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Cyrille Tchatchet elected to the WADA Athlete Council

Cyrille Tchatchet, an active weightlifter representing Great Britain, was elected to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Athlete Council (for the period 2025-2027), after an electoral process taking place between December 10-12. The scrutiny was held via an online voting platform and was available only to IFs Athlete Commissions that were registered and deemed eligible to vote. A total of 55 out of 60 IF ACs voted (91.7%).  Cyrille Tchatchet, new member of the WADA Athlete Council The WADA Athlete Council has a total of 20 members, with eight of them coming directly from the International Federations group. Tchatchet was elected among 26 candidates to this group and is one of the four new members of the Council in this category (the remaining four were re-elected). Cyrille Tchatchet, 29, and also member of the IWF Athletes Commission, started his international career representing his native Cameroon. He then sought refugee status in Great Britain, which he eventually got. In this capacity, he was one of the athletes selected for the Tokyo 2020ne Olympic Refugee Team, competing in the weightlifting competition in the Japanese capital. Presently, already with a British passport, he represents his new country in IWF and other major events. His full story can be read here “I am sincerely thrilled with my election to the WADA Athlete Council and I would like to warmly thank all my fellow colleagues from so many International Federations that supported me in this so significant endeavour for me. I also express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to the IWF Athlete Commission and the weightlifting community in general for the endorsement of this candidature,” declared Cyrille Tchatchet after knowing the election’s result.   “I am very proud to represent this beautiful Sport, the one that always provided me so much happiness and unforgettable moments! This is an enormous responsibility for me, and I can ensure that I will do my best to conveniently represent the athletes’ voice in this so crucial topic,” he continued.   “It is our obligation to constantly fight for clean sport and fair competition. WADA is the leading international organisation setting the highest standards to implement that strategy – I am therefore very much committed to offering my experience and expertise to assist in this noble cause,” Tchatchet concluded. The IWF President Mohammed Jalood was also happy with this positive outcome: “Firstly, I would like to congratulate Cyrille for this brilliant election! I am sure that his work and contribution will be extremely valued within the WADA Athlete Council. He is truly a great athlete, an inspiring example of resilience, and is now keen to give back to Sport all his knowledge and expertise”. “For the IWF, his election is also an additional proof of our firm determination to promote and ensure a clean and fair weightlifting environment. Finally, it also underlines the importance we give to the athletes’ voice and representation within our International Federation,” also stated Mr Jalood. IWF Communications Read the official WADA announcement here

Bahrain, Review: PRK leads way on the platform and hosts take plaudits for ‘best ever’ World Championships

There were 29 world records at the IWF World Championships, where athletes from PRK, China, Bulgaria, the United States, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Iraq and elsewhere put on a show that will long be remembered. So did the host nation. Every member of PRK’s team of 17 won at least one medal in Manama. Two of PRK’s world record breakers were especially impressive, Ri Suk at 64kg and Kim Il Gyong, who won the women’s best lifter award, at 59kg. Ri Suk (PRK) China gave its five Olympic champions a break. Its junior newcomers excelled, led by super-heavyweight Li Yan who set a world record on her international debut. PRK and China filled 15 of the top 16 places in the women’s individual rankings, in which the only interloper was the American Olivia Reeves, who ended the year with Olympic and world titles at 71kg. Li Yan (CHN) Karlos Nasar from Bulgaria also did the Olympics-World Championships double, setting yet more 89kg world records at the age of 20. PRK filled the next three places behind Nasar – named best male lifter - in the individual rankings. Karlos Nasar (BUL) Kazakhstan’s men put on a show of strength with victories for Nurgissa Adiletuly and Artyom Antropov, as well as 81kg silver for Alexey Churkin, the top-ranked junior after Nasar. In the super-heavyweights Varazdat Lalayan claimed gold for Armenia while Ali Ammar Yusur from Iraq became the first junior to total more than 450kg. Alexey Churkin (KAZ) These superlative efforts were matched off the platform by the hosts, who got everything right. “It has been like a festival – nobody wanted it to end,” said Eshaq Ebrahim Eshaq, president of the Bahrain Weightlifting Federation and head of an organising committee that worked for 18 months on the biggest hosting project in Bahrain’s Olympic sport history. “The competition venue, presentation, spectator engagement, training hall, hotels, transport, food, fanzone… everything worked really well. We have not had a single complaint about anything.” The IWF President Mohammed Jalood stated at the closing ceremony, “Bahrain has raised the World Championships bar to a new level.”   Mohammed Jalood (IWF President) Sam Coffa, chair of the IWF Technical Committee who has been involved in weightlifting across seven decades, rated Bahrain 2024 as “the best World Championships I have ever witnessed or worked in”. His view was echoed by federation officials from China, Great Britain and Germany plus countless athletes and coaches. “How does anybody follow this?” asked one coach. Eshaq said Bahrain had set a couple of world records itself, for the biggest billboards in weightlifting, and the biggest tent. Those billboards, featuring Gor Minasyan, Olivia Reeves, Sara Samir and others, adorned buildings all over Manama. “You’d have to be living under a rock not to know about this event,” he said. The 1,000 seat arena, plus training hall, merchandise area and fan zone, were all inside a giant tent standing nearly 16 metres tall. “It was on a sand plot with no electricity, no wifi, no bathrooms when we started. We built it over 45 days,” said Eshaq. Eshaq Ebrahim Eshaq (President of the BRN Weightlifting Federation) “It was a risk, and it paid off. Our long-term planning worked, strategic sponsorship partnerships for food, vehicles, accommodation, promotion. Our volunteers were available 24 hours a day at all the competition hotels. It’s so much better when you can plan ahead. “We tried to treat everyone like a VIP. This is the biggest Olympic sports event ever staged in Manama, and we did it in one the most global sports. We did it with a smile. It has been a source of national pride.” By Brian Oliver Photos by

Bahrain, Day 10: Photo Gallery

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Bahrain, Day 10: Armenia’s Lalayan wins epic final contest – and China has a new star in women’s super-heavyweights

Super-heavyweights from Armenia, Iran, Iraq and host nation Bahrain were urged on by a noisy capacity crowd as they made the final session one of the highlights of 10 memorable days at the 2024 IWF World Championships. There was some remarkable lifting in the women’s contest that preceded it, too. A newcomer from China, Li Yan, claimed the junior and senior snatch world records as she won by 29kg. Varazdat Lalayan (ARM) Varazdat Lalayan from Armenia, second to triple Olympic champion Lasha Talakhadze in Paris in August, came out on top in a battle between three men who collectively weighed more than 520kg. Lalayan, 25, was ahead of the Iranians Ali Davoudi and Alireza Yousefi on the same total he made in Paris, 467kg. Snatch silver medallist Gor Minasyan, third for Bahrain in Paris, was fourth. One place behind him was 20-year-old Ali Ammar Yusur from Iraq, who broke five junior world records in going beyond 450kg for the first time. Lalayan was behind both Iranians in clean and jerk, but his big advantage in snatch left him clear to claim Armenia’s first victory here. Before today Talakhadze, who did not lift in Bahrain, had won every world title stretching back to 2015. Lalayan made all three snatches to lead Davoudi by 9kg and Yousefi by 21kg at halfway. Minasyan was within 5kg of Lalayan but his chances disappeared when he missed his first two clean and jerks before finishing 210-245-455. Ali Davoudi (IRI) Davoudi also failed with his first two attempts in clean and jerk before giving Iran’s noisy supporters something to cheer. His final lift left him on 206-253-459. Yousefi needed 262kg to take clean and jerk gold and bronze on total – and there were more cheers when he made it. The Iranian pair won five medals between them. Ali Ammar kept pace with the contenders. He broke the junior snatch world record twice, opening on 201kg and following up on 204kg. He then bettered Yousefi’s junior clean and jerk record as well as putting 10kg on his own record on total. Ali Ammar finished 204-247-451. If Ali Ammar is the up-and-coming youngster in the men’s super-heavyweights, there is a new name in the women’s division – Li Yan from China, which has won six Olympic titles in the heaviest women’s category this century. Ali Ammar (IRQ) Li Yan, 20, took the snatch world records from her double Olympic champion team-mate Li Wenwen as she won the world title in her first major international appearance. Her only previous international outing was at the East Asian Championships in Korea in September, where she totalled 310kg. Today she made all six lifts for 149-175-324, and looked capable of more. That total was 15kg more than the winning total in Paris for Li Wenwen, whose preparations were disrupted by a serious elbow injury at the 2023 World Championships. For comparison, Li Wenwen made exactly the same total on her international debut in 2019 before going on to win in Tokyo and Paris, as well as at all other eight events in which she has competed since. Li Yan (CHN) Li Yan is from Heilongjiang, China’s northernmost province, where she started lifting aged 15. “A coach found me at school and thought I was talented,” she said. As a newcomer to the national team for these Championships she has never trained with Li Wenwen, who like China’s other four Paris gold medallists is taking a break. Li Yan joined the provincial team in 2020, and competed in her first national competition in the same year. “I I really enjoyed the atmosphere at my first international championship, but I have been more nervous here than in national competitions,” she said.   Her nerves did not show. “This was my best performance yet - I had never lifted these numbers even in training,” she said. Li Wenwen started her career at 149kg and has stayed close to that weight. Li Yan weighed in today at 127.96kg. Park Hyejeong (KOR) Korean lifters took silver and bronze, and the junior world champion Marifelix Sarria from Cuba was fourth. The Paris silver medallist Park Hyejeong came close to breaking the 300kg barrier for the first time, but failed on 130kg and finished 124-171-295. Son Younghee was third on 118-162-280. There was a disappointing end to a memorable year for Emily Campbell, the Paris bronze medallist from Britain who had to withdraw after two snatch attempts with a quad muscle injury. She had been clear of injury and making very good numbers in training. Emily Campbell (GBR) “I’d been in really good shape for this, ready to take on both Koreans,” said Campbell. “I felt a sharp pain in my quad and that was that. It is what it is – that’s weightlifting. “I got injured in Bulgaria three days before the European Championships, now this. But it’s still been a great year for me, I got what I really wanted in Paris. “I was thinking of quitting after the Olympics but I felt I left so much out there in Paris I had to carry on. Now I want my fifth European title in April – 300 in Moldova, let’s do it!” By Brian Oliver Photos by DBM/Deepbluemedia

Bahrain, Day 9: Photo Gallery

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Bahrain, Day 9: Nurudinov makes stunning world record at 33 – and Ngake wins medal for GB in first outing since London 2012

Ruslan Nurudinov brought the crowd to their feet at the IWF World Championships in Bahrain when he became one of the oldest weightlifters ever to break a world record. Now Nurudinov, 33, is reconsidering his decision to retire from the sport. The Uzbekistan hero, Olympic champion at 105kg in 2016, won the 109kg contest by 20kg after bettering his own clean and jerk record. Ruslan Nurudinov (UZB) On a good day for 30-somethings Madias Ngake, who had no results on the IWF database since she lifted for Cameroon at the London 2012 Olympic Games 4,507 days ago, was on the podium for Great Britain in the women’s 87kg. Nurudinov, an Olympic champion for Uzbekistan in 2016, had already won with two attempts to spare. He lifted 230kg to warm up for the big one, 242kg to better his own clean and jerk world record set three and a half years ago. “I’ve done 240 but I’ve never made 242 in training since then,” said Nurudinov, who has a big decision to make. At his last competition in February, Nurudinov declined his final attempt after struggling to 382kg to win his fifth Asian title in his home country. He was flat out with ice packs on his back before the medal ceremony.   “That was painful, my body has had enough,” he said at the time, vowing to retire in Bahrain. “I’m 32, I have a back injury and I’m feeling my age. I will continue until the World Championships and try to finish with a medal.” He did more than that. Nurudinov improved that February total by 42kg on 182-242-424, then stayed on the platform for a while to celebrate while the spectators roared their approval. Lu Xiaojun set a world record aged 35 this century. Vasiliy Alekseyev did it at 35 in the 1970s, and the American Norbert Schemansky at 37 in the 1960s. Might Nurudinov stay around a while longer and try to match them? “I really don’t know, I can’t say now but it’s possible I will continue,” he said. “My preparation for this competition was the best for three years. No injuries, very good training.” Dadash Dadashbayli (AZE) Dadash Dadashbayli from Azerbaijan put in a huge effort after missing his first two snatches to finish second on 183-221-404. He declined his final attempt and settled for second place. Mehdi Karami from Iran made one of the best saves of the Championships to take snatch bronze. He was out of position, unbalanced and close to the edge of the platform but he recovered and finished with a career-best 183-217-400. Salwan Jasim’s 220kg in the B Group won clean and jerk bronze, putting Iraq on the World Championships medals table for the second year running.  Nurudinov’s team-mate Sharofiddin Amriddinov won snatch gold before dropping to fifth on total. The unluckiest man on the day was Garik Karapetyan from Armenia. After finishing fourth at the Paris Olympics, where he missed his last two attempts, Karapetyan was expected to be Nurudinov’s closest challenger. He opened on 183kg, missed the next one and was out of the competition after failing to make 188kg on his third attempt. Karapetyan fell hard on his elbow and had to retire, although he made it for the medal ceremony to collect snatch silver, with his left elbow strapped up. There was an impressive international debut in the B Group by Kolbi Ferguson, a former college football player from the United States. Ferguson, 23, made only two good lifts but showed huge strength in making 170-211-381. That was the target he had to hit to secure funding as a full-time athlete. Ferguson took up the sport in 2022. “There was a lot of preparation and warming up, and I thought weightlifting was boring at first. I’m used to hitting people, brutal sport. This is way more demanding of mental as well as physical strength. “But my coach believed in me back then and here I am – now I can train full-time. I haven’t been able to do that before, I’ve been in school or had to take a few jobs. I’m going to have some fun.” Wu Yan (CHN) China won the women’s event by a wide margin. Wu Yan was hugely impressive on her international debut with a six-from-six 122-150-272. Eileen Cikamatana from Australia made only two good lifts in second place on 113-144-257. Kim Yong Ju completed PRK’s 100 per cent record in third on 112-144-256. PRK won a medal in every category in which they had an entry. Madias Ngake (GBR) Ngake, 32, dropped to eighth on total after failing with two clean and jerks on 114-130-244. She made 10kg more when second to Cikamatana for England at the Commonwealth Championships in July, which was not an IWF-sanctioned competition. Ngake won African youth, junior and senior titles for Cameroon before finishing sixth at 75kg at London 2012. She was promoted to third four years later when the top three finishers were disqualified for doping. Eileen Cikamatana (AUS) “I didn’t find out about that until 2020 and I don’t have my Olympic medal – it must be at the Cameroon federation,” said Ngake, an office cleaner in Leeds who stayed in Britain to start a new life. She gave up weightlifting, but when she got her passport four years ago she returned to the sport after watching some lifts on YouTube. This was her first competition for Great Britain. By Brian Oliver Photos by DBM/Deepbluemedia