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Havana, Day 9: Norway’s Koanda overcomes cramp to win a classic and take third place in Paris rankings

Gold and silver medallists from the Tokyo Olympic Games and a world champion provided the best spectacle of the IWF Grand Prix here on the ninth day of competition. All three – Solfrid Koanda from Norway, and the Ecuadorians Neisi Dajomes and Tamara Salazar - made totals of 260kg or more, which has never happened before at the Olympic weight category of 81kg. World champion Koanda came out on top in dramatic style, making her final attempt at 150kg to edge ahead of Salazar before collapsing with cramp in her left thigh. “I knew it would happen. Making the lift felt easy enough but it was always in my head that the cramp would come, so it was mentally very hard,” said Koanda. Solfrid Koanda (NOR) “It kept happening in the warm-ups and was so bad I was nearly forced to pull out. “I couldn’t make warm-ups at my usual weights, it was getting desperate but I told myself ‘You’re not cutting down to 81 and coming all the way to Cuba to pull out.’ “I went out and made the 150. It was a very good session.” Koanda had made all her previous international appearances at 87kg, winning two European titles and the world title in the last three of them. Whether her weight-loss regime had caused the cramps, Koanda was unable to say. “This was the first time I’ve had to cut weight, and you have to have a lot of discipline to do it. It wasn’t too bad until last week when I woke up dreaming of a doughnut.” What would she be eating for her celebratory meal? “It’s funny, but I’m not hungry,” she said. Koanda, who made 116-150-266, came desperately close to being timed out as she made her second snatch. The clock was showing 00:00 as she began her lift but the jury did not intervene. Salazar made 116-149-265, which was 2kg more than she made in taking silver at 87kg in Tokyo. Her final clean and jerk had put her 5kg clear of Koanda. Dajomes, champion at 76kg in Tokyo and moving in the other direction in the weights, made 118-142-260. The medallists here, who all made four from six in a gripping contest, will be respectively third, fourth and fifth in the Paris 2024 long list. The American Mattie Rogers improved her best qualifying total by 1kg on 110-138-248 and Canada’s Rosalie Dumas made a career best by some distance on 108-125-233 to move into 21st place. There was quality in the men’s 102kg too, where Yauheni Tsikhantsou made a winning return as an Individual Neutral Athlete with a final clean and jerk of 212kg to edge out Wes Kitts of the United States. Wes Kitts (USA) Tsikhantsou was a world champion at 20 for Belarus when he last competed at this weight in 2019, and had not lifted since the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, where he failed to make a total because of injury. He made 178-212-390, good enough for sixth place in the Paris rankings, to finish ahead of Kitts on 177-211-388 – a very impressive 9kg improvement on his best qualifying total. Yauheni Tsikhantsou (AIN) Chen Po-Jen of Chinese Taipei was third on 173-208-381. Rasoul Motamedi from Iran, who underwent elbow surgery last November, joined the qualifying pathway by weighing in for the B Group but he did not lift. The withdrawals from the A Group were Lesman Paredes from Bahrain, the 96kg world champion, the American Ryan Sester and the Colombians Jhor Moreno and Jhonatan Rivas. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

Brandon Vautard (FRA): “All the eyes will be on the French athletes during the Games!”

“Yes, there is undeniably an additional responsibility on the French athletes”. Brandon Vautard hesitates before replying, but the answer then comes fast. The 2024 Olympic Games, to be held in about 13 months in Paris, should be the career pinnacle of the French athletes. Weightlifting is no exception. “All the eyes will be on us, the French delegation. We must be up to the task,” adds the 22-year-old lifter, after getting two medals on the eighth day of the IWF Grand Prix, concluding this Sunday in Havana (CUB). Competing in the men’s 96kg category, Vautard got the silver in the clean and jerk with a 196kg lift and the bronze in total (336kg). With a personal best of 150-200-350, recently achieved in France, he knows that he needs to dramatically improve to dream of a Games’ place in Paris. Usually competing in the Olympic 89kg category, Vautard admits that we will be back to that group in time for the IWF World Championships next September in Riyadh (KSA). Brandon Vautard (FRA) If the cut of 385kg in the 102kg category seems unachievable, the 10th-place score in the 89kg is around 365kg. “I hope I can make it. I feel in good physical shape and I have good conditions to progress”. Enrolled in the French army, Vautard dedicates his medals to all the “brave French soldiers who are serving the country” and explains that his duties facilitate his weightlifting training. “Both from a physical perspective and in terms of available time, the army is the perfect environment to proceed with my Olympic preparation”.  In a career that spanned internationally since 2011, Vautard achieves his best-ever result in 2018, when he gets the European bronze in 85kg, at the time with 144-191-335. “Coming to Cuba, my goal was to achieve at least 355kg. In terms of weight, I couldn’t get it, but I got two medals as a consolation. It was a good start in my Olympic path and it gives me confidence for the upcoming competitions”. Starting at the age of nine in a club, the French lifter had the “physical morphology” to practice the sport. “I knew another kid that was also doing it, and it came like that. I got hooked, and many years later, I am still here. During my first domestic competitions, my coach kept saying I could be a good lifter, so I trusted him and I continued to work hard”. Presently training at the INSEP in Paris (where the French national teams are getting prepared), Vautard admits that the daily routine is hard but necessary. Reflecting on the overall level of French weightlifting, he is quite optimistic. “We are getting better and we have the conditions to be at the top of the world hierarchy”. In order to progress faster, and with the active support of the French Embassy in China, seven lifters went on an exchange programme for 20 days in Wuzhishan last February. The idea was to share experiences with the strongest nation in the weightlifting world and to benefit from their successful strategy. “We were of course very happy to be there and to see how they train and prepare. There was a very strong group with us, including Olympic and world champions. This was really beneficial for the French team,” Vautard recalls. Asked about the differences in terms of intensity and quality of Chinese training when compared with the French preparation, he smiles and recognises: “We had no chances against them… They are clearly above the field and their training programme is outstanding. It was a very rich experience for us!” The idea is now to invite Chinese lifters to France so that this co-operation programme can continue bringing positive results for the two teams. At present, the Olympic qualification for France is more successful in the women’s field, with Dora Tchakounte being 10th in the 59kg and Marie Josephe Fegue sixth in both the 71kg and 81kg categories. Among men, a direct qualification is so far distant, but in accordance with the Olympic Qualification System, the host country of the Games has four guaranteed places – two among men and two among women. By Pedro Adrega, IWF

Havana, Day 8: 2012 weightlifting champion Valentin sets out for fifth Olympic Games – aged 38

Lidia Valentin, the London 2012 Olympic gold medallist from Spain, has joined the qualifying pathway for Paris 2024 at the age of 38 despite an injury that could thwart her hopes. Whether she will be fit enough to make a realistic attempt for a fifth appearance at the Olympic Games remains to be seen, Valentin said after weighing in and withdrawing from the women’s 76kg category at the IWF Grand Prix in Havana. Her “participation” here is enough for Valentin – who also won silver at Beijing 2008 and bronze at Rio 2016 - to be eligible but she has not competed since finishing 10th at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021. Lidia Valentin (ESP) Valentin weighed in here at 72.8kg, which suggests she could go down to 71kg or up to 81kg, but she was not making any predictions. Asked what was her percentage chance of making it through qualifying, Valentin said, “I can’t say, I don’t know. “I am still recovering from a hip injury I had before the last Olympic Games. I went to Tokyo with the injury. “I don’t know how it will go for me, but I came here because I didn’t want to close the doors yet. “Training is now completely different for me because when I make the normal weightlifting movements I feel pain. “I will only compete again if I am 100 per cent.” When her career does finally end, Valentin said, she will try to spread the word of “the beautiful story of weightlifting”. She does not want to be a coach of professional athletes who already know the sport, but would like to do what she can to bring in new people to weightlifting. “I love the sport,” she said. The American Olympic medallist Kate Vibert (formerly Nye) won the competition and is now ranked in the top 10 in two weight categories for Paris. Kate Vibert (USA) Vibert, ranked fourth at 71kg, made her final clean and jerk after two failures to finish 110-137-247, equalling the best 81kg effort by her team-mate Mattie Rogers, who lifts here at that weight on Friday. Bella Paredes from Ecuador was second on 111-134-245 and the Mexican Diana Garcia was third on 97-131-228. Pavel Khadasevich became the third Individual Neutral Athlete to claim gold here when he won the men’s 96kg by a wide margin. Khadasevich missed his final attempt in making 170-203-373, which will put him in the top 25 of the 102kg rankings for Paris. Pavel Khadasevich (AIN) Boady Santavy, fourth in Tokyo, withdrew after weighing in. His Canada team-mate Xavier Lusignan started well in the snatch but dropped away to finish fifth. Second-placed Jose Lopez from Mexico was 32kg behind Khadasevich, a silver medallist for Belarus at the 2018 IWF World Championships, and Brandon Vautard from France was third on 140-196-336. Three Olympic medallists lined up in the women’s 81kg B Group but only one of them lifted when Polina Guryeva from Turkmenistan and Leidy Solis from Colombia withdrew after weighing in. Guryeva, who took a lengthy time-out to have a child, has not lifted since Tokyo but she is now eligible to qualify for Paris. Aremi Fuentes from Mexico was back on the platform for the first time since she won a bronze medal at 76kg in Tokyo. On the way back from a serious injury, she took it easy and made six from six for 91-112-203, which was 42kg down on her Olympic total. “It was fine, I am taking it step by step,” said Fuentes, 30. “Today is exactly six months since I had knee surgery, and I’m feeling good. I’m doing what the doctors tell me so I don’t ruin my recovery.” Another B Group lifter, Katrina Feklistova from Great Britain, is considering her future after getting a chance to take weightlifting more seriously. Feklistova, who has a degree in economics and works in consulting for banks at the financial technology company Accenture, is one of four GB weightlifters who will receive UK Sport funding that could stretch through to Los Angeles 2028. Katrina Feklistova (GBR) The others are Fraer Morrow, Jess Gordon Brown and Chris Murray. “I only started weightlifting two years ago, as a hobby,” said Feklistova, 26, after making a career-best total of 224kg. “My employer has an elite athletes programme that offers extra days off for competitions and training, in exchange for the publicity they get. They also offer sabbaticals of up to a year.” The funding could allow Feklistova – who was a gymnast and also represented Britain at junior level in fencing - to go part-time in her job and focus more on her sport. “I’m thinking I might put more time into weightlifting for a while, maybe go part-time, and see how far I can get up the rankings,” she said. Feklistova lives in East London, near the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, and trains in South London at a gym run by her coach Mehmed Fikretov, a multiple champion when he lifted for Bulgaria. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

IWF signs up with Cuban university as weightlifting academy plans take shape

Academies that can play a big role in changing the culture of weightlifting are springing up around the world. Plans are well underway for teaching and training centres in Fuzhou, China and Sofia, Bulgaria, and today the IWF signed a deal with a specialist sport university in Havana, Cuba. Tunisia could host a similar centre for Africa, and there are plans for one in Oceania too, possibly in Australia. The agreement ceremony at the Havana University The academies will be used for educating coaches, training athletes, holding specialist seminars and “all heading in one direction, towards science and away from doping”, said IWF president Mohammed Jalood before signing the Cuba agreement. The aim is to have details finalised by September so an academies plan can be approved by the IWF Congress during the World Championships in Saudi Arabia. “In our modern IWF we must be more scientific, we must change the culture of some coaches who believe only in doping,” said Jalood, who has also visited the other academy sites in China, Bulgaria and Tunisia. “Athletes do not decide to dope on their own, they do it because their coach tells them to. IWF President Jalood (second from the left) during his recent visit to Bulgaria “Starting next year we will have certificates for coaching, they will be educated at our academies and licensed by the IWF.” The agreement with the Manuel Fajardo University of Science in Physical Culture and Sport, named after a Cuban revolutionary, was signed by Jalood, IWF general secretary Antonio Urso and university authorities in Havana today. A new training centre will be open by November, and the university will host seminars and educational courses as well as being a centre for licensing coaches. One of Latin America’s leading academics connected with weightlifting, Carlos Cuervo, will be heavily involved. The Cuban professor made presentations to coaches and federation officials before the start of the IWF Grand Prix here in Havana, one of which sought to find a way to categorise in a universal way all movements taught by weightlifting coaches. IWF President Jalood at the Fuzhou University “Universities are the key to changing society, and they can also be the key to the future of sport,” said Urso, who has written many academic papers and a book on the science of weightlifting. Jose Quiñones, president of the Pan American Federation, highlighted the importance of agreeing on fundamentals so that all the academies teach the same principles, for example on training of children or educating coaches. “We must all have similar goals, all be heading in the same direction,” he said. To this end, the academy heads will meet in Saudi Arabia in September. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

Check out all the available info on the IWF Worlds in Riyadh!

The IWF recently published the Regulations concerning the IWF World Championships, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from September 4-17, 2023. This important document is aimed at informing all participants in the event about the deadlines for entries and fee payments, athletes’ eligibility criteria, registration links, visa procedures, local transportation, anti-doping requirements, and the provisional schedule of the competition. Important dates to be noted include July 4, 2023 (two months before the start of the event) as the deadline to send the Athletes’ Final Entry list for the Championships. By that same time, the entry fees must be paid, so that IWF and the Organising Committee can validate each delegation’s attendance. By August 4, 2023 (one month before the beginning of the IWF showcase), accommodation and transportation forms, as well as visa requests must be received. Media representatives wishing to cover the Championships must also electronically submit their applications by July 4, 2023. The IWF World Championships is the biggest event on the 2023 calendar and is a mandatory competition in the Olympic qualification path for the 2024 Games in Paris. All relevant information and documents on the Saudi rendezvous can be found here

Safaa Aljumaili (IRQ): “It’s a very positive return to competition!”

It is a fact that Havana, in Cuba, is perhaps not the most accessible destination for travellers around the world – firstly, not many international airline companies are flying to the Caribbean island; secondly, the majority of foreigners have to complete administrative and visa procedures to enter the country. But this situation is not felt equally by all nations worldwide. When you come from Iraq, these obstacles may be harder to overcome – and Safaa Aljumaili had a good odyssey to tell before getting today the bronze medal of the men’s 89kg at the IWF Grand Prix in the Cuban capital.   To make the story short, he left Baghdad and after driving long hours to Iraqi Kurdistan, waiting more than 17 hours in an airport, paying around US$ 1’000 to change the ticket, as a plane was lost on the way, he finally gets to Havana – even the IWF President Mohammed Jalood (himself an Iraqi national) had to personally intervene to unblock the situation! But the minimum we can say is that the long and exhausting trip was worth all these difficulties. Absent from the Olympic rankings so far, he finishes on 161-200-361 (16th provisional place), close to the “cut” (at 364kg) for the top-10 ranking ensuring a place in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris (FRA). It was the best possible reward after such an “adventure”. Safaa Aljumaili (IRQ) However, the 33-year-old was not entirely satisfied with his performance. “I was expecting a bit more, even to get the gold. In the end, I got two medals [he was also third in the clean and jerk], so it was positive. With the help of God and of my entourage, I hope I can improve at the next available opportunity for me, the IWF World Championships in Riyadh. The most important is that I also finished my competition in good health and I had no injury”.   On his successful result counting for the Olympic ranking – only two athletes managed to enter in the top-10 in this category, US Nathan Damron, with 365kg (but he had better, with a previous 370kg effort), and the winner here in Cuba, the Individual Neutral Athlete Petr Asayonak, with a total of 368 kg – Aljumaili approached his personal best, established in 2017 when he was still competing in the 85kg (161-204-365). “The goal, now that I am in the upper category, is to obviously increase that total. It’s the only way I can dream about the Olympics in Paris. But, the hope is well alive and if I get to compete in the Games, I aim for a medal there”. The Iraqi star was an Olympian in London 2012 – where he finished 10th –, but a two-year doping suspension from 2013 to 2015 “broke” the progression in his career. Determined to be back in good shape, he gets his best result so far in 2018, the gold in the 85kg category at the Asian Games (exactly with the same total as the one today in Cuba: 159-202-361).   Aljumaili is an example of perseverance in the sport. He started early, at 10, basically because of friends also practicing it. “It’s not a family story. I had no relatives involved in weightlifting. We were a group of friends, some went to try the sport and I followed them. As simple as that. I was a strong guy and it suited me well. Also, my first coach immediately noticed that I had the potential for weightlifting – he told me I would be a champion one day. Being still a child, it was difficult to believe in that and to see where it would lead me, but I continued training hard and improving. In 2009, I started competing internationally, and now, 14 years later, here I am, trying to qualify for the Games in Paris,” he adds.   The first record of the Iraqi star on the IWF results page relates to his participation at the 2009 IWF World Championships, where he finished 20th in the 77kg – at the time with 140-175-315. Before Cuba, the Covid pandemic meant a three-year break, his previous result being a 330kg effort at the West Asian Championships… in February 2020! “This is in reality my return to competition. It’s good to be back and to perform well. This event has a good level, and being an Olympic category, the group of athletes competing with me is obviously very strong,” the Iraqi star recognises. With today’s performance, Aljumaili, who lives and trains in Iraq, joins the only other lifter from his nation in the top-20 of the Olympic ranking. In the men’s +109kg, Ali Rubaiawi is also the provisional 16th best of the classification. Since its first participation at the 1948 Games in London, the country has won only one medal in 1960, curiously in weightlifting: the Iraqi hero at the time was Abdul Wahid Aziz, in the men’s lightweight category (67.5kg). By Pedro Adrega, IWF