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Glasgow, Day 2: Three golds for Nigeria, a comeback medal for England’s Murray — and a big day for the over-40s

Nigeria moved to the top of the medals table with three golds in a row on a busy second day of weightlifting at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Rafiatu Lawal (NGR) Malaysia added to its two victories on Sunday with another winner, Erry Hidayat, in the men’s 79kg evening session. A big crowd has roared Ajaya Babu from India into first place but Hidayat – who said he had been “very scared” when he needed his final snatch to avoid a bombout - made that one and all three clean and jerks for victory. The 2022 champion Chris Murray finished third on his comeback from a long spell of injuries to claim England’s first medal. Men's 79kg podium It was also a good day for the over-40s, three of whom lifted in one session, the women’s 53kg. One called an end to her career and the other two will be trying to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Nigeria has had three golds and a silver in the first two days, and Malaysia three golds and a bronze. The table could change on Tuesday when Canada, which won two medals on day two, has the favourite in all three medal events. For Nigeria, Edidiong Umoafia won at 71kg, hanging on to his lead when John Tafi from Samoa twice failed to make the 178kg he needed for victory.  Edidiong Umoafia (NGR)  Umoafia then joined in the cheers from a noisy Nigerian contingent in the audience as Onome Didih claimed a sweep of Commonwealth records in winning at 53kg. Both champions stayed on to support Rafiatu Lawal, who made it three in a row at 58kg. “I want to shout out to all my team-mates, all the coaches, everybody who has helped us to prepare for these Games,” Didih said after winning on 93-113-206. “We all encourage each other, we love each other – nobody thinks they are better or more important than anybody else. We are all in this together, a very strong team.” Didih, 22, and silver medallist Gyaneshwari Yadav from India both made all six attempts. Yadav finished 88-11-199 and Rebeka Groulx from Canada, up from 48kg, was third on 83-95-178. Onome Didih (NGR) Lawal also made all six attempts, finishing 103-126-229. Canada was on the podium again when Ann Sophie Taschereau made a career-best 94-121-215, and Bindyarani Devi from India was third on 87-112-199. “Six good lifts and a gold medal - this was my best win,” said Lawal. “The support from the crowd was amazing, it really motivated me.” Nigeria’s women have been formidable for a few years. “It’s true the girls have been stronger than us, and that has helped to motivate me. My win is for all the guys out there,” said Umoafia. He built a 5kg lead in snatch and made 147-168-319. The snatch world record of 160kg is not beyond him, Umoafia said. “I have made 159 in training, I can do it.” Men's 71kg podium Tafi made 142-172-314 and third place went to Ezekiel Moses on 140-170-310. Harrison McGrogan, the teenager who was hoping to become Northern Ireland’s first ever Commonwealth Games weightlifting medallist, ripped the skin on his right hand early in the contest and made only two good lifts in fifth place. At 79kg Hidayat made 147-184-331, Babu 149-181-330 and Murray a five from six 148-177-325. Erry Hidayat (MAS) Murray had serious shoulder and elbow injuries, a torn hamstring, two quad tears and had suffered from glandular fever and shingles during his long spell out of competition. Was it worth sticking with the long recovery process? “To win this medal, no, but in terms of the life lessons I learned, absolutely,” Murray said. “I learned just how much I love weightlifting and now I’m in it full-time. I’ve got funding and that’s my life now.” While there were plenty of youths and juniors in action throughout the four medal events, this was a special day for the older athletes – or, as one of them said, “the grandmas”. Remarkably, of the 10 women in the 53kg session, three were aged over 40 – Johanni Taljaard from South Africa at 41, Dika Toua from Papua New Guinea at 42 and Jenly Wini from the Solomon Islands at 43.   The 'grandmas club': Johanni Taljaard (RSA), Jenly Wini (SOL) and Dika Toua (PNG) All three are mums – “but you can call us the grandmas” said Toua. Wini’s son, at 24, is older than all three medallists in his mother’s last ever international competition. She retired today, but the other two will be trying to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Winli’s final lift at her fifth Commonwealth Games was a good one, earning big cheers from the noisy crowd. She finished fifth on 74-98-172 and said, “That’s it for me. Now I’ll go into coaching.” Women's 53kg podium Taljaard was one place higher and would have won a medal if she had made her final attempt on 101kg. Like her first clean and jerk, it got three red lights for bending and extending. Having started in gymnastics before taking up CrossFit, Taljaard did not start weightlifting until her mid-30s and took a five-year break before returning in 2025 because of Covid and motherhood. “I thought I was done but my friends said I should keep going,” she said. “I want to try an Olympic cycle so I’ll be at the World Championships in October.” It was not a good day for Toua, who bombed out in snatch. But she has had bad days before and is not deterred. Women's 58kg podium “Recovery gets harder as you get older but my mindset is the same,” she said. “It’s the mind that controls everything. I’m president of our federation and I see myself as a leader as well as an athlete. I want to keep encouraging the younger lifters. “I reckon I can still win medals at the Pacific Games and I’ll be trying to qualify for Los Angeles. It’s weightlifting that makes me feel young and healthy, that keeps me going.” By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Glasgow, Day 1: Glory for India and Malaysia as Chanu and Aznil take historic third golds

Mirabai Chanu and Aznil Bidin were the stars on the opening day of weightlifting at Glasgow 2026, making it a day to remember for India and Malaysia – and Asia. Chanu became the first woman to win three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games when she finished clear at 48kg, and Aznil’s victory at 65kg made him the first man to complete a hat-trick this century. He was also the first three-time male winner from Asia. Mirabai Chanu (IND) India and Malaysia were both on the podium in all three events. Aniq Kasdan won for a second time at 60kg for Malaysia, and Irene Henry was third behind Chanu. India had Chanu’s gold, and silvers for Rishikanta Chanambam at 60kg and Raja Muthipandi at 65kg. Chanu beamed her way through an endless series of interviews after finishing 22kg clear of her nearest rival, Ruth Nyong from Nigeria. Women's 48kg podium This was the lowest total of Chanu’s three straight victories and she is 31 now. So will she be going for four in a row when India hosts the 2030 Commonwealth Games? “I’ll be trying,” Chanu laughed. “This third gold medal means so much to me. This sport has changed my life, it has given me everything and I am a very proud weightlifter. I have to try for more medals.” Chanu, who was second in the same venue here on her Games debut in 2014, set a Commonwealth snatch record in making 85-105-190 from three good lifts. She missed both openers and declined her final attempt. Nyong was equally happy. She was third at halfway and missed her first two clean and jerks before making the final one to turn a bombout into a silver medal on 75-93-168. Henry made 77-90-167 in third place. “I am so tired after that, but so happy with the medal,” Nyong said. “I had a lot of support from my team-mates, and now I’ll be back here to cheer for them – after a nice rest.” India and Malaysia both showed the benefits of lengthy pre-Games training camps, India at Wolverhampton in England and Malaysia in Turkiye. Aznil is eight years older than Aniq at 32 and may have to fend off a challenge from his team-mate at 65kg. Aniq Kasdan (MAS) At the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics the lightest men’s category will be 65kg, which is more than Aniq has ever weighed even in training. “I know I will need to improve by 40 to 60 kilos but I’ll work for it,” said Aniq, 24. He made all six attempts for victory at 60kg on 121-152-273. “It was tough, there was pressure, I was nervous, but it went well,” he said. Joshua Mboya (KEN) Chanambam was second on 121-143-264 and Joshua Mboya from Kenya was third on 115-145-260, a six-from-six career best by 19kg. He was Kenya’s first Commonwealth Games weightlifting medallist since Collins Nyawalo in 1994. At the start of the year Mboya, 20, was awarded an Olympic scholarship. “Without it I would have to be working or studying,” he said. “This support means I can train full time, twice a day. This is my biggest achievement today and my next ambition is to qualify for the Olympic Games.” Men's 60kg podium Aznil made four from six for 133-166-299 and was never really pushed by those behind him. Muthupandi made only two good lifts for 126-160-286 and Morea Baru from Papua New Guinea finished third on 125-157-282. Baru, 36, was lifting at his fifth Commonwealth Games and took his medal tally to two silvers and two bronzes. Aznil Bidin (MAS) Aznil said that if Aniq moves up to 65kg “it will be healthy competition”. When the two vied for one slot at Paris 2024, Aniq edged out Aznil and finished fourth at 61kg. “It’s my turn next time,” said Aznil. Men's 65kg podium He added: “Winning three times at the Commonwealth Games only makes me want to keep going and try for a fourth gold medal.” By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Glasgow, Preview: Chanu and Charron aim for golden hat-trick, and Oceania youngsters set to shine

The Olympic medallists Mirabai Chanu and Maude Charron will both be aiming for their third straight Commonwealth Games victory when five days of competition begin in Glasgow on Sunday. While three men have won three or even four times in a row – Precious McKenzie for England and New Zealand, multiple world champion Louis Martin for England and David Morgan for Wales – no woman has ever had a hat-trick of golds since 2002, before which weightlifting was a men-only sport at these Games.  Mirabai Chanu (IND) Chanu and Charron are both strong favourites in Glasgow, as is a third Olympic medallist, Emily Campbell, who will be aiming for a second straight Commonwealth Games gold. At 86kg Eileen Cikamatana, who was fourth at the Paris Olympic Games, is also going for a third straight victory, having won for Fiji in 2018 and Australia in 2022. At the past two Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris, Chanu finished second and fourth, Charron won gold then silver, and Campbell won silver and bronze. All three are in their thirties and will probably be thinking about their future after Glasgow, with qualifying for Los Angeles 2028 starting in three months. Maude Charron (CAN) India has prepared well with a three-week training camp in the West Midlands of England, at the same place they used before the 2022 Games in Birmingham. Having finished top of the weightlifting medals table at the past three Games, India will need everybody in top form to make it four in a row after its team was weakened by recent doping violations. Canada could make a strong challenge for top place, while Samoa, Malaysia and Nigeria all have multiple contenders for gold. Chanu carries India’s flag at the opening ceremony – one of many weightlifters to lead their team at the parade of nations. She lifts on Sunday at 48kg and is a very strong favourite. She finished second at Glasgow 2014, her first Commonwealth Games, before winning in Gold Coast and Birmingham. Emily Campbell (ENG) Charron, who like Chanu was second at last year’s IWF World Championships, is in an intriguing 63kg category that features Sarah Davies, who will compete for England under her married name Davies-Smale, and the talented teenager Femily Notte from Nauru. Charron and Davies are 33, nearly twice as old as Notte, who won the senior Oceania title in April aged 17. Davies won in Birmingham four years ago, has taken back-to-back European titles and is looking forward to returning to Glasgow, having lifted at the 2014 Games in only her second international appearance. Harrison McGrogan (NIR) “It’s nice to have that full circle moment. There's a chance that this will be my last Commonwealth Games, so it's nice to have that nostalgia of my first one and my last one being in the same city, in the same venue,” Davies said. Campbell’s strongest challenger in the super-heavyweights is likely to be Iuniarra Sipaia from Samoa. The top contenders on form are all in their thirties, and the youngster to watch in this category could be 18-year-old Etta Love from Canada. Dimitris Minasidis (CYP) Other youngsters to look out for include the double junior world champion Charlotte Simoneau from Canada and Olivia Selemaia from New Zealand at 69kg, Onome Didih from Nigeria at 53kg, and Seine Stowers from Samoa at 77kg. Stowers and Notte are two of the most exciting teenagers not just in Oceania, but worldwide. In the men’s events, 18-year-old Harrison McGrogan, at 71kg, has a chance of winning a first weightlifting medal for Northern Ireland. Dika Toua (PNG) Two winners from the 2014 Glasgow Games are competing 12 years later. Dimitris Minasidis from Cyprus, 37, lifts at 65kg and Dika Toua from Papua New Guinea competes in her sixth Commonwealth Games, aged 42. Toua is one of three 40-somethings in the 53kg category, alongside Johanni Taljaard from South Africa at 41 and Jenly Wini from Solomon Islands, the oldest lifter in Glasgow at 43. Wini went all the way to Canada in a late attempt to qualify for her fifth Games in May and made it. By Brian

Cali, Review: Teenage stars from all over the world – and 13-year-old Rory leads the way

There were 16 medal events and 15 different nations had a winner. More than half of the 44 teams were on the podium on total. That made the 2026 IWF World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia the best ever in terms of spreading the medals around. Georgia led the table with two golds, two silvers and two bronzes, becoming the first team since the World Youths started in 2009 to finish top with only two winners. The Philippines, with six, won the most medals on total ahead of Turkiye on five. Rory van Ulft (ARU) Some might say this spread of medallists, continuing a trend in youth weightlifting that began five years ago, is because China has competed at the World Championships only once and PRK not at all since 2019. The results from the Asian Youth Games in Bahrain last year – where China and PRK contributed to 21 youth world records being set – give weight to this argument. But if you take the best of the best in Cali, the performances stack up well. Two of China’s champions in Bahrain would not have won in Cali with the same numbers, and the top three in the individual rankings at the World Youths – male and female - all performed better than the Asian Youth Games winners at the same weight. One of them is 13 years old. Alexsandra Diaz (PHI) Five of those top-ranked stars in Cali set world records and the sixth tried for them but failed. Rory van Ulft, a dual-national from Canada who is competing for Aruba, broke two world records at 44kg on her international debut aged 13. “That was fun,” she said. On Robi points Rory was joint top, but on GAMX points – newly approved by the IWF – she was the only athlete in Cali to score higher than 1,300. Alexsandra Diaz from the Philippines, niece of the Tokyo Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz, won with two world records at 48kg and said on her return home: “I want to be like Auntie Haidie, to become an Olympian. And to win an Olympic gold medal.” She is 15. Nicoleta Cojocaru (MDA) Europe, which had a successful Championships, provided the third record-breaking champion in Nicoleta Cojocaru from Moldova, who won at 58kg aged 16 and keeps improving. “I sometimes forget to celebrate my wins because I am already focusing on the next one,” she told national media. Ogulshat Amanova from Turkmenistan was out of the medals in Bahrain after three failures but made five good lifts in Cali to win impressively at 53kg. Lidysmar Aparicio from Venezuela made a 250kg total at +77kg for a second straight world title. That is an outstanding effort in all parts of the world except China, whose 15-year-old super-heavyweight Hu Wenxun was among the original entries but did not compete in Cali. Her youth world record total is 288kg. Nurzhan Zhumabay (KAZ) Two of the top-ranked men went head-to-head at 88kg in one of the best youth sessions of recent years. The bronze medallist, Jose Mantilla from Mexico, had a sweep of continental records and was seventh in the individual rankings but he had no chance against the top two. Nurzhan Zhumabay from Kazakhstan won, on 348kg, ahead of Erik Guadamud Pico on 344kg. Zhumabay was the only Cali champion who had also won in Bahrain, which he did at 79kg. He is 15 and will surely keep improving. Guadamud Pico is Spain’s best male prospect in weightlifting for a long time. Muhammed Al Ojaian (KSA) Muhammed Al Ojaian from Saudi Arabia was another top performer, making 253kg at 56kg. Al Ojaian was one of four champions from Arab nations. Mousa Khudhair from Iraq won at 94kg and is already being targeted at the 2032 Olympic Games, while Mohamed Abdelradi from Egypt won at 79kg without nearing his own world records. Ghofrane Ghrissa from Tunisia completed the four by winning the women’s 77kg. Davit Kiladze (GEO) For Europe, besides the efforts of Cojocaru and Guadamud Pico, Russia had its first winner since 2021 in Sergei Plotnikov at 65kg. Turkiye had four silvers as well as one champion, Zehranur Aslan in the women’s 63kg. Georgia’s winners were Davit Kiladze at 71kg and Nikoloz Kurtanidze in the super-heavyweights, where his team-mate Khvicha Kitsmaridze was second. The United States and Mexico had a winner each, Addie Jones at 69kg and Victor Mendez in the men’s 60kg. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Cali, Day 7: Photo Gallery

Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia [gallery size="large"

Cali, Day 7: Iraq puts its support behind another heavyweight talent – and Georgia claims a second title

Iraq showcased a star for the future at the IWF World Youth Championships five years ago, and now it is doing it again. In 2021 it was Ali Ammar Yusur, who began his international career by finishing third at 102kg and has been given maximum support ever since. He was sixth at the Paris Olympic Games three years later and is among the favourites to become the super-heavyweight champion at Los Angeles 2028. On the final day of this year’s World Youths in Cali, Colombia, it was 16-year-old Mousa Khudhair, who won at 94kg. Mousa Khudair (IRQ) It takes a big leap of faith to think a medallist in youth weightlifting might end up at the Olympic Games many years later, but the sporting authorities in Iraq were right about Ali Ammar and are confident about Khudhair’s future. “Mousa Khudhair is a very good weightlifter who we enrolled in the Olympic preparation programme supported by the Iraqi National Olympic Committee,” said Mustafa Salih from the Iraq Weightlifting Federation. “He is being prepared for the 2032 Olympic Games. A preparation plan was put in place at the beginning of this year and will continue until we achieve our goal.” Men's 94kg category podium Khudhair’s numbers were lower than the top two finishers at 88kg on Friday, but they will soon improve with that level of state support, just as Ali Ammar’s did. After winning, he immediately received a message of congratulations from the president of Iraq’s National Olympic Committee. He made five good lifts in his 150-182-332, finishing 15kg ahead of Alen Zurabyan from Armenia on 137-180-317. Tamazi Megreleshvili from Georgia was third on 141-171-312 and snatch silver medallist Mykhailo Maliuk from Ukraine fourth on 142-160-302. Remarkably, Khudhair’s failure at 182kg on his second clean and jerk was the only red light for the top four. Nikoloz Kurtanidze (GEO) It was a similar story in the +94 men’s super-heavyweights, in which the top three finishers all made six from six and there were only two red lights among the top seven. Nikoloz Kurtanidze won, leaving Georgia as the only nation with more than one champion in Cali. Men's +94kg category podium Kurtanidze made 151-187-338 to finish a kilo ahead of his team-mate Khvicha Kitsmaridze, the snatch winner, on 154-183-337. Kacper Piech from Poland was third on 153-180-333, and fourth-placed Semion Makarau from Belarus won bronze in snatch. Aparicio Lidysmar (VEN) Aparicio Lidysmar from Venezuela won the women’s super-heavyweights for the second straight year. Last year in Lima she totalled 230kg and this time she showed impressive improvement with a six-from-six 110-140-250. Sara Dal Bo from Italy, a 2024 World Youths winner at 81kg, made 102-128-230 for second place, a personal best. Women's +77kg category podium Su Ceng-shi from Chinese Taipei was down in ninth place in snatch but moved up to third on total and took silver in clean and jerk on 95-130-225. Tbini Hiba from Tunisia was third in snatch on 101kg before bombing out in clean and jerk. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio