European Championships: Nasar (BUL) wins again but this time Ozbek (TUR) is the star – alongside Sterckx (BEL)
The Olympic and world champion Karlos Nasar won his fourth straight continental title at the European Championships in Batumi, Georgia. For once, though, the Bulgarian did not top the individual rankings. Nasar, who is working with a new coach and support team, finished 5kg clear of Ara Aghanyan from Armenia when he won at 94kg on 176-210-386. That was his lowest total since 2022, the year when he was last beaten. For the first time in two years he left the platform without breaking a world record, having failed with attempts of 183kg in snatch and 223kg in clean and jerk. Karlos Nasar (BUL) Nasar, who weighed in at 92.47kg, lost his first clean and jerk on review after getting three white lights from the referees. The jury said “no lift” because of oscillation and he did not complain. Nasar’s was third on individual points. His team-mate Ivan Dimov was ranked second despite being beaten at 65kg, and the man who finished 6kg ahead of Dimov, Muhammed Furkan Ozbek from Turkiye, was top by a long way. Ozbek claimed the European clean and jerk record with his final attempt and finished 1kg short of his own word record on total when he made 140-183-323. Ozbek, 25, is unbeaten since dropping down to 65kg from 73kg, the weight at which he finished fourth at the Paris Olympic Games. “There is nothing better than seeing the Turkiye flag at the top,” he said. Muhammed Furkan Ozbek (TUR) The fourth, fifth and seventh-ranked athletes on points all came from a high-quality 110kg contest – winner Garik Karapetyan from Armenia, silver medallist Luis Rodriguez from Romania and third-placed Hristo Hristov from Bulgaria. Karapetyan made up a 6kg deficit in snatch to win on 189-226-415. Rodriguez and Hristov both bettered the European snatch record, which ended up with Rodriguez on 195-219-414. Hristov made 190-222-412. Armenia also won the super-heavyweights, as expected, when the Olympic silver medallist Varazdat Lalayan made 210-241-451 to finish 26kg clear of Daniil Vagaitsev from Russia, who won world and European junior medals in 2021 when he last competed internationally. Lalayan failed with two record attempts at 253kg. Angel Rusev from Bulgaria made his final attempt to win his sixth continental title on 120-155-275 at 60kg. Yusuf Femi Genc totalled 332kg in winning at 71kg; Russia had its first champion in five years when Gevorg Serobian claimed the European snatch record on 161kg and totalled 341kg at 79kg; and Marin Robu from Moldova set a European snatch record of 173kg in winning at 88kg on 373kg. That put Robu sixth in the points list. Nina Sterckx (BEL) The top female points scorer was Nina Sterckx, who became the first woman from Belgium to win a European title. Sterckx surprised the Olympic silver medallist Mihaela Cambei from Romania to win at 53kg on 94-116-210. Cambei, who failed with her final attempt, took the continental snatch record on 95kg and finished second in the points rankings on 209kg. Sterckx set records in clean and jerk and total. Sterckx, 23, qualified for the Paris Olympics at two weights, 49kg and 59kg, and bombed out when she opted for 49kg (Cambei finished second). She is now living and training in the United States and has two options for LA2028, 53kg and 61kg. “That was a really fantastic performance, a great achievement. Nina decided herself to go for 53kg and I think she will stay there for a while,” said her competition coach Tom Goegebuer, who was Belgium’s last male European champion in 2009. “She is still young and her future is ahead of her.” Emily Campbell (GBR) Europe’s other Olympic champion besides Nasar, Solfrid Koanda from Norway, was beaten for the first time in four years when she went up to the super-heavyweights for the first time. The winner was Emily Campbell, Koanda’s close friend from Great Britain. Campbell was 33kg heavier than Koanda, who weighed in at a career-high 90.07kg. Both made five from six and Campbell won her sixth straight title with her final attempt, finishing 117-159-276 to Koanda’s 119-156-275. Bronze medallist Anastasiia Hotfrid from host nation Georgia made her best total in nine years, 262kg. The top two at 58kg were third and fourth in the individual rankings. Kamila Konotop from Ukraine, lifting for the first time since she bombed out in Paris, was back to her best, making all six lifts to win on 100-121-221. Aleksandra Grigoryan from Armenia was second on 210kg. Janette Ylisoini from Finland, still a junior, continued her remarkable run of improvement by winning at 71kg on 113-134-247, while 33-year-old Sarah Davies from Great Britain won at 63kg despite being ninth in snatch. Davies won her second straight European title on 94-125-219. Giulia Imperio from Italy, back after injury, won at 48kg on 176kg; Siuzanna Valodzka from Belarus won at 69kg on 108-129-237; and another junior, Emma Poghosyan from Armenia, won at 86kg on 107-141-248. For the first time, prize money was paid to the medallists in snatch, clean and jerk and total, at $500 for bronze, $1,000 for silver and $1,500 for gold. By Brian Oliver
