Riyadh, Final Day: Photo Gallery
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Riyadh, Final Day: Lasha “must improve” after seventh straight world title
Lasha Talakhadze had to work hard to win his seventh straight world title, and he will have to work harder yet to hold off his challengers, according to his coach. Five men in the super-heavyweight A Group, the final session of the 2023 IWF World Championships in Riyadh, made a total of 450kg or more to put Talakhadze under more pressure than usual. Lasha Talakhadze (GEO) The Georgian made 220-253-473 ahead of the Armenian Varazdat Lalayan on 212-248-460 and Gor Minasyan, lifting for Bahrain, on 213-246-459. The others on 450kg or more were Ali Davoudi from Iran and Simon Martirosyan from Armenia. Davoudi was desperately close to taking clean and jerk gold. He just failed with his final attempt at 255kg and finished 203-249-452. Martirosyan, who weighed 47kg less than Talakhadze on 130kg, made 200-250-450. All five of the 450-plus group failed with their final attempt. “I like it very much to have others who are close to me, I’m happy with that,” said Talakhadze, world record holder and double Olympic champion. When he failed with his last lift at 260kg – up 3kg, at his own request, on the number suggested by his coach Giorgi Asanidze – it made no difference to the result because Talakhadze was 13kg clear. Varazdat Lalayan (ARM) “It’s not such a big weight for me – I must do better and I will make it next time,” he said. Asanidze believes he will have to if he is to extend his winning run which started at the 2015 World Championships. “The others are closing in on Lasha. The standard he showed today will not be enough any more,” said Asanidze. “He was not at his very best here, but the only thing that mattered today was for him to be champion again. He will have to regain top form next time.” Talakhadze had slightly strained his left wrist in attempting that last lift and will have time to recover because he will weigh in without lifting at the next qualifier in Qatar in December, Asanidze said. He will return to competition in February at the European Championships. Eduard Ziaziulin from Belarus, competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete, made a respectable 201-230-431 despite failing with his last two attempts and goes straight into the top 10 in the rankings. There was glory and pain for 19-year-old Ali Rubaiawi, who also made the top 10 from the B Group. Gor Minasyan (BRN) After Qasim Hasan had won Iraq’s first World Championships gold medal in any Olympic sport in the 96kg snatch last Wednesday, Rubaiawi became the first Iraqi weightlifter to claim a junior world record. He did it with the last lift of the snatch session on 198kg, and started well in clean and jerk on 221kg. But a few minutes later Rubaiawi was on a stretcher, heading for hospital after suffering a painful quadriceps injury on his second attempt. Despite the injury, Rubaiawi improved his best qualifying total by 30kg on 198-221-419 and moved into the top 10 in the Paris rankings. The men's +109kg podium Another B Group lifter to make a big gain was Lee Jaesang from Korea. The 28-year-old missed his second clean and jerk but the last one at 241kg to finish 175-241-416 and move within 2kg of top-10 team-mate Jo Seongbin in the long list. The rankings are expected to be updated on the IWF website in the next few days. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games Photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
Riyadh, Day 13: Photo Gallery
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Riyadh, Day 13: Djuraev wins Uzbekistan’s battle of Olympic champions
Akbar Djuraev came back down in weight to see off his team-mate Ruslan Nurudinov in the 109kg head-to-head between two Olympic champions from Uzbekistan at the IWF World Championships. The gold medallists from Tokyo and Rio will do it again in a few weeks at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China – and after that things get serious. Akbar Djuraev (UZB) There is no 109kg category at Paris 2024 and the assumption has been that Djuraev, after posting two respectable totals as a super-heavyweight, would go back up and Nurudinov would drop to 102kg so that both could try to qualify at different weights. But, said Uzbekistan Federation president Shakrillo Makhmudov, Djuraev’s body cannot withstand being heavier than about 125kg without causing back problems. The most he weighed as super-heavyweight was 126kg, which put him at a disadvantage because other elite lifters at +109 weigh much more. Ruslan Nurudinov (UZB) If Djuraev cannot go up, the only way is down. So by the time of the next qualifier, the IWF Grand Prix II in Qatar in December, there could be another Djuraev-Nurudinov contest at 102kg. “We will see how it goes before we make any final decisions,” Makhmudov said. Nurudinov struggled with cutting down at the Asian Games in Korea last May. “I got to 104kg, but it was too tough,” he said. Now he is prepared for another try: “Less food, more exercise, the sweets will go first. We have doctors, nutritionists, I have good support. “I am getting old now, 32 soon, and I really want my last competition to be in Paris.” Nurudinov, who holds the clean and jerk world record of 241kg, said his two young daughters, aged three and two, were watching back home in Uzbekistan. Dadash Dadashbayli (AZE) “The elder one said, ‘Daddy, we want gold only.’ I tried…” He had to make his final attempt at 236kg to overtake Djuraev, a jump of 9kg. Nurudinov cleaned it but could not complete the lift. He finished first in clean and jerk and second on total on 180-227-407, behind 23-year-old Djuraev on 189-226-415. Dadash Dadashbayli from Azerbaijan was third on 180-223-403, and Hristo Hristov from Bulgaria was also on the podium for a snatch silver on 181kg. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games Photos by Giorgio
Riyadh, Day 13: Another shock as Korean Park takes injured Li Wenwen’s world title
China had its worst result of the IWF World Championships when Li Wenwen left the warm-up room with her right arm packed in ice halfway through the women’s super-heavyweight contest. Li injured her elbow in missing her first two snatch attempts, declined the third and withdrew. That left the way clear for Park Hyejeong from South Korea to claim a world title with her first win as a senior, despite missing her third and fourth attempts. Park finished 124-165-289. Park Hyejeong (KOR) The American Mary Theisen Lappen called her second place finish “a bitter sweet moment” when her final attempt – which would have put her ahead of team-mate Sarah Robles in the Olympic rankings - was ruled a no-lift. Theisen Lappen made 117-160-277, and Lisseth Ayovi from Ecuador was third on 121-155-276. Olympic and double world champion Li, who holds all three world records at this weight as well as a huge lead in the Paris 2024 rankings, was seeking her tenth straight victory when the injury ruined her chances. If the elbow fails to respond to treatment, Park could be in line for another major victory at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in three weeks time. There was a separate all-American contest between Theisen Lappen and Robles, only one of whom can go to Paris. Robles continued a regressive run when she made 117-150-267 for fifth place. She has bettered 280kg only once since winning a second Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo and would have fallen behind Theisen Lappen, a relative newcomer, if the last lift had not been turned down by the referees. The crowd liked it, the coaches loved it but it was deemed a press-out. The Americans could not make a challenge because they had already unsuccessfully challenged a no-lift decision against Theisen Lappen’s final snatch. Mary Theisen Lappen (USA) “I hate to see World Championships medals lost on calls,” said the US coaching director Mike Gattone. “I couldn’t see anything wrong with the lift from the sides, and moments like this can’t be good for people watching. “There’s talk of amending the rules and I hope they keep looking at the pressout rule more specifically.” Theisen Lappen said the lift “didn’t feel great” and after picking up her first World Championship medals she will now try again at the IWF Grand Prix II in Qatar in December. Lisseth Ayovi (ECU) Britain’s Emily Campbell withdrew before the start because of “a back niggle” sustained after the final verification, and snatch silver medallist Son Younghee from Korea withdrew injured after failing with her first clean and jerk. China finished their campaign in Riyadh with seven world titles. By Brian Oliver, Inside the Games Photos by Giorgio
Riyadh, Day 12: Photo Gallery
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