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
Bahrain, Day 8: Photo Gallery
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Bahrain, Day 8: Antropov makes it two in a row for Kazakhstan and has China’s world record holder Liu in his sights
Artyom Antropov claimed Kazakhstan’s second victory in two days at the IWF World Championships in Bahrain when he made the last lift of an exciting 102kg session to push Meso Hassona from Qatar down to second place. Spain had its first ever men's World Championships medal on total when Marcos Ruiz finished third. China won the women’s 81kg, in which Mongolia’s most decorated weightlifter earned a place on the podium in her farewell performance. Artyom Antropov (KAZ) Antropov was way down in 12th place at halfway and Meso was seventh, but their strength in clean and jerk was always likely to make it a contest between the two of them at the finish. Antropov and Meso made five of their six clean and jerks while the other 22 athletes managed only 26 between them. Meso, who had failed to make a total at the Paris Olympic Games, recovered after missing his first clean and jerk to make 174-225-399. Antropov, two years younger at 24, started on 220kg then took clean and jerk gold on 227kg. He needed another 3kg to win on total, and made the lift impressively. Meso Hassona (QAT) Antropov finished 170-230-400. His final lift was 2kg below the clean and jerk world record held by Olympic champion Liu Huanhua from China. Antropov has never competed against Liu and is looking forward to doing so, and going for his world record, at the Asian Championships in China in May. “You don’t want to miss that one,” said Antropov. “I thought I might have a chance at the world record tonight, but it didn’t work out that way. This was a proud moment for Kazakhstan, winning twice in two days.” Marcos Ruiz (ESP) Ruiz, who made a five-from-six 183-212-395, was in the super-heavyweights at the Tokyo Olympics. This was by some distance his best total at 102kg, and he is likely to drop to 98kg when the new weight categories are used from June. Among the many no-lifts were five junior world record attempts, three by Shahzadbek Matyakubov from Turkmenistan and two by Alireza Nasiri from Iran. Matyakubov joined his team-mate Davranbek Hasanbayev – who won snatch bronze from the B Group – in bombing out. Aymen Bacha from Tunisia was second in snatch and fourth on total. Jhonatan Rivas from Colombia, fifth on total, was third in clean and jerk on 213kg. Liao Guifang claimed China’s second win of the Championships when she finished clear of the double Olympic medallist Sara Samir from Egypt at 81kg. Liao made all six lifts for 123-155-278, while Samir failed with three attempts on 113-149-262. Liao Guifang (CHN) Kim Kyong Ryong maintained PRK’s run of being on the podium in every event they have contested, finishing third on 114-147-261. Mongolia’s best ever lifter, triple Olympian Ankha Munkjantsan, went out on a high. She retired after winning snatch silver and finishing fourth on total from the B Group on 116-137-253. Ankha is retiring 12 days before her 27th birthday because of persistent injury problems. Despite making her best ever total, there will be no change of mind. “Seventeen years I have been in this sport,” she said. “That is a long time. I need to stop, but I will still be involved in national competitions. I could never leave weightlifting completely.” Ankha Munkjantsan (MGL) She wants to spend more time with her family - and make it bigger. “I want four more children,” said Ankha, who has a six-year-old son. She began lifting internationally as a 13-year-old in 2010. Ankha won the 87kg world title in 2021, the year when she was one lift away from winning an Olympic medal in Tokyo. She finished fourth. At Rio 2016 she was ninth at 69kg, and in Paris Ankha was 10th at 81kg. Because of her injuries – “back, shoulder, hip, elbow, all over” - she bombed out five times and made only one total during the Paris qualifying period, but that one total was good enough to qualify. Her final total was 28kg more than she made in Paris and 1kg better than her previous career high, which came in the 87kg category in Tokyo. “I had special treatment in Taipei in May. I wasn’t really fit enough for Paris but now I feel healthy, no injuries. I wanted to finish with a medal and I’m very happy that I did it. I thought I would be in the A Group here but maybe it worked out better that I was in B. “I was the first weightlifter from my country ever to compete in the World Championships. Winning that gold medal in 2021 was my best memory.” Yekta Jamali (WRT) Yekta Jamali from the Weightlifting Refugee Team (WRT) improved her best total by 6kg in making 104-133-237 for seventh place. Jamali, from Iran and now living and studying in Germany, has made steady improvement this year, the highlight of which was lifting in Paris for the WRT. So, what are targets for 2025? “That’s for me to know,” she laughed. “The numbers are in my head but I’m not sharing them.” By Brian Oliver Photos by
