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Guadalajara, Day 7: Home gold for Mexico and victory for Iran on a great day for teenagers

Another home champion for Mexico, a first win for Iran and yet another debutant medallist for Japan were the highlights on day seven of the 2023 World Junior Championships in Guadalajara. All six medallists on total were teenagers, and by the end of the day the number of nations on the medals table was 22 – half of the 44 who have taken part. There were huge cheers when Mairyn Hernandez made her final attempt at 126kg to take the lead in the women’s 81kg. The 18-year-old was not sure of victory with Rahma Ahmed yet to finish, but the Egyptian failed with her final attempt and Cielito Lindo was heard again at the Weightlifting Forum, as well as the Mexican anthem. Mairyn Hernandez (MEX) Hernandez made 102-126-228 to secure Mexico’s third victory, level with the United States who lead the medals table with more silvers and bronzes. It was a remarkable victory for Hernandez, who has twice won snatch gold at the World Youth Championships only to lose the lead in clean and jerk. The key moment was making her third snatch at 102kg after failing at 100kg. That was a 7kg jump from her first lift. “I have never jumped that much before, and the only time I ever made 102 was in training, just once,” said Hernandez. Her improvement in clean and jerk, where she made 126kg, was even more remarkable. “The most I ever made in competition was 120, and I never made 126 even in training. I did a lot of hard work at training camp, the support from my family and my coaches was important, and the crowd really lifted me,” Hernandez said. Her parents and other relatives were there to celebrate with her. Anamjan Rustamova (TKM) The Asian youth and junior champion Anamjan Rustamova from Turkmenistan, who has competed in senior world and continental championships, won in snatch and was second on total on 104-123-227. Third place went to Ahmed on 101-122-223, ahead of the European junior champion from Georgia, Natia Gadelia, by 3kg. Rustamova and Ahmed are both 17. Alireza Nasiri made it 12 good lifts from 12 attempts in international weightlifting when he reversed the placings at the Asian Junior Championships in August to win here at 96kg. The 18-year-old Iranian made 166-205-371 to finish clear of the man who beat him in India three months ago, Shahzadbek Matyakubov from Turkmenistan. “How did I do it? After losing in August I had good rest, good quality food, and I trained, trained, trained,” he said. “It worked.” Alireza Nasiri (IRI) Nasiri, from Shiraz, had been a gymnast for six months when he discovered weightlifting and made the switch six years ago. “Now I hope to compete in the senior Asian Championships in February,” he said. Matyakubov, 19, won snatch gold but missed two of his lifts in making 167-200-367. He put 10kg on his Asian Juniors total while Nasiri improved by 19kg. The men's 96kg podium Japanese debutant Masashi Nishikawa, 19, finished third on 167-195-362. Japan’s team of 10 in Guadalajara included eight who had never competed internationally, and five of them won medals. Japan leads the way on total medals won with 18. The biggest surprise was the failure of Mahmoud Hosny, the 18-year-old Egyptian who won a senior World Championships bronze in clean and jerk two months ago. Hosny set a youth world record of 193kg in clean and jerk when he won the 89kg youth world title last year, and made 209kg at this weight in Riyadh in September. Today he failed at 198kg, 204kg and 206kg. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia

Guadalajara, Day 6: Debutant Hein claims another gold for USA – and non-stop Jimenez wins for Ecuador

The United States had a debutant winner and a 17-year-old silver medallist on day six of the World Junior Championships in Guadalajara. Those results put Team USA clear at the top of the medals table with three days to go. Elijah ‘EJ’ Hein became the third American winner of the Championships, after Gabe Chhum and Katie Estep, when he saw off a strong challenge from Europe in the men’s 89kg. A couple of hours earlier, youth world champion Ella Nicholson had finished second behind the impressive Ecuadorian Kelin Jimenez in the women’s 76kg. Elijah 'Ej' Hein (USA) Hein, 20, is a successful CrossFitter as well as a weightlifter. “I’ve done weightlifting for seven years and this makes all the hard work worth it,” he said. “This was my first international meet, and I had the 16 weeks of my life preparing for it. You gotta love the grind. “I love weightlifting and I love CrossFit too. The idea is to keep going with both of them. I’m also studying mechanical engineering at the University of Oklahoma – that’s my back-up plan.” His parents, Tim and Stephanie, were there to see Hein’s remarkable six-from-six performance – only the second of his life - and both got a big hug. Hein’s best numbers before today were 150-175-325; now they are 158-193-351. “I’d done 160-200 in training,” he said. His coach Ray Harkness joined in the celebrations. “I told him two years ago that he could do this, but he didn’t believe me,” Harkness said. Hein’s next competition will be the American Open finals next month. Inhatsi Pauliukavets (AIN) The first three in the European Junior Championships were among those hoping to overhaul Hein, along with the Individual Neutral Athlete Inhatsi Pauliukavets from Belarus, who made five from six. Pauliukavets, 18, was unable to lift in the European competition but here he outperformed his continent’s top three juniors, making 156-192-348 for second place. European champion Suren Grigoryan from Armenia, who was second in last year’s World Juniors, had two lifts remaining when everybody else had finished. But he had missed two snatches and needed to make up 12kg, which was beyond him. The Georgian Zurab Mskhaladze, second behind Grigoryan in July, was third here on 155-191-346. The 18-year-old European bronze medallist Ertjan Kofsha, from Albania, won snatch gold but made only his final clean and jerk, finishing fourth on 159-186-345. Jonathan Ramos from Mexico took clean and jerk silver on 192kg and finished sixth, one place behind Grigoryan. In the women’s event Nicholson missed three of her attempts and was in tears before the medal ceremony, but given the gap in age and experience, Jimenez was always favourite. Kelin Jimenez (ECU) This last appearance as a junior was the 16th competition of her career for Jimenez, 20, despite losing an entire year when the Covid pandemic wrecked the weightlifting calendar. By comparison Nicholson had competed only once before, winning the youth world title in Albania in March, three months before her 17th birthday. Jimenez has finished sixth in the senior World Championships twice, and won the Pan American junior title this year. Now she can take a well-earned rest. “I like to work hard and compete,” she said. “I want to be busy, I don’t like to take vacations but I have had a knee injury preparing for this and now I will have a break because of that.” Angeles Cruz (MEX) Jimenez narrowly escaped a catastrophic injury last year when she dropped the barbell on her back and passed out at the Bolivarian Games in Colombia. But she had done nothing serious and was back on the platform a few weeks later at the senior Pan American Championships. Because Ecuador has Olympic gold and silver medallists Neisi Dajomes and Tamara Salazar in the 81kg category, Jimenez said she plans to stick at her current weight in the seniors. Her successes have inspired her younger brother, Michael. “He is 12 and he just lifted in a national competition for the first time,” said Jimenez, who made 104-130-234. Nicholson posted 105-122-227 from her three good lifts, and unsuccessfully went for a youth world record total on her final attempt at 127kg. The Mexican Angeles Cruz was third on 100-123-223. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Guadalajara, Day 5: Gold in her home gym for Garcia – and Kazakh teen wins in Mexico for a second time

Mariana Garcia gave her noisy supporters plenty to cheer when she won a world title not just in her own nation and home city, but at her home gym on day five of the World Junior Championships in Guadalajara. Garcia, 20, has trained at the Weightlifting Forum and competed in this auditorium since she was 12. She finished well clear of her rivals in the women’s 71kg, prompting her many friends and family in the audience to burst into song with the Mexican favourite Cielito Lindo. There were plenty more cheers when Garcia was presented with a sweep of gold medals. The crowd sang along with Garcia when the national anthem was played, but before it finished her emotions got the better of the champion and the tears interrupted her singing. Mariana Garcia (MEX) “I won medals in other events, but here with my people, singing the anthem it was really exciting and really emotional,” Garcia said after posing for dozens of photos with family, friends and team-mates. “When I heard that these Championships would be held in Guadalajara it was a regular training day here in this gym, about a year ago. I was really excited to know that I would compete in a World Championships in front of my own people. “It was really tough, following my coach’s instructions and training hard for a long time. I was always motivated by knowing I would be competing at home and I enjoyed the process. “It was a big responsibility but I enjoyed every lift and I focused on making everybody proud." Women's 71kg podium Garcia had won six medals before, including gold at this year’s Pan American Juniors in Colombia, and had made bigger numbers too. This time she always looked the likely winner and finished 93-123-216. The champion was the only one of 10 athletes to make a bigger total than the winners at 59kg and 64kg. Phattharathida Wongsing from Thailand has won world and Asian youth titles this year with exactly the same numbers, 92-120-212. Here Wongsing, 17, made 92kg in snatch yet again, but finished lower on 92-116-208 in second place. Another who underperformed was third-placed Martyna Dolega from Poland. Her 93-111-204 was 12kg below her winning total at the European Junior Championships in July. It could have been worse because Dolega did not keep her eye on the clock and dashed out to make her second clean and jerk with two seconds to spare. While Garcia was winning in Mexico for the first time, Yedige Yemberdi from Kazakhstan did it for a second time. He won the youth world title in León last year and today, in his first junior competition, he moved up from ninth place in snatch to win the men’s 81kg. Yedige Yemberdi (KAZ) Yemberdi, 18, thumped his chest after each lift and led the applause himself after making 145-191-336. That made it three wins in three international appearances. Gaygysyz Torayev from Turkmenistan, who finished sixth at the senior Worlds two months ago, looked favourite for the title at halfway but he missed his last two attempts and finished 151-184-335. Gaygysyz Torayev (TKM) Saba Asanidze from Georgia, whose father Giorgi is national head coach, made a good recovery to claim third place. He did not get the barbell above his knee on his first clean and jerk attempt because of a thigh problem but came out to make the next two for a career-best 149-184-333. There was a B Group medallist when Preston Powell, an American who is training to be a commercial pilot, made a 26kg improvement on his personal best. “All those days of waking up early to go the gym, all those days of training – it’s totally worth it when you feel like this,” Powell said after making 150-182-332. That was good enough for snatch bronze and fourth place overall. Powell, 20, finished 10th at last year’s World Juniors on 306kg. “I was jumping from coach to coach for a while because I’m at college and I changed from studying business, which I hated, to aviation university in Auburn, Alabama,” he said. Since August he has been with Spencer Arnold, coach of several champions including the Olympic gold medallist Maude Charron. Powell has about 65 hours of flying under his belt and needs “200 to 300 hours” before he can get a pilot’s licence. “My aim is to fly businessmen around the world in private planes,” he said. “But if it comes to it, aviation can wait – weightlifting comes first.” By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Guadalajara, Day 4: Venezuelan wins despite travel trouble – and Canadian teen has a day to remember

Reinner Arango, whose journey from Venezuela was delayed by a day, was standing on top of the podium eight hours after he landed in Mexico. He claimed the best result of his career by winning the men’s 73kg title at the World Junior Championships in Guadalajara. There was drama, too, in the other event on day four. Katie Estep became the United States’ second champion of the week and the Canadian B Group lifter Charlotte Simoneau had a day she will never forget in the women’s 64kg. Two Venezuelan women in that session had travelled with Arango and had to head straight from the airport to weigh in. When they missed a connecting flight, the three athletes had to stay overnight in Cancun and fly to Guadalajara on Saturday morning. Claudia Rengifo and Keily Silva, aged 16 and 17, finished eighth and 11th despite their lack of preparation. Reinner Arango (VEN) Arango, 19, made five good lifts in his 141-176-317, a 16kg improvement on the total that won him the Pan American junior title in May. He was more interested in talking about his future than the troubled journey. “This is definitely the best performance of my career,” he said. “I was a 67 for a very long time before I moved up at the Pan American juniors, and when I made 301kg there it was my first try at the new weight. Since then I’ve done a lot of hard work in training and I’m more used to the new weight. “Now I want to be part of the elite in senior competitions. I might still be a junior but I want to go in and beat the seniors - I can do it.” Europe had six of the eight A Group athletes, including five of the top six finishers at this year’s European Junior Championships. But the only non-Europeans in the field finished first and second, Arango and the Japanese debutant Rakuei Azuma, who made an impressive 140-176-316. Azuma got his final attempt at 178kg above his head but lost the lift backwards. Rakuei Azuma (JPN) Snatch winner Ismail Jamali from Spain was third on 145-170-315 ahead of the European champion Tiberiu Donose from Romania, who was second in snatch and fourth on total. The United States went top of the medals table when Estep won. The target to beat for her and four other gold medal hopefuls was 213kg, set by 18-year-old Simoneau three hours earlier in the B Group. Simoneau’s 95-118-213 was 28kg higher than her entry total, 23kg up on her previous international best, and her first six-from-six at this level. Katie Estep (USA) She was asked to stay at the venue until the end of the A session because she was in contention for the top three, and spent the next few hours watching the men’s 73 B Group, then the 64kg A Group, nervously wondering where she might finish. It was so emotionally draining that by the end of the session, and also after the medal ceremony, Simoneau was in tears. “It feels so special to win any medal,” said Simoneau. “I was very emotional. I will have a good sleep tonight and when I get home I’m going to celebrate with my family.” With three lifts to come in snatch, Simoneau was in with a chance of gold but also at risk of finishing out of the medals. The Individual Neutral Athlete Katsiaryna Yakushava, from Belarus, went into the lead, then the other two – Olha Ivzhenko from Ukraine and Tugs-Ederne Otgonchimeg from Mongolia - failed and Simoneau was left in second place at halfway. With Estep and her USA team-mate Sophia Shaft also in contention there was only 3kg between the top six in snatch. It was just as tense during the last few clean and jerks. Yakushava missed all three attempts and failed to make a total, Otgonchimeg missed her last two, and at the finish there were three contenders for gold on total – Ivzhenko, Estep, and Simoneau. Women's 64kg podium Ivzhenko did not go high enough to overtake Simoneau, aiming instead for clean and jerk gold. With two attempts to go only Estep could overtake Simoneau, and she did it with a lift to spare by making 120kg. “I knew my clean and jerks were really good,” said Estep. “I was aware (of Simoneau’s B Group numbers) but worrying about what other people do doesn’t help. I like to focus only on myself and usually it works out.” This was the first international competition at 64kg for both Estep and Simoneau, and the second for third-placed Ivzhenko. “It feels good, I feel stronger,” said Estep, who is studying business and pre-medical. “I was 55kg from age 12 to 17 and it feels nice to not have to worry about what I eat, especially as I’m in college right now.” She is hoping that 64kg will be one of the weight categories for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, the long-term target for the top USA juniors. “I want somewhere where I feel comfortable, where I don’t have to either stuff my face or starve myself,” she said. The decision on 2028 weight classes is more than a year away. Simoneau, from Saint-Hyacinthe in Quebec, said she and her coach, Yvan Darsigny, opted for the less pressurised B Group because moving up the national rankings was a priority. “I’m not saying I didn’t want a medal, but I needed a good total. Moving up the rankings can help with funding and it makes a big difference to me.” Estep made 94-120-214, a career best by 9kg, Simoneau 95-118-213 and Ivzhenko 93-115-208. Yakushava won the snatch on 96kg, with Otgonchimeg third behind Simoneau on 95kg.   Yakushava, 19, looked strong and her failures in clean and jerk were a surprise. Her 96kg was better than the snatch efforts posted by her older team-mate Dziyana Maiseyevich in winning two senior competitions this year.  By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

When sports performances and environmental causes meet in Guadalajara

The organisers had announced it proudly: the 2023 edition of the IWF World Junior Championships, presently staged in Guadalajara, wouldn’t be limited to the great performances of the young lifters competing in Mexico. After the conclusion of the event, an important legacy would be associated with the competition: environmental protection. For that, various initiatives took place during the event, namely today’s planting of trees, in a space adjacent to the competition venue.   The idea is that each national delegation present in the capital of Jalisco would plant a tree, which will stay as a testimony of the sports world to the cause of ecology. The ceremony took place between the two A sessions of this fourth day of competition and happily mobilised the delegations competing in Mexico. Secretary General Antonio Urso planting the IWF tree The IWF had also its tree, with Secretary General Antonio Urso executing the task in a quick and efficient way. “It looks like I’m doing this for my entire life,” joked Mr Urso. On a more serious note, he emphasised the importance of this simple, yet very symbolic moment. “The organisers in Mexico had this brilliant idea and the IWF immediately supported it. It is a sign we are sending to affirm the social strength of sport to mobilise the citizens in Guadalajara to these essential causes”.   From the athletes’ side, the 44 national teams “played the game” and the lifters were happy to know that after their departure a tree will testify in the future their presence in Guadalajara in this month of November 2023. Among them, the team of El Salvador fought a bit to get its tree well planted: “We need to enlarge the hole, but we are strong people, we will make it”. Five minutes later, the tiny tree was finally solidly fixed in the land. From Japan, in a more discrete way, three members of the national team were also happy when they saw the successful outcome of their work.   The IWF President Mohammed Jalood has already left Mexico but had the opportunity to also be associated with this initiative, planting his tree in the first two days of the competition.  From left to right: José Quiñones (President of the Pan-American Weightlifting Federation); Astrit Hasani (European Weightlifting Federation Treasurer); Mohammed Jalood (IWF President); Rosalio Alvarado (President of the Mexican Weightlifting Federation) Besides the tree legacy, these Championships, held in a huge sportive infrastructure (comprising for example a velodrome and a swimming and diving facility), also provided electrical buses for the transport of the teams and facilitated the installation of brand new public trash bins, each aimed at recycling a specific kind of material.  It is worth noting that this project is part of the agreement signed between the Pan-American Weightlifting Federation and the United Nations - "Sports for Climate Action" -, aimed at contributing to the fight against global warming through concrete initiatives within the frame of sports organisations.  IWF

Guadalajara, Day 3: Second gold for Armenia, and USA’s Morris gives his Paris 2024 hopes a huge boost  

Armenia displaced the United States at the top of the medals table when Gor Sahakyan claimed his nation’s second World Junior Championships victory at the Guadalajara Weightlifting Forum. Sahakyan won the men’s 67kg ahead of the pumped-up American Hampton Morris, who roared his way to a career-best total and boosted his confidence in his quest to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The other winner on day three was Svitlana Samuliak from Ukraine at 59kg, despite her preparations being disrupted during the war in her homeland. Sahakyan has excelled in senior competitions this year and he looked on course for a wide-margin win after making 140kg in the snatch, which was 15kg more than Morris down in seventh place at halfway. Gor Sahakyan (ARM) But Morris, lifting at 67kg for the first time internationally, smashed his personal best in clean and jerk by 10kg, broke the 300kg mark for the first time and finished only 2kg behind Sahakyan. “I wasn’t expecting a gold medal, that’s for sure,” said Morris as he clutched the clean and jerk gold. “It was really exciting, competing out of my weight class while I’m also trying to lose weight for the Grand Prix in Qatar in two weeks. I wasn’t really sure what to expect.” Morris, 19, had set a junior world record at 61kg with his last international lift in September, making 168kg in clean and jerk at the senior World Championships. He had failed with all three snatches, though, and did not make a total. With the Paris qualifier in Qatar starting on December 4, and a world junior title already secured last year, Morris could have skipped this event. His father and coach, Tripp, decided it would be a good idea for Morris to lift in Guadalajara at a heavier weight to gain confidence for Qatar and, hopefully, improve his snatch. Hampton Morris (USA) It worked out well. Morris failed with his final snatch attempt at 130kg but 125kg was still a career high. “I definitely have a lot of catching up to do in snatch,” said Morris, who will do intensive work in that respect in January. Morris stands 11th in the Paris 2024 rankings on 290kg. If the January work pays off and he maintains his progress, he could be a few places higher when qualifying ends next April. “I have to lose a few kilos in the next two weeks but everything’s going to plan right now, I’m on track,” he said. Asked what numbers he hoped to make when he is back at 61kg, he said, “Better than today – in a perfect world.” He went for, and made, an American record with his final lift of 178kg, which was up 8kg on his second lift. Could he have gone even further and made 181kg for victory on total? “Probably - but an 11kg jump is a lot. This heavy, I’d never even done an 8kg jump.” While Morris had never totalled 300kg before, Sahakyan did it for the seventh time despite missing his last two clean and jerks. He won the European 67kg title in his home country in April and finished third in the senior World Championships in September. Sahakyan made 140-165-305, Morris 125-178-303 and third-placed Yahor Papou, an Individual Neutral Athlete, 136-158-294. Yahor Hrynko, another Individual Neutral Athlete who, like Papou, is from Belarus, took clean and jerk bronze on 163kg. The host nation had a medallist from the B Group. Herseleid Carrazco, a 19-year-old who won a World Youth medal last year, took snatch bronze on 130kg. Carrazco, who has yet to lift in a senior competition, made all six lifts and finished fourth on 130-162-292. “Honestly no, I didn’t expect to win a medal,” Carrazco said. “I was focused on making all six lifts, and because I did it I won this medal.” Svitlana Samuliak (UKR) Samuliak, 20, also made six from six in her 98-116-214, ahead of 17-year-old Jessica Palacios from Ecuador on 92-115-207 and the Japanese debutant Sei Higa on 90-106-196. Chiu Yu Ling from Chinese Taipei took clean and jerk bronze on 108kg. The war in Ukraine has forced Samuliak to train at a small, four-platform gym in the Carpathian mountains near the border with Slovakia. “There is much more equipment and better facilities in Kyiv but it is too dangerous there,” she said. “Our soldiers are fighting at the front. For me, the platform is my front, the place where I can show the world that Ukraine is strong.” The women's 59kg podium Her father was a weightlifter who encouraged Samuliak and her younger brother Stepan, who made his international debut at this year’s European Juniors, to take up the sport. Palacios also had family support. Her elder sisters Neisi (Dajomes) and Angie are respectively Olympic champion and world record holder, and her 20-year-old brother German is a continental junior champion. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio