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Phuket, Day 3: Hampton Morris ends USA’s 55-year wait on day of four world records 

Hampton Morris from the United States made a huge final lift to take the 61kg clean and jerk world record from China’s Olympic champion Li Fabin at the IWF World Cup in Phuket. Winner Li had earlier beaten his own snatch world record, and there were two more world records in the women’s 55kg for Kang Hyon Gyong from DPR Korea. Morris, the first American man to set a senior world record in 55 years, and John Ceniza from the Philippines both marked themselves out as Olympic medal contenders at this event, the final qualifier for Paris 2024. Hampton Morris (USA) For many others it was a struggle. Twelve of the 29 entrants in three 61kg sessions bombed out, including Li’s team-mate Chen Lijun, the 67kg champion in Tokyo, and multiple Olympic medallist Eko Yuli Irawan from Indonesia. Morris, 20, had already lifted 172kg to break the junior world when he went out for a final attempt at 176kg. In making it he moved up from seventh to second place behind Li in the Paris 2024 rankings. The last American male to break a senior world record was Bob Bednarski in 1969. “I knew the world record was a possibility,” Morris said. “My coach (his father Tripp) told me that if we knew going into the session that I’d made the Olympic team, we’d just have fun.” His place in Paris was assured when a brutal B Group ended with only three of nine athletes making a total. There was nobody left to challenge his place in the top 10. Did Morris have fun? “Absolutely! I’m just excited, that’s all there is to it. I knew that I was completely capable of the world record before we even arrived here. After the way the second jerk felt at 172, I knew I was going to make it. “All of us (Morris, his dad, and US coaches Mike Gattone and Pyrros Dimas) knew I was going to go for it at that point.” Tripp said, “I’ve been thinking for two years that Hamp could break the world record. It’s because of his trajectory in clean and jerk… We’ve just got to get his snatch going now. “Five days ago in the training hall he made 134-171 and missed 176 in the jerk. This was great, but it wasn’t a surprise.” Morris finished on 127-176-303, a 6kg improvement on his best qualifying total. Li made 146-166-312, bettering his own world record in snatch and failing with two clean and jerk attempts on 173kg that would have beaten his record on total too. Li Fabin (CHN) Pak Myong Jin from DPR Korea was third on his 21st birthday. Pak, who made 131-170-301, is not ranked for the Olympics. Ceniza was fourth on 132-168-300, a 2kg improvement on his best qualifying effort. He missed the Asian Championships in February to recover from a hip injury. “Train hard every day, forget your problems, that’s the way to prepare and that’s what I did,” Ceniza said. “It’s my dream to be an Olympian, and to be the first man to win a weightlifting medal for the Philippines.” Li heads the rankings on 314kg, followed by four others who have broken the 300kg barrier - Morris, the Italian Sergio Massidda, who is entered at 67kg here, Irawan and Ceniza. Those placed sixth to 10th are Theerapong Silachai from Thailand, Shota Mishvelidze from Georgia, Aniq Kasdan from Malaysia, Trinh Van Vinh from Vietnam and Ivan Dimov from Bulgaria. Dimov had knee surgery last week and came here to weigh in and protect his eligibility. Arley Calderon from Cuba had a chance to overtake him but he needed to improve his career-best clean and jerk by 7kg and failed, remaining in 11th place. The continental place goes to Morea Baru from Papua New Guinea, whose 281kg total in the C Group was his best for five years. Kang Hyon Gyong (PRK) In the women’s 55kg Kang declined the opportunity to try for the snatch world record. In clean and jerk she made 120kg, jumped straight to 131kg and made the lift to better the clean and jerk and total world records she set at the Asian Games last September. Kang finished 33kg clear on 103-131-234. Mihaela Cambei from Romania, already assured of a place in Paris at 49kg, moved up here and finished second on 91-110-201, the first time she has totalled more than 200kg in her career. Cambei weighed in at 51.28kg. Mihaela Cambei (ROU) Bindyarani Devi from India edged past the Canadian snatch bronze medallist Josee Gallant to finish third on 83-113-196. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Phuket, Day 2: Photo Gallery

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Phuket, Day 2: World records and a sensational finish as Olympic champion Hou ousts China team-mate to claim place in Paris

Hou Zhuhui earned the chance to win Olympic gold for China for a second time when she bettered her own world record in a sensational performance at the IWF World Cup. There was drama from start to finish in two sessions of the women’s 49kg. DPR Korea’s Ri Song Gum also claimed a world record on the way to victory ahead of Hou, but she is not eligible for Paris 2024 because her nation entered the qualifying programme too late. Ri Song Gum (PRK) All that mattered for Tokyo champion Hou was finishing ahead of team-mate Jiang Huihua, who went to the top of the rankings at the first qualifier in Colombia 16 months ago and stayed there until the last few minutes of the afternoon A Group in Phuket. Hou Zhuhui (CHN) Four times Jiang had beaten Hou in a Paris qualifier. This time Jiang missed three of her attempts, including the last two, and Hou made a swing of 6kg to overtake her. Jiang made 94-114-208, which was 8kg down on her best effort. Even if she had made her final clean and jerk of 123kg Jiang would not have overtaken Hou. That would have put both lifters on 217kg, leaving Hou top of the rankings because she got there first. Hou made a career-best 97-120-217, which was 7kg more than her winning total in Tokyo. Ri won on 97-124-221, bettering her own world record on total with her fifth attempt and failing on 126kg as she went for the clean and jerk record too. Jiang Huihua (CHN) China was one of seven nations with athletes going head-to-head in Phuket, the final Olympic qualifying opportunity. No country can send more than one athlete in any weight category, so team-mates were up against each other in the race to be ranked in the top 10. There were tears of heartbreak and of joy on the platform, in the warm-up room and even in the audience. The happiest athletes were Hou, the Tokyo silver medallist Mirabai Chanu from India, Surodchana Khambao from Thailand, Rira Suzuki from Japan, Katherin Echandia from Venezuela, Fang Wan Ling from Chinese Taipei, triple Olympian Beatriz Piron from Dominican Republic, and Rosina Randafiarison from Madagascar. They all qualified. Rira Suzuki (JPN) Those whose hopes were dashed included Jiang, Thanyathon Sukcharoen from Thailand, who had to withdraw when she injured her elbow on her final snatch attempt, Dahiana Ortiz from Dominican Republic, Ana Lopez from Mexico, Lin Cheng Jing from Chinese Taipei and Giulia Imperio from Italy, who bombed out for a third time in qualifying. Rosegie Ramos from the Philippines is one place outside the top 10 but may yet make it to Paris if Nina Sterckx from Belgium, ranked at two weights, performs well at 59kg here on Wednesday. The continental place – awarded to the highest-ranked athlete from any continent not represented in the top 10 - will go to Randafiarison, who edged ahead of Dika Toua from Papua New Guinea by 1kg. Toua’s hopes of lifting at the Olympic Games for a record-breaking sixth time now rest with the Tripartite Commission, which will choose six weightlifters from 32 applicants for a Universality Place. Toua is one of them. Echandia and her coaching team provided the best celebration of the day. The Venezuelan screamed with joy when she made it into the top 10 with her fifth attempt,  but when when Fang edged past her she had to do it again. Echandia made it, finishing with a six-from-six 85-108-193, before leaping into the arms of one coach while being mobbed by others. Katherin Echandia (VEN) Piron has been suffering with a shoulder injury and sat out the competition after weighing in. Ortiz failed with two attempts to move above Piron. “I intended to compete here but I have to take care of myself. I have had the injury for four months,” Piron said. “Now I will be fine for Paris. It was tense to sit and watch my team-mate and I feel really happy and proud to qualify for the Olympics for a fourth time.” Chanu was happier than she has been for a long time despite making her lowest total since 2015 in the B Group. She made five from six for 81-103-184, down 16kg on her best qualifying total. She opened on 75kg, her lowest in 10 years. “I’m feeling great after what happened at the Asian Games,” Chanu said. “It has been very difficult to recover from that. Now I’m looking forward to going to Paris and making more.” Chanu was carried off the platform in agony last September after collapsing while making her final attempt at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. “It has taken her six months to recover, four and half months of it resting with only very light workouts,” said India’s head coach Vijay Sharma. “There was some confusion over what happened. One diagnosis was hip tendonitis, another was just overwork on the hip. “Mira didn’t go back to her home after the Asian Games, she went to the national camp and did whatever she could without forcing her hip. “She had already qualified so there was no point stretching her here. We want her to peak at the right time, and we know she can do much better now. Her best total on the stage is 205. We will come back on the same total and try to improve it a little bit.” Tokyo Olympian Lopez was in good shape after four attempts, 1kg below her best qualifying total. She failed with her last two and did not make the top 10. The Australian Brenna Kean found the task of chasing the continental place beyond her after losing 22.75% of her body weight since she lifted at 64kg in November. Kean, who had never competed lighter than 59kg before, bombed out in the snatch. The cut-off point at 10th place was on 190kg before today. Despite all the efforts of 32 athletes in this category in Phuket it moved by only 1kg to 191kg by the finish. Jourdan Delacruz from the United States and Mihaela Cambei from Romania, both assured of a place in Paris, did not compete today. Both are entered at 55kg. Men's 55kg podium PRK also won the non-Olympic men’s 55kg. Pang Un Chol failed with his fifth lift then made the last one for 118-152-270 to edge ahead of Natthawat Chomchuen from Thailand. Chomchuen, who made a great save on his final attempt, finished 119-150-269 and Lai Gia Thanh from Vietnam was third on 120-148-268. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Phuket, Day 1: Photo Gallery

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Phuket, Day 1: Dika Toua rescues hopes of sixth Olympics, Tokyo medallist out of Paris – and three more world records for PRK

Dika Toua from Papua New Guinea kept alive her hopes of setting an Olympic record when she made her final attempt on day one of the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand - the final qualifying opportunity for Paris 2024. Toua, who will be 40 in June, is back on course to become the first weightlifter ever to compete at six Olympic Games. While Toua was delighted, there was disappointment for the Tokyo Olympic medallist Windy Aisah from Indonesia, whose qualifying efforts have been badly hampered by injury. Aisah, one of four athletes in the 49kg C Group who were born after Toua made her Olympic debut 24 years ago, finished short of the 191kg she needed to move into the top 10 of the rankings. Dika Toua (PNG) There were three more world records for DPR Korea in the non-Olympic women’s 45kg. Won Hyon Sim, who had set snatch and total world records last month at the Asian Championships, bettered those two and also claimed the clean and jerk record in making 87-109-196. Toua made her best total since 2019 despite failing with her first two clean and jerks. Her 75-96-171 took her ahead of Rosina Randafiarison from Madagascar, the best placed athlete for the continental qualifying slot in this category who lifts in the B Group on Monday. She said: “When I went out for that last lift I was thinking this is it, you’ve got to do it. I said, ‘God help me.’ It worked.” Toua, whose career started last century and who was the first woman ever to go on the platform at the Olympic Games, competed at Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012 and in Tokyo three years ago. “It’s been a great journey but it’s not finished yet, whatever happens for Paris,” she said. “I’m going to Fiji in September for the Commonwealth Championships, and Fiji has the World Masters straight afterwards so I might as well try that too. “Then I want to be at the Pacific Mini Games in Palau next year. I can’t stop. Weightlifting is my life.” Toua leaves Phuket on Wednesday, arrives home on Friday and will immediately head to Goroka in the Eastern Highlands to lift on Saturday in the Papua New Guinea national championships. If Toua is overtaken by Randafiarison or the Australian Brenna Kean on Monday, she still has a chance of going to Paris via a universality place. These six “wild card” invitations from the International Olympic Committee go to nations who do not qualify many athletes, in all sports, for the Olympic Games. Toua is among the 32 weightlifting applicants from 28 countries. “I have faith that I will be in Paris,” Toua said. Kean has been through a brutal weight cut to lift at 49kg for the first time. She is ranked behind team-mate Kiana Elliott at 59kg, and weighed in at 63.25kg last November when she competed at 64kg in the Oceania Championships. Aisah is young enough, at 21, to try for Los Angeles 2028. She had injuries to both legs during qualifying and a persistent lower back problem that needs surgery, she said before the World Cup. She was able to make only five good clean and jerks in her five qualifying competitions. In 2021 and 2022 Aisah won two junior world titles and a bronze medal in Tokyo. She holds all three youth world records at 49kg. Thammy Nguyen (IRL) A few minutes before Toua’s success, Thammy Nguyen, Ireland’s best ever female lifter, made her farewell from the platform. She is looking forward to spending more time with her two young children. Nguyen retired after making 70-96-166. Her career was interrupted by motherhood, after which she became Ireland’s first female medallist at the European Championships. She was also the first woman from Ireland to lift at the IWF World Championships. “I’ve wanted to give up every day since Qatar,” said Nguyen, referring to the Grand Prix in December when she realised she would never be able to make the 190kg or more needed to qualify for Paris. “I’m happy about leaving. I won those medals that I hope will encourage younger lifters in Ireland, and now I’ll have family time that I haven’t had for three years. “I know I’m retiring as an athlete, but who knows about the future? Maybe I’ll be involved again after a few years, maybe my kids will take up weightlifting.” Won Hyon Sim (PRK) In the 45kg, Won made six from six and set world records with her third, fifth and sixth attempts. Won, who will be 22 on Tuesday, has made 11 good lifts in 12 attempts and set five world records in her only two senior competitions. She and her team-mates cannot go to Paris because PRK entered the qualifying programme too late. Siriwimon Pramongkhol from Thailand made five good lifts in a row after failing with her first snatch to finish second on 75-101-176. Khong My Phuong from Vietnam was third on 76-84-160. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

IWF Congress approves the first-ever IWF anthem

“An anthem should reflect an identity. This is normally the case with a country, as we are used to national anthems. But it should also happen with all types of organisations, namely in the sports world. That is what I tried to apply for the IWF”. Antonio Urso, the International Weightlifting Federation General Secretary, was obviously happy today, after the IWF Congress approved the melody of the first-ever IWF anthem. His melody, as Urso is also a musician and is the author of the music that will from now on represent the IWF at all protocolar moments.  Antonio Urso, IWF General Secretary - Photo by Giorgio Scala/Deepblumedia “I wanted something joyful, something that could represent the happy moments in our beloved sport, the satisfaction of a good performance, the importance of being together, of competing in a spirit of fair-play and camaraderie, of enjoying each and every moment we lift a bar. I had to ‘condense’ that in a 1m30s melody that would resonate in a nice harmony for all those listening to the IWF anthem,” adds the IWF General Secretary. “I am too biased to say it, but I believe everyone in the weightlifting family will like our anthem,” he continues. THE IWF ANTHEM [audio mp3="https://iwf.sport/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IWF-ANTHEM.mp3"][/audio]  “It all started last November, when we were in Guadalajara for the IWF World Junior Championships. After listening to the Mexican anthem at the opening ceremony, our IWF Communications manager approached me and said: ‘We need an IWF anthem. You could be the person doing it’. I immediately liked the concept and many ideas started to flow in my head. But, one day in December, the melody came naturally. In no more than 30 minutes, I had it written down,” Urso admits. “Uniting two of my biggest passions in life, weightlifting and music, in this project was obviously a very exciting mission. I take it also as a kind of legacy to the sport that gave me so much,” the IWF General Secretary confesses.    If the melody was relatively easy to find, subsequent work was then needed to make the necessary musical arrangements and find the appropriate instruments to play the anthem. This task was given to Aidan Zammit, a renowned Maltese musician (living in Italy since 1995), who has worked with many national and international artists.   “When Antonio gave me the written melody, the first thing I did was to work out a reharmonised sketch at the piano. I immediately knew what kind of atmosphere and sound I wanted. I needed a combination of positivity, power, and triumph. I decided to take a cinematic approach, inspired by the soundtracks of great action movies, combining traditional orchestration with contemporary electronic elements. The anthem was created initially using virtual instruments and synthesisers in my personal studio. After that, we added a number of real instruments and mixed the recording at Studio 8 in Rome, with the contribution of sound engineer Pino Iodice” Zammit recalls. “I would say that the combination of the orchestra and the electronic sounds brings out the best of both worlds and hope that the result will appeal to different generations of listeners,” he explains.  Aidan Zammit Asked about the ideal characteristics of such a short musical piece, but with such institutional importance, Zammit is clear: “The melody is obviously the most important element, and Antonio Urso did a great job with that. You need an aura of positivity and adventure with a dose of reality. In such a short time it is important to make things very clear, at the same time keeping everything as interesting and exciting as possible. It is like a very fast trip that quickly takes you through different emotions”.   Zammit’s Maltese roots played an important role in finding the right tone and sonority. “I also grew up on an island where local church brass bands play a big part in social life, so at the back of my mind I always had the sound of the bands playing marches in the streets. They weren’t usually in tune, but they conveyed an air of happiness and power, and were very captivating”.   After writing some music for documentaries about sports, this was the first time Zammit was involved in the creation of an anthem. “It was great fun, and definitely different from other projects I work on. Each situation in my line of work has very different requirements, and you need to take a new approach to almost every job. That’s one of the things I love about making music. Never a dull moment! I don’t know much about weightlifting, but I will be following it now that I have been introduced to this sport,” he concludes.  Other highlights The Congress also ratified the IWF 2023 Audited Financial Report and the ones received from the various IWF committees: Technical, Medical, Coaching and Research, and Athletes. As with the Executive Board meeting on Friday, an update was also given on the Paris 2024 Games, the Olympic qualification system, and the IWF Refugee Team and Sustainability projects.  Photo by Giorgio Scalat/Deepbluemedia The IWF gathering also was the occasion to be briefed on the preparation status of upcoming IWF events, namely: the 2024 IWF World Youth Championships in Lima (PER), the 2024 IWF World Junior Championships in Leon (ESP), the 2024 IWF World Championships in Manama (BRN) and the 2025 IWF World Championships in Forde (NOR). Moreover, the recently-awarded 2026 IWF World Youth Championships in Buenos Aires (ARG) and 2027 IWF World Championships in Yerevan (ARM) were also introduced to the delegates by the respective Organising Committees.  IWF President Mohammed Jalood chairing the Congress - Photo by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia After the presentations from the IWF licensed barbell companies (Eleiko, Uesaka, and ZKC), and from the most recent IWF sponsor (SBD), the delegates approved the status of Associate Member for the Federation of Faroe Islands (FRO).   By Pedro Adrega, IWF