victory. She had built a big lead by making her first five attempts – including a snatch world record of 119kg - but she looked frustrated when she missed the last clean and jerk. Two Chinese lifters had not finished yet. First, 23-year-old ZENG Tiantian (CHN), in with a chance of a gold medal in her first international competition, failed at 144kg. Next was LIAO Guifang (CHN), the 2019 junior world champion, who had two attempts at 147kg. She failed both times and Toma had her second world title. When she won the first, in Anaheim, California in 2017, neither China nor North Korea had been there. Toma had been excluded from the Tokyo Olympic Games because of a doping-related ban on her national federation. Asked what it meant to finally prove herself the best in the world by getting the better of Chinese opponents, Toma struggled for words and said, “I wish I could explain it…” before disappearing to pose with fans for some photos. While she was doing that, a friend revealed that Toma had had her phone stolen by a monkey while she was training in Bali earlier this year. Had she got it back? “No,” Toma said, “I had to win here tonight to be able to buy a new one.” She may not smile very often, but Toma has a sense of humour. She finished on 119-137-256, ahead of Zeng on 113-140-253 and Angie PALACIOS (ECU) on 116-136-252. Liao won the clean and jerk on 140kg, from Zeng also on 140kg and Olivia REEVES (USA) on 138kg,  but was fourth on total after missing two of her snatch attempts. Paredes, who set a snatch world record when he won for Colombia a year ago this week, was a clear winner of the men’s 96kg for Bahrain, which persuaded two top international lifters to switch nationality in August – Paredes and Gor MINASYAN (BRN), from Armenia. Both Paredes and Minasyan won at the Asian Championships to earn Bahrain its first continental successes in October, and there was little doubt that a first world title would follow when Paredes made all three snatches to lead by 11kg at halfway. “There was a lot of pressure competing here, but I was very happy with the performance,” he said – happy enough to do a little dance on the stage. Before every lift Lesman, 26, stands tall above the bar and slowly sweeps his hands wide in a calming motion. “I do it to clear my mind of energies, to help me focus only on the bar, like meditation,” he said. “I did it for the first time at last year’s World Championships in Uzbekistan.” So the calmness has helped him to two world titles and an Asian Championships victory. “Yes, it works, doesn’t it!” he said. Paredes, who was second in the clean and jerk, made 185-212-397 to finish 14kg ahead of Nurgissa ADILETULY (KAZ), the snatch silver medallist, on 174-209-383. The host nation had a sweep of bronze medals when Jhor MORENO (COL) made 171-209-380. The clean and jerk gold was won by Romain IMADOUCHENE (FRA), who celebrated wildly after making 213kg. Imadouchene, whose preparations were hampered by a knee injury, was the first World Championships gold medallist for France since Venceslas Dabaya in 2006. Forrester OSEI (GHA), who chairs the IWF Athletes Commission, injured his elbow while lifting in the C Group. He was taken to hospital and later released without any broken

IWF Executive Board Statement

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has been made aware of a potential major issue concerning an athlete competing at the IWF World Championships. Upon receiving the information, the IWF Executive Board called an emergency meeting and agreed to launch an immediate investigation. As part of any investigation, all professional advice will be followed. The IWF is committed to acting swiftly and decisively to protect the integrity of weightlifting. The IWF will make no further comment until the investigation has been

IWF Honorary Vice President Chang Chao-kuo Receives Chinese Taipei’s Top Sports Award

The International Weightlifting Federation Honorary Vice President Chang Chao-kuo received Lifetime Achievement Award from Chinese Taipei’s Sports Administration on December 9 , 2022 for his over six decades of dedication to the sport. Chang contributed to the globalization of the sport and the development of woman weightlifting when he served as 1st vice president of IWF. The life honorary president of the Chinese Taipei Weightlifting Association led weightlifters from Chinese Taipei to break records and won world medals including four gold medals, two silver and four bronze in the Olympic Games. Weightlifting is his everlasting passion and the award marks his lifetime commitment to the sport. Chang said he and his family will continue dedicating to the development of weightlifting. Chang was born in a remote area of Chinese Taipei’s western Yunlin county. He learned martial arts skills in his young days and managed to develop related business including the Ching Han Tan pharmaceutical products. The earnings benefit his supports for athletes and the contribution to the sport world of Chinese Taipei led to the lifetime achievement award. Dubbed as father of weightlifting sport in Chinese Taipei, Chang doesn’t only commit himself to enhancing skills of athletes but also cultivating their morals. Chang organized events to promote the family value of respecting parents and the spirit of gratitude and repayment in the society when he was head of Chinese Taipei’s sports

Bomb-out, then a world record for teenager Nasar at weightlifting World Championships

By Brian Oliver Karlos NASAR (BUL) missed all three of his snatch attempts but broke the 89kg clean and jerk world record by 3kg on another remarkable day at the IWF World Championships in Bogotá, Colombia. The Olympic 96kg silver medallist Keydomar VALLENILLA (VEN) won the contest on total with a career-best 175-210-385 at this weight. “I’m so pleased with this,” he said, clutching his gold medal. “This is the first (world title) for Venezuela.” Vallenilla’s best clean and jerk was 10kg lower than Nasar’s, but the Bulgarian was already out of the running on total after those snatch failures. He had prepared for competing in the world’s fifth highest capital city by training for 40 days at mid-altitude in Bulgaria but, he said, he had been badly affected by the recent death of a close friend. Nasar, who was 18 last week, made 212kg with his first clean and jerk before failing with a junior world record attempt at 217kg. He went for 220kg on his final attempt to take the senior world record from Antonino PIZZOLATO (ITA), who was not fit to compete here. Why so high, when 218kg would have been enough for the record? “I have lifted 225kg in training many times, and I went all or nothing,” he said. His record-breaking lift took the clean and jerk gold ahead of LIU Huanhua (CHN) on 215kg and Brayan RODALLEGAS (COL) on 211kg. Rodallegas was third in snatch and clean and jerk, and second overall on 170-211-381, the same total as bronze medallist Liu, who was 9kg behind in the snatch on 166kg but made all three clean and jerks. Liu’s final effort at 215kg denied Kianoush ROSTAMI (IRI) a bronze medal on total. Rostami, who won at 85kg at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, took a silver medal in the snatch and finished fourth on total with 174-206-380. He had failed to qualify for Tokyo because of injury and a missed entry deadline, and said before competition that he was feeling good after two months of intense training. Afterwards he said he was “pleased for my country and myself”. Two of China’s top athletes withdrew at the last moment on the day, TIAN Tao (CHN) from the 89kg and SHI Zhiyong (CHN) from the 81kg. Tian Tao explained on social media that it was a strategy to wait for the time when the athletes feel in their best form to make a big total, because only their best performance will count in qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Both Shi Zhiyong and Tian Tao abided by the qualifying rules by participating at the IWF World Championships, the first Paris 2024 qualifying event, by weighing in and being introduced to the audience. That was the first of five and now they must participate in four more qualifying events, two of which are compulsory, the 2023 IWF World Championships in Saudi Arabia and the 2024 IWF World Cup in Thailand. The other two can be chosen from continental championships in 2023 and 2024, and IWF Grands Prix in Cuba and Qatar next year. “The strategy is simple – to catch one of the five events when I am on the best form,” he said on social media. Tian Tao said he had been feeling the effects of altitude in Bogotá, and Shi Zhiyong said he had been injured. In Shi Zhiyong’s absence in the 81kg category, China still won. LI Dayin (CHN), who said he will be going up to the Olympic weight category of 89kg, built a lead of 7kg in the snatch by making 171kg, which is 4kg below his own world record. He made 171-201-372 to finish ahead of Rejepbay REJEPOV (TKM) on 164-202-366 and KIM Woo Jae (KOR) on 162-195-357. It was the same finishing order in the snatch. In the clean and jerk Rejepov won gold, Li silver, and Andres CAICEDO (COL) bronze with 197kg. Rejepov went for double glory on his final attempt, a clean and jerk world record of 209kg that would have given him victory on total. He cleaned it but could not complete the lift, and slammed the platform in frustration. "I was so close," he said

Record-breaking teenager Pei wins world title in first international competition

By Brian Oliver PEI Xinyi (CHN), who is young enough to compete as a youth, won a senior world title in her first international competition at the IWF World Championships in Bogotá, Colombia. Pei, who was 17 in October, set a youth world record with her first ever lift, bettered it and secured a snatch gold medal with her second, and bettered it yet again with her third to build a lead of 4kg half-way through the women’s 64kg A Group. There were two more record-breaking lifts as Pei made a sweep of youth world records and claimed victory on 105-128-233. Pei failed with her final attempt of 135kg but still finished well ahead of Rattanawan WAMALUN (THA) on 101-126-227 and the Pan American champion Nathalia LLAMOSA (COL) on 101-123-224. What made Pei’s performance even more impressive is that she is really a 59kg lifter. She was deliberately entered in the less pressurised 64kg for her first competition, and weighed in at 59.3kg. That means she was giving away more 4kg in weight advantage to most of her rivals. If Pei had been 300 grammes lighter and competed instead at 59kg here on Thursday, a repeat of her 105-128-233 performance would have put her ahead of two Olympic champions, KUO Hsing-Chun (TPE) and Maude CHARRON (CAN), as well as two of her senior team-mates, LUO Shifang (CHN) and LUO Xiaomin (CHN). Wang Guoxin, coach of the China women’s team, said before the World Championships that he would not put too much pressure on the young lifters and would encourage them to learn through competitions. “Our goal at the World Championships is to let athletes gradually find their rhythm of competing in major events,” he said last week. Did it work for Pei? “Yes, I was nervous at the start, but very happy,” she said, before confirming that she will now return to 59kg. She is the youngest member of China’s national team, which she joined in December last year. “I have learned a lot from elder members of the team, they teach me about things I don’t know and help me a lot,” Pei said. “They have helped me to grow up and be more confident.” Pei, who has no history of weightlifting in her family, took up the sport at junior school in 2014 before becoming a youth champion in Zhejiang Province in 2016.  Now, at her first attempt, she is a senior world champion. Women 64kg Total Podium @IWF Llamosa took silver in the snatch and bronze in clean and jerk, while Wamalun had bronze in snatch and silver in clean and jerk. The European and Asian champions Mariia HANHUR (UKR) and PHAM Thi Hong (VIE) both failed to make a total in a session that featured as many no-lifts as good