WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING No.145

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL WEIGHTLIFTING FEDERATION

PHOTO: BUD CHARNIGA

EKO YULI

EKO YULI IRAWAN, INA ASIAN GAMES CHAMPION IRAWAN IS LOOKING TO THE HIGHEST PEAKS IN 2020

2018 IWF JWC

ROAD TO BUENOS AIRES

ASIAN GAMES

FISU WUC

TASHKENT

OCEANIA & EUROPE

JAKARTA

BIALA PODLASKA

Published by International Weightlifting Federation DR. TAMÁS AJÁN IWF President IOC Honorary Member MOHAMMED JALOOD IWF General Secretary Editor-in-Chief KORNÉL JANCSÓ Senior Editor ANIKÓ NÉMETH-MÓRA Communication Director LILLA ROZGONYI Photos JÓZSEF SZAKA Art Editor Crazy Panda Studio Graphic Design Marcell Studio (www.marcelltamas.hu) Spanish & Russian Editions DAVID COLON ARROYO MARINA SHAFIT ÁGNES LUKÁCSFALVI

CONTENTS No.145 02-03 | FOREWORD 04-21 | 2018 IWF JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – TASHKENT, UZB 05 |

22-23 | ROAD TO BUENOS AIRES – OCEANIAN YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS 24-25 |

Printed by TypoNova (www.typonova.hu) All communications: world.weightlifting@iwfnet.net www.iwf.net facebook.com/iwfnet twitter.com/iwfnet instagram.com/iwfnet youtube.com/iwfmedia Any articles, results or photos published in WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING may be reproduced without the written consent of the IWF, however, reference should be made to this publication.

INTERVIEW – SHAKHRILLO MAKHMOUDOV

EUROPEAN YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS

26-34 | ASIAN GAMES – JAKARTA, INA 35 | OBITUARY - ALEXANDER KURLOVICH 36-39 | 2018 FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS - BIALA PODLASKA 40-41 | AFRICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - MAURITIUS 42-43 | 2018 IWF MASTERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – BARCELONA, ESP 46 |

WOMEN’S PAGE – INTERVIEW WITH ZUKHRA ABDULLAEVA

48 |

TECHNICAL CORNER – NEW CATEGORIES, NEW RECORDS!

ISSN 0230-3035

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 1

› FOREWORD

FOREWORD

R

Dear Friends,

ecently, on various forums of the International Weightlifting Federation I have mentioned more than once that the year 2018 is a turning point in the life of the IWF. What does justify this attribute? First of all, that the International Olympic Committee has – and personally, I am very glad about that – made several significant steps, has arrived at decisions that made it clear: we are no longer left alone in our passionate fight against doping. Today, the IOC’s support to the International Federations, including the IWF, is far more noticeable than ever before. The IOC has confirmed on multiple occasions that it fully agrees with the very severe IWF sanctions influencing even the Olympic quota. Particularly in that respect, we can sense their backing much more than in earlier similar cases. Last June, the IOC Executive Board made a critical statement regarding weightlifting; a decision that I think was a tough lesson to our sport, but one that only inspired the IWF to take an even harder stance in its war on doping.

The ultimate outcome of all that is that our sport is there on the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, but for 2024 and 2028 the presence of weightlifting might be questionable in the Olympic programme should we be unable to make our anti-doping controls water-tight and effective. That is indeed a frightening perspective; however, the IWF was not just waiting for this situation sitting on the sidelines, doing nothing.

Ashgabat: host of the 2018 IWF WWC 2 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

O

ur Executive Board unanimously approved the recommendation of the so-called “Tbilisi Commission” to suspend nine countries for one year each and these have to comply with a long list of criteria in cleaning up their sport. At the same time, we established an Independent Monitoring Group whose task is to study and evaluate these Federations’ compliance with the requirements. Meanwhile, three countries have managed to complete the set of requirements and, consequently, recaptured their right to compete. The three of them could take part in the Youth Olympic Games, while the rest of six countries remained suspended until the 19 October 2018 deadline. I must mention here that anyone suspecting some kind of aversion or bias is totally wrong. Although the number of those opposing our decisions and approach our leadership in an unfriendly way is very small, everyone should understand that the sanctioned Member Federations are not our enemies but partners. The leaders of the MFs concerned are partners of the IWF as we share the long-term interest of making order and cleaning up our sport.

Another factor that makes 2018 a turning point is a historic change in our Technical Rules. After 20 years, there is a new set of bodyweight categories for both men and women: ten for each gender. Of these, seven each will feature in the 2020 Olympic programme. Of course, we are not happy about the reduction of our quota and of the number of Olympic events, but it must be acknowledged that the IOC is adding further sports and events to the Olympic palette and thus had to cut numbers from several “traditional” sports, including us. We did our part in elaborating a completely new Olympic Qualification System, which the IOC endorsed and adopted eagerly, which is individual-based and promotes clean sport. Competitors must participate a minimum of 6 times in the Qualification period and are under permanent anti-doping control. I should praise the contributions of the Clean Sport Commission to both projects.

The shaping of the new categories demanded great input from the Sports Program Commission. As expected, there were different opinions but in the end two times 10 new bodyweight categories were accepted to be introduced on 1 November 2018 – actually with the IWF World Championships in Ashgabat.

New categories entail a new set of world records: to that World Standards have been fixed heralding a new chapter in the IWF’s life.

One further project we have launched in 2018: the modernisation and update of the IWF Constitution & By-Laws. As usual, we have begun this process involving all the 192 Member Federations. A Working Group is collecting the proposals and will table them elaborated to the Executive Board, whereupon the proposals shall be submitted to the next available IWF Congress for decision.

Last but not least, let me share a few words about the 2018 IWF World Championships hosted in Turkmenistan’s capital, Ashgabat.

First, I must thank the Peruvian Federation for accepting the IWF’s initiative and stepping down from the WWC in favour of Turkmenistan. (I should point out that Peru is meanwhile candidate to host the 2021 World Championships.) From Lima the 2018 WWC has been transferred to Ashgabat allowing the latter to continue and further develop the legacy of the successful 2017 Asia Indoor Games.

We expect fantastic World Championships in Ashgabat with an incredible new record in the number of competitors. The turnout is undoubtedly boosted to new heights partly as a result of the 20 bodyweight categories, partly the return of the 9 suspended countries and, last but not least, the WWC’s rank of Qualifying Event to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

DR. TAMÁS AJÁN IWF PRESIDENT

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 3

› LIFTER OF THE YEAR AWARD GALA IN TBILISI TEXT: KORNÉL JANCSÓ

›2018 IWF JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TEXT: KORNÉL JANCSÓ PHOTO: JÓZSEF SZAKA

ANOTHER EPISODE OF SERIES “T”: TBILISI, TOKYO, TASHKENT

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he first fortnight of July in 2018 was hallmarked in Weightlifting circles by the year’s major showdown for the under-twentyaged lifters: the Junior World Championships, this time hosted by Uzbekistan’s capital.

Tashkent served as a truly exotic location for the Junior Worlds: known as an inhabited settlement since the 3rd Century, this city is located near the Kazakh border north of the famous “Silk Road”. Tashkent combines past and present; historical buildings, Old Town mosques mingle with state-of-the-art constructions like the famous TV Tower. Also called “The City of Peace and Friendship”, this hospitable Uzbek metropolis welcomed 232 strong young people from 48 countries: 136 men and 96 women. Since the first -20 Championships held in 1975, this was the 44th edition of the Junior Worlds for the men and the 24th for the women (who joined in 1995).

The oldest within the age group were born in 1998 but there were also a few talented youngsters in the field who were born in 2002.

Some important occurrences prior to the start of the competitions will also make Tashkent memorable in the weightlifting annals. First of all the ratification of the new set of bodyweight categories by the IWF Congress.

These will be applied from 1st November 2018. The JWC in Uzbekistan was still held in the “old” categories: eight for women and eight for men.

Before going into details on the various bodyweight categories, let us fix herewith the final results of the team classification. In women, the United States won

before Thailand, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Ecuador and Chinese Taipei. (N.B. The 9 suspended countries were still absent.) Among the men Iran was best, followed by the host Uzbekistan, Turkey, USA, Poland and Colombia.

Thanks to the Uzbekistan Weightlifting Federation, President Mr. Botir Zokirov, 1st Vice President Shakhrillo Makhmoudov and his team for the excellent organisation and great hospitality!

4 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

IWF President, General Secretary with TWF President Botir Zokirov

Hospitality “Uzbek style”

› LIFTER OF THE YEAR AWARD GALA IN TBILISI › INTERVIEW TEXT: KORNÉL JANCSÓ PHOTO: JÓZSEF SZAKA

CHAMPIONSHIPS TO GENERAL SATISFACTION

MEET SHAKHRILLO MAKHMUDOV

Five years after the successful Youth World Championships, Uzbekistan was host to yet another – equally excellent – IWF world event, under the baton of Shakhrillo Makhmudov. WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING interviewed the Chief Organiser of the 2018 IWF Junior World Championships in Tashkent on the closing day of the event.

By that time it was clear that under the leadership of Mr. Makhmudov – who is, by the way, IWF Executive Board Member, Vice President of the Asian Federation and 1st Vice President of the Weightlifting Federation of Uzbekistan – the Uzbeks carried out another successful Championship in their capital.

WW: Half a decade ago you welcomed the youngest generation, the under 17 years of age; now you have been hosting the best of the juniors from all over the world. Was there any special challenge for you in this 2018 event, compared to the one in 2013?

SM.: On the one hand, I was immensely proud that the IWF decided to give us this huge task, an act of great confidence. On the other hand, I was very excited as I could feel the weight of expectations heavily on my shoulders. Yes, the pressure was big to make sure everything goes well with the World Championships.

“WE TRIED TO MEET THIS BIG CHALLENGE AND IT GIVES ME THE BIGGEST HAPPINESS IF OTHERS THINK WE HAVE MANAGED.” WW: You can finally acknowledge: in general opinion it has been going splendidly…

SM.: I am so happy if you see so, if that is what you have been feeling; but it must be said it was not easy. An extra task was the organisation of the various Committee meetings, the IWF Executive Board meeting and finally the Congress – prior to the competitions. To us it was a huge challenge as we had to comply with the highest expectations – both by others and by ourselves. We wouldn’t have been able to manage alone…

indebted to him first for giving us the right to organise the Championships, then because we could feel the President’s help and eyes all the way on our efforts.

Thank you, Dr. Aján!

WW: It must have promoted the success of the JWC that it was not the first major event hosted in Tashkent.

SM.: Of course, our experience helped us a lot, as we had a number of big events behind us. Among those the Youth Worlds and a series of senior competitions, like the Asian Championships, the Asian Continental Qualification Event before the Rio Games, the Afro-Asian Championships or the Asia Cup. Together with my team, Zukhra, Bahtyor and the others, we tried to meet this big challenge and it gives me the biggest happiness if others think we have managed.

WW: The competitions were outstanding but Tashkent will go down in history for all of us for another reason as well…

SM.: Yes, we are so proud to have been able to host an IWF Congress that may surely be called epic, because it approved very important changes in the sport. After 20 years it happened here in Tashkent that the IWF modified the bodyweight categories, accepting ten each for the men and for the women, and it ratified the seven-seven categories for the programme of 2020 Tokyo, not to mention the unique and ground-braking Qualification System for the Olympic Games.

WW: But you were not left alone…

SM.: No, we weren’t, indeed. Since the very beginning, we had the backing of the Uzbek authorities, our Government, the Ministry, and all the way we could feel the support of the IWF. For several months prior to the JWC we had permanently been in touch with the International Federation; coordinating every detail, from the training to the competition venue, the schedule, the travel, the accommodation of the delegations – everything.

In the end, all pieces of the puzzle fell together but it really needed – and this is no mere politeness! – the all-inclusive cooperation of the IWF Secretariat, their meticulous attention to detail, help and activity. Special thanks to our President Dr. Tamás Aján: I am personally WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 5

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - WOMEN

WOMEN 48KG - THAILAND OPENS

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he first world champion to be awarded was a woman, of course, in the lightest category, the 48kg. The happiest nation was Thailand having collected the three gold medals.

Their representative, last year’s JWC second NANTHAWONG Chiraphan totalled 181kg in a truly convincing performance, adding a 100kg clean and jerk to the 81kg snatch. The identity of the runner-up (for all three silver medals) did not remain undisclosed for long either: 2017 3rd-placed Brazilian OLIVEIRA MADEIRA Luana was promoted to this position for her 76+96=172kg result. The bronze medal was allocated in a somewhat more exciting battle: the snatch bronze won by Indian DALABEHERA Jhilli; the clean and jerk

by Japanese SUZUKI Rira; finally the Indian girl became the winner of the total bronze. It should be noted that both latter competitors achieved their honours lifting in Group B.

NANTHAWONG Chiraphan, THA

6 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

1 NANTHAWONG CHIRAPHAN 17.08.1999 THA 47.40

81 100 181

2 OLIVEIRA MADEIRA LUANA

76

31.01.1998 BRA 47.75

96 172

3 DALABEHERA JHILLI

03.02.1999 IND 47.60

75

92 167

4 BUACHATTURAT CHOTIMA

12.03.2000 THA 47.70

74

92 166

5 SUZUKI RIRA

06.09.1998 JPN 45.65

69

95 164

6 CUEVA URIBE FIORELLA F.

04.02.1998 PER 47.50

71

93 164

7 PUTRI YOLANDA

27.01.2000 INA 47.75

73

90 163

8 REICHARDT HAYLEY MARIE

27.04.1999 USA 47.85

72

91 163

9 KARAKOL GAMZE 10 OLESKIEWICZ SYLWIA M.

15.12.1998 TUR 47.55

72

91 163

23.06.1999 POL 47.75

68

84 152

OLIVEIRA MADEIRA Luana, BRA

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - WOMEN

53KG - KHAMBAO CARRIES ON

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hailand’s brave women continued to earn the best of medals in the next category – this time the honours went to KHAMBAO Surodchana. Since last year, when she placed sixth, KHAMBAO displayed remarkable progress in Tashkent and catapulted to the winning position, taking all the three gold medals. In snatch, it was not yet an easy game for her as American DELACRUZ Jourdan Elizabeth was able to corner the Thai and in the end the latter won by just one kilo: 87:86. In clean and jerk, however, DELACRUZ stopped at 107kg, while 18-year old KHAMBAO lifted 110kg and won. All three bronze medals were captured by Colombian SINISTERRA TORRES Yenni, who lifted 84 and 104kg, 188kg in total.

1 KHAMBAO SURODCHANA

23.12.1999 THA 52.75

87 110 197

2 DELACRUZ JOURDAN ELIZABETH

20.05.1998 USA 52.55

86 107 193

3 SINISTERRA TORRES YENNY

04.05.2000 COL 52.75

84 104 188

4 JONES CATRIN HAF

13.06.1999 GBR 52.65

71

93 164

5 BECERRA ROMERO JENIFER S.

31.12.2002 ECU 52.30

72

87 159

6 OTOJONOVA ZUKHRA

10.02.2001 UZB 52.40

62

84 146

DELACRUZ Jourdan, USA

KHAMBAO Surodchana, THA

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 7

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - WOMEN

58KG - SIX GIRLS SHARING NINE MEDALS!

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here were tumultuous scenes around the dais at the victory ceremony of the women’s 58kg; so much so that six medallists were crowding its steps. While it was unclear in the process who will claim which type of medal, there was no question about who will take the pole position. True to being the top favourite AND DEFENDING Junior world champion, Latvian KOHA Rebeka ruled the category and left no doubt about her supremacy on both lifts and naturally overall. The 20-year old prodigy – formerly Olympic fourth, worlds’ third and this year’s European champion – performed two good snatches (95 and 99kg) and missed only 103kg; and in clean and jerk she did three splendid attempts straight on 113, 117, finally 120kg. African champion and silver medallist in total, LANDOULSI Nouha from Tunisia made 21kg less; bronze medallist DARSIGNY Tali from Canada totalled 22kg less than the winner.

1 KOHA REBEKA

19.05.1998 LAT 57.10

99 120 219

2 LANDOULSI NOUHA

05.05.1998 TUN 55.40

90 108 198

3 DARSIGNY TALI

08.03.1998 CAN 58.00

88 109 197

4 EMDU AILADA

23.10.2000 THA 57.00

93 103 196

5 MORALES DEL AGUILA R. E.

14.11.1998 COL 57.55

83 112 195

6 CAKIN AYSEGUL

24.06.1999 TUR 57.95

82 110 192

7 PENCIU ANDREEA

07.09.2000 ROU 57.50

86 102 188

8 SANCHEZ FERRER ALBA

10.01.1998 ESP 57.30

83 101 184

9 MEGO CONTRERAS SHOELY M. 10 KOLTOWSKA PATRYCJA D.

8 / WORLD A WEIGHTLIFTING crowded podium in 58kg

12.08.1999 PER 56.75

74 104 178

03.01.1999 POL 57.80

80

89 169

KOHA REBEKA, LAT “I know nothing, no school, no studying, no leisure, just work out, training, day by day, even on Sundays! My goal is Tokyo, the Olympic Games, until then there is nothing but stone-hard work.

Anything else may come only afterwards…! ”

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - WOMEN

63KG - JUST 16 YEARS OLD, FAYZULLAEVA KEEPS TWO GOLDS AT HOME

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he competition in 63kg was fierce – at least in snatch. In the end, three women tied on 94kg so the winner was the one who lifted it first: AHMED Esraa Elsayed R.E. from Egypt. Tunisian BELKHIR Ghofrane was next and home favourite FAYZULLAEVA Kumushkon was the last to snatch that weight, thus defining the ranking order. In clean and jerk FAYZULLAEVA made it sure that the “equality” game is over: at the tender age of 16(!), the Uzbek girl proceeded after 114 to 120kg and earned both the clean and jerk and the total gold medals. AHMED, 2015 runner-up in both youth and junior, picked up the silver medals behind the young Uzbek super talent (113, 207kg) and BELKHIR, current youth and junior African champion finished with two bronzes. The three of them formed an elite group since all the rest of the field could only accumulate totals less than 200kg.

BELKHIR Ghofrane, TUN

1 FAYZULLAEVA KUMUSHKHON 20.01.2002 UZB 62.75

94 120 214

2 AHMED ESRAA ELSAYED R. E. 21.11.1998 EGY 62.80

94 113 207

3 BELKHIR GHOFRANE

11.08.2001 TUN 59.65

94 112 206

4 SONKAEW RODSUKON

28.11.1999 THA 62.65

93 108 201

5 LEVENT NURAY

08.05.2000 TUR 62.45

90 110 200

6 GRIGORIU MARIA-LUANA

07.02.2000 ROU 63.00

88 111 199

7 GURYEVA POLINA

05.10.1999 TKM 62.30

90 105 195

8 PAREDES VASQUEZ ELDI J.

04.08.2000 PER 62.65

85 109 194

9 DAVILA SANSINENA SUSANA 10 HSU WEI-CHUN

07.02.1998 ESP 62.55

82

98 180

10.11.1998 TPE 62.80

80

98 178

FAYZULLAEVA Kumushkhon, UZB

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - WOMEN

69KG - AHMED II FROM EGYPT SCORES TRIPLE CROWN

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n this category again, Egypt was represented by Ms Ahmed, more precisely by AHMED Sara Samir Elsayed Mohamed, but unlike her sister, she did not contend with just one gold medal; she did not stop before sweeping all the three on sale.

That was her compensation for having bombed in snatch at the 2017 World Championships among the seniors and leaving without a medal in total. AHMED II, formerly double Youth world champion and Rio Olympic bronze medallist, reconfirmed her reputation in Tashkent. With two valid attempts on both lifts (missing her lasts on 107 and 137kg, respectively) she became the best in snatch, clean and jerk and total. The silver medals went to USA lifter VIBERT Katherine Elizabeth for her 100+125=225kg, an achievement that made her weep for joy. On the other hand, we believe that the tears on the face of triple bronze medal winner Colombian ESCOBAR AGUIRRE Hellen Andrea (99+124=223kg) were rather of disappointment than happiness.

AHMED Sara Samir Elsayed, EGY

10 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

1 AHMED SARA SAMIR E. M.

01.01.1998 EGY 68.55 105 133 238

2 VIBERT KATHERINE ELIZABETH

05.01.1999 USA 68.60 100 125 225

3 ESCOBAR AGUIRRE HELLEN A.

07.03.1999 COL 68.50

99 124 223

4 MESSIER ANDREANNE

10.05.1999 CAN 68.95

93 111 204

5 ALEXE ALEXANDRA

20.04.2000 ROU 67.70

93 110 203

6 ROUX MAGALIE

25.01.1999 CAN 68.30

84 111 195

7 HERNANDEZ MARTIN ILIA

12.04.1998 ESP 68.85

82 113 195

8 RAMBERGENOVA BAZARGUL

13.06.1999 UZB 68.05

86 105 191

9 PAREDES ARREAGA BELLA N.

25.02.2002 ECU 68.90

86 104 190

05.05.2001 TUR 65.25

82 103 185

10 AYYILDIZ EMINE

VIBERT Katherine Elizabeth, USA

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - WOMEN

75KG - HAT TRICK BY DAJOMES

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he IWF media team had a good reason for electing 75kg lifter DAJOMES BARRERA Neisi Patricia as Best Woman Lifter of the Junior World Championships.

Ecuador’s 20-year old star scored triple gold winning the juniors’ honours for the third time after 2016 and 2017. Worthy of the defending champion, she pinned 255kg in total, the best of her life. Thus she exceeded even the outstanding results she had reached previously, i.e. 240kg for a silver at the world championships in Anaheim or 242kg for the JWC title, as well as 249kg for this year’s Pan-American champion title. In six faultless attempts in Tashkent DAJOMES arrived at new heights.

A set of valuable silver medals was obtained by ALWINE Meredith Leigh from the USA, while the bronze medals were shared between two 16-year old talented young ladies: Turkish NARIN Dilara got the clean and jerk and Uzbek JABBOROVA Tursunoy won both other bronze medals.

1 DAJOMES BARRERA NEISI P.

12.05.1998 ECU 74.55 115 140 255

2 ALWINE MEREDITH LEIGH

08.06.1998 USA 72.25

99 121 220

3 JABBOROVA TURSUNOY

04.03.2002 UZB 74.10

96 116 212

4 NARIN DILARA

17.03.2002 TUR 74.20

90 118 208

5 KHAMWON YONLADA

22.12.1999 THA 74.70

92 115 207

6 RUBANOVICH NIKOL BELLA

09.05.1998

ISR 71.90

95 110 205

7 AKHMADOVA GULNOZA

02.03.2000 UZB 74.35

93 110 203

8 GUSTI MELINDA

20.08.2000 INA 74.50

90 113 203

9 CHEN EN-TZU

12.11.1999 TPE 74.85

87 112 199

27.05.2000 SVK 74.35

85 110 195

10 SENICOVA NIKOLA

DAJOMES BARRERA NEISI PATRICIA, ECU “I came here to win in my last junior year and I want to win again in November in Ashgabat, then again at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With God’s help, I can do it all…”

Medals in 75kg

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 11

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - WOMEN

90KG - LOCAL FAVOURITE WINS FROM LOST POSITION

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zbekistan’s 17-year old entry in this category performed what could be called bravura: in snatch DAVRONOVA Dolera was only fifth with her 97kg but proceeding to the clean and jerk she did not just improve on that low position but mastered both wins, in C&J and total! True that the difference in performance in the snatch was not substantial between first-placed RIOTTO Juliana Rose from the US (99kg), second-placed Austrian FISCHER Sara (98kg), third BOYNUEGRI Tugce from Turkey (also 98kg) and the would-be winner Uzbek girl. DAVRONOVA started to work off the handicap in her first clean and jerk lift at 123kg and with her final 128kg she was already the supreme winner (225kg in total). RIOTTO captured the overall silver with 224kg and FISCHER won the bronze with the same result.

DAVRONOVA Dolera, UZB 12 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

1 DAVRONOVA DOLERA

03.11.2001 UZB 88.05

97 128 225

2 RIOTTO JULIANA ROSE

29.07.1998 USA 83.70

99 125 224

3 FISCHER SARAH

09.11.2000 AUT 87.55

98 126 224

4 BOYNUEGRI TUGCE

12.10.1998 TUR 86.95

98 116 214

5 ANANGONO PADILLA E. Y.

24.12.2000 ECU 89.10

92 120 212

6 SEO MINJI

17.06.2000 KOR 89.60

97 112 209

7 KUNPATEE JINNAPAT

03.11.2000 THA 78.50

93 108 201

8 YAO YU-SYUAN

08.01.2001 TPE 89.15

85 100 185

9 KRYLOV MONA

26.10.1998

ISR 83.20

80 100 180

22.09.1999 TPE 83.90

78 102 180

10 YU SSU-HAN

FISCHER Sarah, AUT

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS - WOMEN

+90KG - KOREAN ASIAN CHAMPION CONQUERED THE WORLD

A

ll the three gold medals in the women’s top category went home to South-Korea.

Following her success at the junior Asian championships, LEE Seon Mi triumphed in Tashkent with an impressive 274kg total result. She was particularly impressive in snatch where she marched easily through 110, 115, and then 122kg.

Lagging behind LEE by a few kilos already in snatch, the silver medal was collected by AYOVI CABEZAS Lisseth Betzaida of Ecuador. Nauru could boast a precious silver medal in clean and jerk by AMOE-TARRANT Charisma Precious, Oceanian champion, who also added a bronze in total. It took a bold move from AYOVI to stay on track, let alone win, when she missed two lifts at 135kg.

However, she decided to go for 141kg in her last attempt and courage worked.

1 LEE SEON MI

01.08.2000 KOR 116.70 122 152 274

2 AYOVI CABEZAS L. B.

07.08.1998 ECU 124.95 115 141 256

3 AMOE-TARRANT C. P.

26.05.1999 NRU 133.35 103 142 245

4 BENITEZ RIVERA A.

02.06.2000 USA 129.70 104 130 234

5 MANUMUA KUININI J. M.

12.12.2000 USA 105.10 101 130 231

6 KAROLAK MAGDALENA

01.06.1999 POL 124.40 101 128 229

7 ZENG YA-LI

28.11.1998 TPE 127.30

91 125 216

8 GUNAL MELIKE

05.04.1998 TUR 109.65

95 120 215

9 CHANG YU-HSUAN 10 GYURUS BARBARA

95.35

90 107 197

12.08.1998 HUN 124.50

20.11.1999 TPE

84 105 189

LEE Seon-Mi, KOR

Medal ceremony in +90kg WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 13

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

- MEN

MEN 56KG - VIETNAM SETS THE TUNE

I

n the lightest men’s category Vietnam literally swept the field clean. They had two competitors and these lads collected three gold and two bronze medals for themselves and to their nation’s honour. At 20 years of age, LAI Gia Thanh, silver medallist from last year, set the course already in the snatch. He lifted 122kg: five more than the next best, GARCIA PEREZ Jairo Luis of Colombia, and nine kilos on his compatriot’s result, 17-year old NGO Son Dinh. In clean and jerk LAI missed two of his attempts but the only successful 144kg was far more than enough to win both in the discipline and overall with a very impressive 266kg total. The clean and jerk silver medal was obtained by South-Korean LIM Kanghun (143kg), while GARCIA took the bronze medal here and became the runner-up in total. Vietnam’s number two delegate NGO captured the total bronze to round up the country’s medal tally to five.

Medallists in 56kg

14 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

1 LAI GIA THANH

03.05.1998

VIE 55.45 122 144 266

2 GARCIA PEREZ JAIRO LUIS

02.08.2000 COL 55.60 117 137 254

3 NGO SON DINH

02.08.2001

4 LIM KANGHUN

29.06.1998 KOR 55.75 106 143 249

VIE 55.75 113 136 249

5 HIRAI KAITO

16.09.1998 JPN 55.70 105 136 241

6 SOMBOON-UAN THADA

03.11.2000 THA 55.70 107 127 234

7 KUBO KAITO

24.01.1999 JPN 55.60 101 129 230

8 IANCU VALENTIN-IONADI

16.01.2000 ROU 55.85

98 128 226

9 YU CHENG-EN

11.07.1999 TPE 55.75

94 130 224

23.06.1999 POL 47.75

68

10 OLESKIEWICZ SYLWIA M.

LAI Gia Thanh, VIE

84 152

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

- MEN

62KG - ERGASHEV TAKES IWF BEST LIFTER TROPHY BUPPHAMALA OBTAINS 3,500TH MEDAL

E

RGASHEV Adkhamjon scored an overwhelming success on home turf; however, his performance went beyond the patriotic limits and was appreciated in the media voting by the IWF Media Trophy for Best Male Lifter of the Junior World Championships. Now 19 years old, ERGASHEV accumulated a total result 17 kilograms more (295kg) than the runner-up German, MAU Jon Luke. The Uzbek champion beat the bronze medallist ZURITA VALLKEJO Cristhian David from Ecuador by 18kg and was supreme all the way through the competition. In snatch he completed three splendid attempts on 125, 130 and 135kg. However, the bronze medal in this category had a special significance: it was the 3,500th medal in the history of Junior World Championships! Its lucky winner was BUPPHAMALA Patiphan from Thailand with his 123kg. Returning to ERGASHEV: he progressed steadily since 2016 when he was youth world champion, took a 4th place at 2017 Anaheim WWC and now rose to the top, giving the home crowd much satisfaction.

2018 JWC IWF Media Trophy winners: ERGASHEV Adkhamjon, UZB and DAJOMES Neisi Patricia, ECU

1 ERGASHEV ADKHAMJON

12.03.1999 UZB 61.70 135 160 295

2 MAU JON LUKE

02.10.1998 GER 61.80 121 157 278

3 ZURITA VALLEJO C. D.

10.02.1998 ECU 61.45 127 150 277

4 BUPPHAMALA PATIPHAN

27.08.1999 THA 61.65 123 143 266

5 ELTAMADI AHMED A. SAID

16.01.1999 EGY 61.90 115 148 263

6 YASIN MOHAMMAD

18.01.2000 INA 61.70 115 147 262

7 KARA RAMAZAN

19.06.1999 TUR 61.85 112 149 261

8 PEDRAK BENJAMIN L. M.

25.11.1998 FRA 61.65 122 136 258

9 GUNGOR ISA

13.09.1998 TUR 62.00 117 138 255

10 KAKHRAMONOV M. M.

10.08.1998 UZB 61.75 112 140 252

BUPPHAMALA Patiphan, THA won the 3,500th medal in Junior World Championships (Snatch bronze)

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 15

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

- MEN

69KG - CJ CUMMINGS HIS “OLD SELF” AGAIN!

S

till a favourite fledgling of the Americans, still only 18 years old, CUMMINGS JR. Clarence is back in his former good shape – at least that is what he proved by his show in Tashkent.

Multiple youth and junior world champion, CJ CUMMINGS came to Tashkent as the title defender in 69kg. At the same time, he needed to overcome the disappointment of making zero in clean and jerk last year at the senior world championships (in front of the home audience) and not scoring overall. He must have managed well since among the juniors the American prodigy proved his exceptional talent once again. He took the snatch gold with 140kg only to continue with three good lifts in the jerk until 176kg (316kg in total).

17-year old Turkish OZBEK Muhammed Furkan took the snatch silver (138kg) but in clean and jerk and total he only picked up the bronze medals. The competitor who preceded him and took both remaining silvers was Romanian DUMITRASCU Paul.

CUMMINGS JR Clarence, USA

16 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

1 CUMMINGS JR CLARENCE

06.06.2000 USA 68.95 140 176 316

2 DUMITRASCU PAUL

31.01.2000 ROU 69.00 134 175 309

3 OZBEK M. FURKAN

24.01.2001 TUR 68.95 138 168 306

4 JEERAM SUTTIPONG

28.04.2000 THA 68.90 137 166 303

5 ILHAN RAMAZAN

20.12.1998 TUR 68.60 137 155 292

6 SHEULI ACHINTA

24.11.2001 IND 68.95 129 162 291

7 YAMANE DAICHI

09.04.1998 JPN 68.55 130 160 290

8 OSORIO HERNANDEZ J. L.

04.03.2000 COL 66.00 128 160 288

9 SANCHEZ VELEZ J. J. 10 SANDOVAL PARRAS K. D.

DUMITRASCU Paul, ROU

04.11.1998 PUR 68.75 125 163 288 23.10.1999 COL 68.60 128 155 283

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

- MEN

77KG - KOHA “COPIED” BY SUHAREVS

J

ust like his teammate KOHA Rebeka, Latvian SUHAREVS Ritvars did not play it for less than three gold medals in his category, the 77kg.

In the snatch, the 19-year old lifter pulled off his rivals lifting 156kg; against second placed Iranian SOLTANI Hossein’s 149kg and bronze medallist Uzbek AYTMURATOV Gayrat’s 146kg. Formerly the winner of youth and junior European titles, SUHAREVS continued to excel in the second part lifting 180kg and of course winning with it by a large margin (10 kilos) on the whole. The rest of the medals, silvers and bronzes were shared in alternating order by the Iranian and Armenian HARUTYUNYAN Rafik. All three medal winners had displayed significant progress since their previous best performances.

SOLTANI Hossein, IRI

1 SUHAREVS RITVARS

11.01.1999 LAT 76.25 156 180 336

2 SOLTANI HOSSEIN

02.12.1999

IRI 76.30 149 177 326

3 HARUTYUNYAN RAFIK

17.05.2000 ARM 76.80 145 179 324

4 KORNELUK PRZEMYSLAW

22.06.1998 POL 77.00 141 176 317

5 AYTMURATOV GAYRAT

29.04.1998 UZB 76.70 146 165 311

6 TOUAIRI FARIS

11.06.1999 ALG 76.80 140 170 310

7 ABDULLAH RAHMAT ERWIN 13.10.2000 INA 73.65 141 168 309 8 ALAM OMED 9 TERRONES MIRANDA O. A. 10 ANNABERDIYEV RUSTEM

20.05.1999 DEN 76.75 135 171 306 23.01.1998 PER 72.55 133 165 298 18.04.1999 TKM 76.45 134 160 294

SUHAREVS Ritvars, LAT

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 17

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

- MEN

85KG - EUROPEAN CHAMPION NOW JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPION AS WELL

H

e had some medals from various age-group world championships; he won the senior European champion title in 2018, but in order to claim his share of junior world championship gold medals DAVITADZE Revaz had to travel to Uzbekistan from Georgia. The 20 years old succeeded in filling this void already in snatch, completing 164kg there. Behind him, there were many contenders to the other medals: the gap between the results of the second and the eighth placed was a mere 6 kilos. Even an 8-kg handicap of 9th placed MAURUS

Harrison James (USA) seemed manageable. Egyptian ALI Ahmed Sayed Ashour won the bronze in clean and jerk but with 350kg he clinched the silver medal in total.

DAVITADZE’s victory with his 356kg was unshakeable (192kg in jerk) despite a brave attempt by the American.

The latter, MAURUS got wings in clean and jerk and with an imposing 198kg captured the gold medal of that lift, along with the bronze overall. Once he learns how to snatch…

1 DAVITADZE REVAZ

16.10.1998 GEO 84.65 164 192 356

2 ALI AHMED SAYED ASHOUR

10.01.1999 EGY 85.00 159 191 350

3 MAURUS HARRISON JAMES

26.02.2000 USA 82.15 151 198 349

4 ADAMUS BARTLOMIEJ S.

12.05.2000 POL 84.35 158 190 348

5 KAKABADZE NODARI

26.05.1999 GEO 84.35 157 187 344

6 KHAKI BAKHTIARVAND A.

24.12.1998

7 SOLIS ARBOLEDA JUAN F.

05.03.1999 COL 83.65 150 190 340

8 BELLEMARRE ALEX

22.06.1998 CAN 83.95 155 179 334

9 SKULIMOWSKI MATEUSZ

31.07.1998 POL 84.35 153 178 331

10 TAHERI HAJI VAND AFSHIN

DAVITADZE Revaz, GEO 18 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

IRI 85.00 156 185 341

09.03.2000

ALI AHMED Sayed Ashour, EGY

IRI 84.70 156 173 329

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

- MEN

94KG - COLOMBIA ONE – QATAR TWO

C

lose battles, good show in this category – up until the point when Qatari ELBAKH Fares Ibrahim detached himself from the field and launched his own private show in clean and jerk. But let us not run ahead so fast: in snatch Colombian RIVAS MOSQUERA Jhonatan took the lead with 171kg on the Qatari’s 170kg. This minimum advantage vanished in the second act where the Colombian faced Iranian MOTAMEDI and bronze medal winner Armenian BABAKYAN Samvel, while ELBAKH Fares waited for them to finish before stepping on the platform with an opening 205kg. Already the winner of 2 gold medals, the Qatari performed a brave 215kg lift “just for fun”, abandoning his third attempt, and finished with 385kg to his credit.

1 ELBAKH FARES IBRAHIM E. H.

04.06.1998 QAT 93.55 170 215 385

2 RIVAS MOSQUERA JHONATAN

11.07.1998 COL 93.70 171 203 374

3 BABAKYAN SAMVEL

08.12.1998 ARM 93.60 160 201 361

4 MOTAMEDI SEDEH RASOUL

09.11.1998

IRI 93.75 151 202 353

5 AL-BADRAWI HAYDER HUSSEIN ALI ASKAR

05.08.1998

IRQ 90.50 157 190 347

6 ALKHAZAL ALI AHMED A

21.08.1998 KSA 94.00 152 186 338

7 PIANSKI JULIAN

10.06.1998 GER 93.50 155 180 335

8 BESSETTE PIERRE-ALEXANDRE

28.09.1999 CAN 91.90 156 176 332

9 WASHINGTON JADEN MYKAL

06.06.1999 USA 91.90 145 185 330

10 KHOJIEV AZIMJON

16.11.2000 UZB 93.05 146 183 329

ELBAKH Fares Ibrahim, QAT

RIVAS MOSQUERA Jhonatan, COL WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 19

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

- MEN

105KG - ANOTHER GEORGIAN VICTORY

D

AVITADZE’s triumph in 85kg must have served as a start signal to the other strong man in the Georgian team, CHKHEIDZE Irakli. He braced himself for winning and win he did, even more impressively than his friend. In the first half, CHKHEIDZE played with 163, 168, then 171kg, securing a 4-kg advantage on Uzbekistan’s DJURAEV Akbar, who made two futile attempts at 172kg. Youth world and European champion in 2016, now at the age of 19 years the Georgian gave not a single chance to his challenger in the second act. DJURAEV had to be content with 202kg, while CHKHEIDZE progressed irresistibly with 201, 205, finally 211kg lifts. The three gold and three silver medals thus allocated, the other competitors were left to fight for the bronzes. Among them Iranian AZIZI Amir was best in snatch, while in jerk and total Egypt’s junior African champion ABDELAZIZ Mohamed A. M. captured the two available bronze medals.

1 CHKHEIDZE IRAKLI

05.01.1999 GEO 102.55 171 211 382

2 DJURAEV AKBAR

08.10.1999 UZB 102.35 167 202 369

3 ABDELAZIZ MOHAMED ABDELRAHMAN MOHAMED

07.04.1998 EGY 104.75 160 200 360

4 AZIZI AMIR

09.01.1999

IRI 104.40 162 194 356

5 FISCHER DAVID

03.11.1998 AUT 101.55 157 195 352

6 OURAMEH RAHMAN

01.11.1998

IRI

96.25 151 194 345

7 COHEN MICHAEL HOWARD

24.02.1998 USA 101.90 145 189 334

8 LIN SHENG-LUN

22.01.2000 TPE 104.90 147 185 332

9 GORNY JAKUB

05.07.1998 CZE 102.50 150 180 330

10 BURKS ZACKARY RYAN

DJURAEV Akbar, UZB 20 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

23.10.1998 USA 103.40 140 185 325

CHKHEIDZE Irakli, GEO

› JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

- MEN

+105KG - IRANIAN VICTORY AMONG THE YOUNG GIANTS

I

n the contest of the heaviest and strongest, Iran’s DAVOUDI Ali quickly discouraged his rivals when snatching 192kg, 15 kilograms more than runner-up LALAYAN Varazdat from Armenia, and 19 kilograms over the bronze medallist BUTT Muhammad Nooh Dastgir’s (PAK) result. Surprisingly, in clean and jerk BUTT annoyed the Iranian and his other rivals by lifting 228kg and taking the gold medal for Pakistan, but this remarkable success could not change the order in total. The Iranian giant (160 kilos on the scale) became the junior world champion with an effortless 419kg total, followed by the Armenian and the Pakistani tying on 399kg.

DAVOUDI Ali, IRI

1 DAVOUDI ALI

22.03.1999

2 LALAYAN VARAZDAT

01.05.1999 ARM 136.95 177 222 399

IRI 160.50 192 227 419

3 BUTT MUHAMMAD NOOH D.

03.02.1998 PAK 156.50 171 228 399

4 HSIEH YUN-TING

08.08.1999 TPE 122.75 160 198 358

5 ELGARHY OSAMA MOHAMED M. I.

02.06.1998 EGY 137.60 166 191 357

6 MAHAMMADZADEHDIZABADI A.

20.08.1998

7 WEGRZYN JAKUB

28.07.1999 POL 132.45 162 190 352

8 KAPLAN YILDIRAY

19.04.2000 TUR 116.05 155 187 342

9 SETEFANO JOACHIM TUIGAMALA O. 10 KAWAMURA MASAKI

IRI 142.40 164 190 354

18.07.1998 NZL 162.90 150 187 337 25.03.1998 JPN 160.90 145 186 331

LALAYAN Varazdat, ARM WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 21

› ROAD TO BUENOS AIRES TEXT: KORNÉL JANCSÓ PHOTOS: CURTESY OWF, PAUL COFFA

ROAD TO

FROM OCEANIA TO EUROPE

I

n the next issue of WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING we intend to report in full about the weightlifting competitions of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The last two stations on the “Road to Buenos Aires” were the qualification championships in Oceania and Europe.

The Road started last year with the 2017 IWF Youth World Championships in Bangkok, followed this year by the Continental events; i.e. Africa, Asia and Panamerica (covered in issue 144), finally Oceania and Europe. In the course of the whole series a total of 55 boys and 55 girls aged 14 to 17 have won the right to lift on the stage of the Europa Pavilion in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 7-13 October. It should be mentioned that, as opposed to the first two Youth Olympic Games (2010 and 2014) six male and five female categories were contested, now, for Buenos Aires, the IOC approved the increase to 6 female classes so that gender parity is reached!

MOZES Ezekiel, NRU

22 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

ANDREWS-NAHU Kanah Shenelle, NZL

› ROAD TO BUENOS AIRES

OCEANIA YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS - MONT DORE, NCL

A

ll of Oceania’s top weightlifters – Seniors, Juniors and Youth – convened at the end of June in Mont Dore, New Caledonia for their annual Championships. In the age group 13 to 17 years, six nations were represented in men and six in women. In the boys’ field, Australia turned out the largest team of eight, Nauru six, New Zealand five young lifters. Kiribati and the Marshall Islands were represented by one lifter each.

Among the girls the field was also composed by 23 lifters: Nauru and Australia brought seven-seven, New Zealand had six competitors and one each came from the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Guam. Of all the five Continental YOG qualifications this was the smallest field.

Of the altogether ten participating nations Nauru emerged as most successful. Their young ladies collected 16 (!) gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals. The boys added 9 gold and 9 silver

medals pinning NRU in the pole position of the medal table by a large margin. Australia (9, 20, 6) and New Zealand (9, 4, 9) were close, with the former collecting more silvers.)

Most of the male competitors were born in 2001 or 2002, while the biggest number (9) of the female lifters were 15 years old.

In both genders we saw even 13-year olds!

As for the individual performances, the best of the young men was 17-year old MOSES Ezekiel from Nauru, totalling 240kg in 62kg category. In the absolute ranking he preceded two Australians: SAXTON William Cooper (77kg, 236kg) and 15-year old GAFFNEY Jeff (62kg, 200kg). Among the girls the absolute best lifter was ANDREWS-NAHU Kanah Shenelle from New Zealand. Born in 2001, she won the 75kg with a total of 194kg. Next best were two talents from Nauru: 16-year old UEPA Maxima (63kg, 175kg) and 15-year old ABOUKE Nancy Genzel (58kg, 162kg).

GAFFNEY Jeff, AUS

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 23

› ROAD TO BUENOS AIRES

ROAD TO

2018 EUROPEAN YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS MILANO, ITA

T

he series of YOG Qualification Events had their last stop at Milano: the European Youth Championships. An unprecedented populous field turned out in Italy: 199 young men (113) and women (86) from a total of 31 countries.

The Championships actually took place in San Donato Milanese, a charming village in Milano’s neighbourhood.

Competitions were held in the 2 times 8 IWF official bodyweight categories, among which naturally the 2 times 6 qualifying for the YOG. The results of the best six lifters by country were taken into consideration for the Buenos Aires summit. In both genders the top four nations won one Youth Olympic quota each. In men: GEO, ROU, CZE and POL; in women: BUL, POL, ESP and HUN. Twelve countries for the boys and ten for the girls were able to win a spot on the Medal Table. In the women’s Championships Romania was most successful with 9 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze medals. Bulgaria (5, 4, 0) was next, followed by Turkey (3, 5,5), Poland (3, 2 6), Armenia (3, 0, 3), Latvia (1, 1, 1), Italy (0, 2, 1), Belgium (0, 2, 1), Hungary (0, 2, 0), Spain (0, 1, 0).

Best of the men: OZBEK Muhammed Furkan, TUR 24 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

In the men’s Italy finished in first place (5, 0, 4) ahead of Turkey (4, 5, 4), Bulgaria (4, 4, 1) and Azerbaijan (4, 3, 2). Indeed, there was a wide medal winners’ range including further nations like Armenia, Georgia, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Romania, Greece, Germany and Latvia.

In the performance-on-bodyweight calculation the strongest man was 69kg winner Turkish OZBEK Muhammed Furkan (299kg) with Bulgaria’s European superheavy champion HRISTOV Hristo Dimitrov (364kg) and MARGARYAN Karen, Armenia (77kg, 313kg) following up.

The absolute best female lifter of the Championships was Bulgarian SHATOVA Galya Anetova thanks to her 200kg total in the 63kg category. She is followed by 53kg winner (177kg) Romanian BALTAG Sabina, as well as also 53kg silver medallist (176kg) IVANOVA Daniela from Latvia.

Next stop, and final destination: Buenos Aires, Argentina!

MARGARYAN Karen, ARM

SHATOVA Galya, BUL WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 25

› ASIAN GAMES TEXT: KORNÉL JANCSÓ PHOTOS: BUD CHARNIGA

WORLD RECORD BY IRAN, GOLD SHOWER BY PRK, HISTORIC FIRSTS IN JAKARTA

T

he 2018 Asian Games hosted by Indonesia will go down in history as a successful event from all points of view. Weightlifting at the Games was part of this great success. In the line of records we must mention in the first place the world record by MORADI Sohrab, but at the same time first-time-in-history gold medals were recorded by three countries: Indonesia, Iraq and the Philippines. Another notable entry in the Asian Games annals tells about the 8 gold medals won by North-Korea out of the available 15.

Before going into details, we should stop for a moment recalling a few milestones in the history of these

prestigious Continental Games. The one held this year was the 18th edition of the Asian Games launched in 1951. The opening event was organised in Delhi, India, listing 489 athletes from 11 nations. Weightlifting was – and has been ever since – a core sport of the Games program; seven countries sent weightlifters to seven bodyweight categories in 1951. Now, 67 years later, the mega competitions of Olympic dimensions welcomed over 10,000 (!) athletes, of which in weightlifting 166 competitors – 62 women and 104 men – were vying for the honours.

Sheikh AHMED AL-FAHAD Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, OCA President with Dr. AJÁN Tamás, IWF and Mr. AL MANA Mohamed Yousef, AWF President

26 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

H.W. WIDODO Joko, Indonesian President with IRAWAN Eko Yuli

PRESIDENTS PRESENT – GAMES HIGHLIGHTS

W

eightlifting was carried out in the Jakarta International Expo Convention Center, a 2,000 spectator facility. Several notabilities highlighted the competitions with their presence. Among them Dr. AJÁN Tamás, IWF President, Sheikh AHMED AL-FAHAD Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, OCA (Olympic Council of Asia) President, AL MANA Mohamed Yousef, AWF President, as well as none less than the President of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. WIDODO Joko, who awarded the Asian Games gold medal to IRAWAN Eko Yuli, the first Indonesian to win an Asian Games weightlifting event.

Similar honours were claimed by DIAZ Hidilyn and ALJUMAILI Safaa Rashid Mahmoud, as they are the first representatives of the Philippines and Iraq, respectively, to become Asian Games champions.

A special triumph was recorded by DPR Korea’s team who literally swept the fields of the eight men’s and seven women’s categories winning a total of 10 medals, including 8 gold.

DIAZ Hidilyn: the first winner from Philippines

The first Iraqi Asian Games Champion: ALJUMAILI Safaa R. M.

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 27

WORLD RECORD IN JAKARTA

I

ran’s 94kg lifter MORADI Sohrab set a new world record in snatch (probably the last in this category) and now, with this 189kg he broke an “ancient” record (188kg) by KAKHIASHVILI Kakhi, triple Olympic champion and current President of the Georgian Weightlifting Federation. That record had been the oldest one remaining, standing since 1999, the introduction of the current (until 31 October 2018) bodyweight categories!

MORADI Sohrab, IRI capturing the snatch world record, too

IRAWAN DONATES GOLD TO HOSTS

A

more roaring applause and celebration than MORADI’s was drawn only by the victory of IRAWAN, iconic weightlifter of the host nation. Active since 2006, silver and bronze medallist in Olympic Games and World Championships, Eko Yuli excelled in a category (62kg) inserted in the Games program especially because of him as the eighth category for men. IRAWAN (29) expressed his gratitude by winning over all his fourteen rivals and capturing the first (and last) gold medal for Indonesia in weightlifting. The Asia Games award only medals for the total, yet it is worth pointing out that IRAWAN’s domination was overwhelming: 8kg in snatch and 4kg in clean and jerk on the next best, totalling an impressive 311kg.

IRAWAN Eko Yuli excelled on home ground 28 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

CHOE JON WI, PRK

› ASIAN GAMES

OM LAUNCHES PRK GOLD STREAK

O

ne of the many excellent champions of North-Korea deserves special mention: Olympic champion and defending Asian Games winner OM Yun Chol in 56kg. Now at the age of 27 years, the three-times world champion OM lagged by one kilo in snatch but as always, he could rely on his clean and jerk power. As it was, he lifted 160kg (his own world record lies at 171kg) in the second act and with 287kg overall he defeated Vietnam’s star, last year’s world champion THACH Kim Tuan (280kg).

Still speaking of the men’s competitions, we should highlight Iran’s superheavyweight superstar, SALIMIKORDASIABI Behdad. On the one hand, because the Olympic and double world champion scored his third straight victory at the Asian Games (2010, 2014 and 2018). On the other hand, and this may be even more important: Jakarta marked SALIMI’s last appearance in competition – which he won with 461kg, by the way. According to the statement of the Iranian Weightlifting Federation, the 28-year old superheavyweight is retiring from competition.

As a kind of counterpoint, Uzbekistan’s NURUDINOV Ruslan made his international comeback, picked up the thread again and did not stop before reaching the top of the podium in the 105kg category. Completing his 27th year at the end of November, world champion in 2013, Olympic champion in 2016, was absent from the world stage since Rio de Janeiro. In Jakarta, in turn, he certified his return by an impressive 421kg total.

OM Yun Chol, PRK

NURUDINOV Ruslan, UZB made a successful comeback

30 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

THACH Kim Tuan, VIE

› ASIAN GAMES

ONLY KUO ABLE TO BREAK NORTH-KOREAN SERIES

T

he women competed in seven categories – 48, 53, 58, 63, 69, 75 and +75kg – the majority of them trying to defeat the girls from DPR Korea: with no success whatsoever. The tune for Team PRK was set on Day 1 by their first entry, 48-kg RI Song Gum. She won with a total of 199kg.

In the following days, one of the most valuable victories was scored by 2016 Olympic bronze medallist and Lifter of the Year KUO Hsing-Chun from TPE in 58kg.

KUO returned to the stage after recovering from an unpleasant injury and added another title to her already impressive career. At the same time, she compensated for a low 4th place at the previous Asian Games in 2014 lifting 235kg overall in Jakarta beating Thailand’s SUKANYA Srisurat, Olympic champion in 2016.

We mentioned about the opening of the women’s contests and we could wind it up evaluating the heaviest category of the ladies, as the +75kg winner was another North-Korean, KIM Kuk Hyang (291kg). In between, however, there were further Asian champions from PRK, some of them winning in a notable manner. Let us point first at 63kg champion KIM Hyo Sim, if not for another reason but a 250kg total; as well as at the runner-up in this category, another North-Korean, CHOE Hyo Sim.

KIM Kuk Hyang, PRK

KUO Hsing-Chun, TPE

SUKANYA Srisurat, THA

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 31

RIM Un Sim, PRK

The 63kg medallists

32 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

› ASIAN GAMES

RIM SISTERS: A WINNING PAIR

T

he true curiosity of the Games was, however, served in the 69 and 75kg classes. In these two categories a pair of sisters became Asian champions!

First RIM Un Sim, followed by RIM Jong Sim. A rarity for brothers and sisters to win in the same competition: we witnessed this event in Jakarta! Actually, RIM Jong Sim, 25 years old, 75kg, did not surprise us by her victory (26kg on the next best); she came to Indonesia as two-times Olympic champion (2012 and 2016) and added the Asian Games title to her collection. In the previous category, her 22-year old sister, Un Sim, set a personal record taking the continental title.

After the double victory, RIM Jr. said on behalf of both that they are aiming at the top places at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

RIM Jong Sim, PRK

JAKARTA:

OLYMPIC ASPIRATIONS FOR 2032?

J

akarta proved to be excellent hosts to the 18th Asian Games. They deserved all praise and Indonesian President Joko Widodo suggested that with this experience they might become host to an even larger-scale event. When he added that he had just met Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, he left no doubt about the nature of event he was referring to: Indonesia will be candidate to the 2032 Summer Olympic Games.

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 33

› ASIAN GAMES MEN

WOMEN

56 KG

48 KG PRK

47.98

87 112

199

1 OM YUN CHOL

18.11.1991

13.08.1994

INA

47.74

88 107

195

2 THACH KIM TUAN

21.04.1997

THA

47.73

87 102

189

3 WIJOYO SURAHMAT BIN S.

1 RI SONG GUM

17.10.1997

2 AGUSTIANI SRI WAHYUNI 3 SUKCHAROEN THUNYA

PRK

55.89 127 160

287

15.01.1994

VIE

55.79 128 152

280

11.05.1988

INA

55.91 119 153

272

62 KG

53 KG 1 DIAZ HIDILYN

20.02.1991

PHI

52.86

92 115

207

1 IRAWAN EKO YULI

24.07.1989

INA

61.83 141 170

311

2 SHERMETOVA KRISTINA

25.05.1993

TKM

53.00

93 113

206

2 TRINH VAN VINH

17.12.1995

VIE

61.78 133 166

299

3 KHAMBAO SURODCHANA

23.12.1999

THA

52.72

86 115

201

3 ERGASHEV ADKHAMJON

12.03.1999

UZB

61.81 136 162

298

69 KG

58 KG 1 KUO HSING-CHUN

26.11.1993

TPE

57.77 105 130

235

1 O KHANG CHOL

16.09.1993

PRK

68.68 151 185

336

2 SRISURAT SUKANYA

03.05.1995

THA

57.65 103 123

226

2 YOKUBOV DOSTON

05.04.1995

UZB

68.96 145 186

331

3 ANDOH MIKIKO

30.09.1992

JPN

57.96

218

3 ARTYKOV IZZAT

08.09.1993

KGZ

68.79 147 183

330

91 127

77 KG

63 KG 1 KIM HYO SIM

29.03.1994

PRK

62.98 113 137

250

1 CHOE JON WI

29.06.1993

PRK

76.95 155 193

348

2 CHOE HYO SIM

05.12.1993

PRK

62.67 105 133

238

2 KIM WOO JAE

26.09.1991

KOR

76.95 160 187

347

3 WAMALUN RATTANAWAN

15.07.1995

THA

62.77 102 123

225

3 CHINNAWONG CHATUPHUM

19.07.1993

THA

76.51 154 187

341

85 KG

69 KG 1 RIM UN SIM

05.07.1996

PRK

65.56 109 137

246

1 ALJUMAILI SAFAA RASHID M.

01.01.1990

IRQ

84.81 159 202

361

2 HUNG WAN-TING

21.06.1990

TPE

68.25 103 130

233

2 JANG YEONHAK

14.02.1997

KOR

84.89 165 195

360

3 MUN YURA

13.05.1990

KOR

68.97 101 130

231

3 JON MYONG SONG

19.08.1993

PRK

84.91 158 190

348

1 RIM JONG SIM

05.02.1993

PRK

74.31 116 147

263

1 MORADI SOHRAB

22.09.1988

IRI

93.97 189 221

410

2 OTAKUZIYEVA OMADOY

04.04.1996

UZB

74.62 101 136

237

2 ELBAKH FARES IBRAHIM E. H.

04.06.1998

QAT

93.67 166 215

381

3 MUN MINHEE

07.07.1995

KOR

74.76 106 130

236

3 SUMPRADIT SARAT

17.04.1994

THA

93.27 170 210

380

94 KG

75 KG

105 KG

+75 KG 1 KIM KUK HYANG

20.04.1993

PRK

97.49 126 165

291

1 NURUDINOV RUSLAN

24.11.1991

UZB 104.98 191 230

421

2 SON YOUNGHEE

24.04.1993

KOR 112.34 122 160

282

2 ALAIFURI SALWAN JASIM A.

26.09.1991

IRQ 104.68 181 224

405

3 CHAIDEE DUANGAKSORN

11.08.1997

THA 112.86 121 159

280

3 HASHEMI ALI

01.11.1991

IRI

104.48 184 219

403

1 SALIMIKORDASIABI BEHDAD

08.12.1989

IRI

169.98 208 253

461

2 ALIHOSSEINI SAEID

02.02.1988

IRI

166.50 208 248

456

3 DJANGABAEV RUSTAM

25.08.1993

UZB 147.45 203 252

455

+105 KG

SALIMIKORDASIABI Behdad, IRI – last competition 34 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

› OBITUARY - ALEXANDER KURLOVICH

OBITUARY ALEXANDER KURLOVICH WE LOST ONE OF THE GREATEST EVER

A

lexander Nikolaevich Kurlovich suddenly passed away on the 6th of April, Friday in Grodno where he was born on 28 July in 1961.

Two times Olympic Champion (1988 and 1992) four times World Champion (1987,1989,1991,1994), two times European Champion (1989,1990) and World Record holder twelve times, Kurlovich possessed exceptional qualities and achieved these results in the sport’s most showcased prime event: the superheavyweight category. Both his athletic and human qualities were outstanding and unparalleled.

Called “Sasha” by his closer friends, he was loved by his teammates, colleagues both inside Belarus and in the World of Weightlifting.

He finished his sports career at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta where he was proud to compete under the Belarus flag. His best results are 215kg in the Snatch, 260kg in the Clean and Jerk and 472.5kg in the Total.

Alexander Kurlovich was the Director of the Representative Office of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus in Grodno Province. He was also a Member of the Executive Committee of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus and deputy Chairman of the Belarusian Weightlifting Union; Vice-President of the European Weightlifting Federation; 2000-2005 IWF Executive Board Member and since 2005 Member of the IWF Technical Committee. He was entered to the IWF Weightlifting Hall of Fame in 2006.

The National Championships of Belarus have been traditionally held in Grodno, his hometown. After the tragic passing away of their national hero the 2018 event was held in commemoration of his memory.

The IWF was represented by Éva Balogh, Office Manager and Kornél Jancsó, Editor-in-Chief of WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING. At the opening ceremony on behalf of Dr.Tamas Ajan, IWF President the delegation expressed their heartfelt condolences to the widow, Olga Kurlovich, the Belarus Weightlifting Union and the leaders of Grodno.

The IWF representatives, accompanied by Siarhei Samuseu, BWU General Secretary and Vitaliy Kreidich, Executive Secretary visited the training hall where Alexander Kurlovich used to train for several years, the monument of Olympic Champions initiated by Mr. Kurlovich. They laid a wreath on his grave.

The Belarus Weightlifting Family and the sport authorities of Grodno greatly honour the memory of their weightlifting legend; they plan to hold international competitions in memoriam Alexander Kurlovich each year in his hometown. Alongside with the widow, they will continue Kurlovich’s great humanitarian work of educating young athletes in all fields of sport and spreading the spirit of Olympism.

The dear memory of Alexander Kurlovich will remain with us forever.

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 35

› 2018 FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS TEXT: ANIKÓ NÉMETH-MÓRA PHOTO: HOOKGRIP & FISU

“EXCELLENCE IN MIND AND BODY”

N

ever a worse day to kick off the 2018 World University Championships in Weightlifting than on 20th September, the International Day of University Sport (IDUS)! The 6th edition of the FISU World Championships took place at the facilities of the Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Biala Podlaska, Poland. The hosts offered ideal conditions for the participants: competition, training, accommodation, meals – everything in a convenient and compact venue on the University campus.

As regards the number of participating athletes, it might have failed to meet the expectations, but we should be aware of two factors probably influencing the turnout.

For one: FISU has lowered the age limit of eligibility from 28 to 25 years, keeping some potential competitors at home. More importantly, however, it is obvious that the IWF’s strict anti-doping measures and the consistent implementation of the whereabouts submission rules have made an impact on the turnouts of several IWF Events recently – and the 2018 WUC was no exception.

Some athletes ignoring those regulations had to be declared ineligible, in the end leaving 77 women and 58 men from 26 countries. For the first time in a major international competition, the women outnumbered the male athletes!

48kg medal winners

36 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

Japan was the absolute winner of the first day, having swept the women’s 48kg, the men’s 56kg and 62kg categories. In the women’s 53kg first France celebrated a winner in snatch: RIGAUD Garance. In the clean and jerk, however, she faced a strong challenge from Mexico, USA and Great Britain. In the close fight that arose, the ultimate winner was FUENTES ZAVALA Susana from Mexico.

On Day 2, Poland celebrated their first gold medal and USA surged forward in the women’s 58kg. The snatch was dominated by home favourite DZIENIS Monika, but in the second part American BRAMWELL Kaija drew away from her opponents and scored a very convincing victory in clean and jerk and total.

We saw the same pattern in the men’s 69kg category; i.e.

Poland’s ROTNICKI Szymon was supreme in the snatch taking gold, yet his 6kg advantage over Chinese Taipei’s HUANG Ding-Chieh was not enough to keep him ahead all the way through to the end. HUANG overwhelmed with 155kg and won overall. The bronzes were picked up

by Canada’s DUMAS Alexandre.

CHINEN Hayato, JPN

› 2018 FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS

HUANG Dina-Chieh, TPE

FUENTES ZAVALA Susana, MEX

58kg podium

Women’s 63kg: CHARRON Maude, CAN, 2017 WWC snatch silver medallist and Commonwealth champion took the snatch gold medal and continued dominating in clean and jerk. After all athletes had finished their act – including snatch bomber GANZORIG Anuujin, MGL taking the C&J silver, and Australian ELLIOTT Kiana, silver in total – she appeared for 120-124-127kg in a one-woman show and collected all honours. The Canadian’s result is 24kg more than the next best’s.

Men’s 77kg: In a big fight and suspenseful competition, Serbian competitor ROZSNYIK Ervin emerged as the winner of the snatch (139kg). In clean and jerk with steady lifting and superb tactics he managed to keep his advantage of 6 kilograms until the moment when two lifts were left for Japanese HARA Yuki to beat ROZSNYIK. Eventually, both of HARA’s efforts remained unsuccessful landing him in the silver medallist position behind the Serbian, while VACHON Nicolas, Canada took the bronze.

USA and Japan shared the gold medals in the women’s 69kg, with the former taking two of them thanks to BREMNER Aria (204kg).

Japanese ISHII Miku, winner in snatch, had to settle for the runnerup place with her 203kg overall. Two bronzes went to Canada, while HERTLOVA from CZE also pinched one silver medal in snatch.

CHARRON Maude, CAN

ROZSNYIK Ervin, SRB

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 37

› 2018 FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS 85kg, men – Korean YEOM Dahoon and Canadian BELLEMARRE Alex, by now a regular WUC competitor, had their own special duel for the top positions, however, the big rivalry that drove the audience into excitement was running for the third positions and down. Ultimately, the Canadian surprised by failing in all his clean and jerk attempts and having to cede two gold medals to YEOM Dahoon, son of Professor YEOM Dong-Chul, President of the Korean University Weightlifting Federation.

Women’s 75kg – With JAEGGI Nora, Switzerland clinched a medal in snatch and another one in total in a very close competition. University World Champion in this category is CHEN En-Tzu from TPE and the silvers were won by FEYOVA Karin, SVK. Men’s 94kg – CHEN Po-Jen from Chinese Taipei stood out from the field and fought his lonely battle with the barbell after all the other medals had found their winners.

In clean and jerk he first frightened his team by missing the opening 185kg, while BOONLANG Weeraphat, THA challenged him with 186kg, a weight the Thai finally could not even clean. Triple crown already on his head, CHEN lifted 191kg for an overwhelming win in total as well.

The heavyweights got into action on the final day of the 2018 WUC. USA, Austria and Germany vied for the top positions in the men’s 105kg and shared the snatch medals. KOCH Florian from Austria was best in snatch, but in clean and jerk LIN Sheng-Lun from TPE rose to prominence. However, the overall best turned out to be GUNTHER Bjorn, Germany.

In the women’s 90kg Tom GOEGEBUER’s lifter, European Championship silver medallist VANBELLINGHEN Anna represented Belgium, won hands down, and added 3 WUC gold medals to her new collection.

Women’s +90kg – 2017 Universiade 4th Korean KO A-Rang and 2016 WUC 3rd Mexican BUENO PLACENCIA Gladis G. were fighting for the gold medals. Since the Korean was better on both lifts, finishing with 239kg in total, she won all the three gold medals ahead of BUENO. The men’s superheavies were last to board the platform.

Serbia’s KAJDOCI Tamas came out last but in snatch he received strong competition from HSIEH Yun-Ting, TPE who captured the gold for his 170kg, four kilograms over the Serbian’s. Excitement rose in clean and jerk where KAJDOCI met his match again, this time in NONAKA Masahiro, Japan. Their chase ended with the Serbian tackling 222kg successfully for a 388kg winning total.

The 2018 WUC was an excellent demonstration for the slogan of the FISU ‘Excellence in Mind and Body’. As FISU Technical Delegate for Weightlifting, I am happy and proud to have had another successful World University Championships like this one in Biala Podlaska.

All participants had a great time and enjoyed perfect competing, lodging and catering conditions. Last but not least, we must be grateful to the hosting University and AZS, but first of all to Dr. Paulina SZYSZKA, for the faultless organisation and traditional warm Polish hospitality.

38 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

YEOM Dahoon, KOR

KAJDOCI Tamas, SRB

VANBELLINGHEN Anna, BEL

› 2018 FISU WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS MEN

WOMEN

56 KG

48 KG 1 SUZUKI RIRA

06.09.1998

JPN

45.76

68

93

161

1 CHINEN HAYATO

03.09.1996

2 RESTREPO VERONICA A.

16.07.1999

USA

47.25

70

87

157

2 KUBO KAITO

144

3 KIM SEUNGHWAN

3 IRAMINA RIE

21.01.1999

JPN

47.95

60

84

1 FUENTES ZAVALA SUSANA P.

22.08.1994

MEX

52.50

74

98

172

2 GRANTOM MEGAN KAY

20.01.1995

USA

53.00

75

93

168

3 RIGAUD GARANCE

12.11.1999

FRA

52.45

75

91

166

58 KG 14.07.1997

USA

58.00

85 104

189

2 DZIENIS MONIKA

01.06.1994

POL

57.55

86

96

182

3 MAKARA AKARI

05.12.1996

JPN

57.40

79

99

178

63 KG 1 CHARRON MAUDE G

28.04.1993

CAN

62.30

99 127

226

2 ELLIOTT KIANA ROSE

27.07.1997

AUS

62.25

93 109

202

3 CHEN WEN-HUEI

23.02.1997

TPE

62.55

92 106

198

69 KG 1 BREMNER ARIA KELLYN

04.03.1994

USA

68.45

88 116

204

2 ISHII MIKU

30.03.1998

JPN

68.35

90 113

203

3 ROUX MAGALIE

25.01.1999

CAN

67.45

87 109

196

75 KG 1 CHEN EN-TZU

55.35 101 128

229

24.01.1999

JPN

55.65 100 125

225

04.01.1999

KOR

55.90 105 119

224

1 MASHIKO HIROYUKI

08.10.1997

JPN

61.70 114 145

259

2 CHIANG NIEN-EN

19.02.2000

TPE

60.90 113 140

253

1 HUANG DING-CHIEH

20.03.1994

TPE

68.30 118 155

273

2 ROTNICKI SZYMON

05.05.1996

POL

68.15 124 143

267

3 DUMAS ALEXANDRE

24.06.1994

CAN

68.05 114 145

259

1 ROZSNYIK ERVIN

22.05.1993

SRB

76.55 139 170

309

2 HARA YUKI

12.05.1997

JPN

76.85 135 168

303

3 VACHON NICOLAS

05.07.1996

CAN

76.60 133 167

300

1 YEOM DAHOON

31.03.1999

KOR

84.90 155 176

331

2 SOWA MATEUSZ

01.11.1996

POL

84.55 141 168

309

3 RODRIGUEZ OCASIO C. A.

14.07.1993

USA

83.65 140 167

307

1 CHEN PO-JEN

11.05.1998

TPE

93.45 160 191

351

2 BOONLANG WEERAPHAT

23.03.1997

THA

93.20 145 178

323

3 SOWKA SZYMON

13.08.1996

POL

93.15 140 175

315

1 GUNTHER BJORN

04.06.1996

GER 103.20 157 181

338

2 MC CARTY MATTHEW SCOTT

23.06.1995

USA 104.70 152 183

335

3 LIN SHENG-LUN

22.01.2000

TPE 104.90 147 186

333

1 KAJDOCI TAMAS

21.04.1997

SRB 140.80 166 222

388

2 NONAKA MASAHIRO

17.07.1996

JPN 146.60 165 217

382

3 HSIEH YUN-TING

08.08.1999

TPE 125.80 170 200

370

62 KG

53 KG

1 BRAMWELL KAIJA F.

JPN

12.11.1999

TPE

74.40

93 115

208

2 FREYOVA KARIN

21.04.1995

SVK

72.50

92 113

205

3 JAEGGI NORA

16.04.1995

SUI

72.60

91 112

203

90 KG 1 VANBELLINGHEN ANNA

10.03.1994

BEL

83.10 101 117

218

2 PAN LI-CHEN

29.12.1997

TPE

90.00

91 113

204

3 TANG WAN-SIOU

28.07.1995

TPE

88.95

93 110

203

+90 KG 1 KO A-RANG

16.08.1997

KOR 121.30 107 132

239

2 BUENO PLACENCIA G. G.

12.04.1994

MEX 117.50 103 125

228

3 AWANO CHIKAKO

30.09.1997

JPN

219

Technical Officials in Biala Podlaska

98.15

97 122

69 KG

77 KG

85 KG

94 KG

105 KG

+105 KG

› 2018 AFRICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS TEXT: : RAVI BHOLLAH & TÍMEA HORVÁTH

MAURITIUS WELCOMES AFRICA

T

he 2018 African Senior Weightlifting Championships (28th Men & 17th Women) took place on the 10-17 August 2018 at the Pointe Jerome Youth Centre, Mahébourg.

Mahébourg is a small city on the southeastern coast of the island of Mauritius with a population of approximately 16,000. It is considered as the capital of the Grand Port District. It reflects a medieval appearance and is beautifully framed by the dramatic Lion Mountain. The major occupation of the villagers is fishing. The town is famous for its market.

After a dramatic cut (over 40%) in the expected participation as a result of the IWF’s strict antidoping policy on whereabouts submission, finally 31 men and 18 women remained eligible.

Let us tell some of the highlights of the Championships: In the women’s contests, in 58kg Junior lifter LANGHOUATI Fatima Zohra from Algeria added 3 senior gold medals to her already remarkable collection of medals at the African level.

Host Mauritius celebrated winners in 53kg, 63kg and 75kg categories. Of these winners RANAIVOSOA Marie Hanitra definitely stands out with her 80100=180kg in the 53kg category. In 69kg, PRETORIUS Mona, RSA finally won her very first gold medal at an African Championships at the age of 30. Egypt’s ABBAS Halima Abdelazim won the +90kg with 263kg in total and became the best female lifter of the Championships.

PRETORIUS Mona, RSA

Athletes and officials from Mauritius: Poorun Bhollah, President, Khelwin Juboo, Ravi Bhollah, coach, Alvin Jooron, athlete

40 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

› 2018 AFRICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

BIDANI Walid, ALG

The men’s fields represented a higher level on the average, chiefly because of the presence of Tunisian, Algerian and Egyptian squads. In the first class of 56kg the hosts celebrated AMDRIAITISTOUATMA Eric as their winner with 232kg, whose success was continued in 62kg by CORET Marc Jonathan (241kg). Tunisian BEN HNIA Karem compensated his Anaheim bombing by a third consecutive African Champion title in 69kg. In 77kg, Egyptian ELSAYED Ahmed’s victory by a very large margin was no surprise. One of the most experienced lifters of the championships, BAHLOUL Ramzi, TUN won gold after bombing out last year in the clean and jerk during the African Champs last year also held in Mauritius.

Egyptian lifters dominated the previous categories of the championships and in 105kg RAMKH Ahmed Tolba was not willing to spoil the show. Ahmed won the 3 gold medals and completed a clean sweep of gold medals by Egyptian athletes (Total 12 Gold Medals won by Egyptian Athletes). BIDANI Walid from Algeria wound up the Championships with 180+210=390kg and triple victory in the +105kg.

ABBAS Halima, EGY

BEN HNIA Karem, TUN

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 41

› 2018 IWF MASTERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP - BARCELONA, ESP TEXT: DENISE OFFERMANN, IWF MASTERS CHAIRWOMAN

GIGANTIC FIELDS LIFT ON OLYMPIC PLATFORM

2

018 has presented the biggest challenge ever for the IWF Masters. We had to organize the 2018 IWF Masters World Championship in L’Hospitalet/Barcelona, together with the Spanish host, Francisco Garcia Rodriguez.

The IWF Masters had to make the toughest decision when the number of registered athletes reached 850 entries (475 men + 385 women), the registration had to be stopped, one week before the original deadline, for fear of not being able to provide enough IWF Technical Officials to the competitions.

With a record number of 385 women entries, Francisco decided to add a second competition platform and for that he brought in the competition platform of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games (!) Finally, we ran a 9-days’ event on 2 competition platforms for the very first time, from early morning to late evening in a sequence of men and women sessions.

Technical officials from all over the world supported this championship immensely. The venue set up

Great hospitality by the Spanish hosts

42 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

was built up to the highest standard with 14 warmup platforms. IWF Masters Liaison Matyas Lencser came for 3 days to give great support especially at the Congress of Nations. IWF Medical Committee member Mark Lavallee was once again in full operation mode with his team by our side to provide professional medical help at all times.

What made our extraordinary efforts indeed worthwhile was the great feedback we were receiving constantly. Many athletes travelled with their families to combine a great championship with great summer holidays in Spain. We must thank the hosts for their wonderful hospitality as well.

Next year we look forward to introducing new bodyweight categories, a new Qualifying system ensuring a balanced number of entries for each nation so that the entries in total shall not exceed 700 in future IWF Masters Championships.

The 2019 MWC will be held in Montreal, Canada from 16 – 24 August.

Warm-up fully equipped

IWF Masters Congress of Nations

Competitions on two platforms

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 43

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WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 45

› WOMEN’S PAGE TEXT: LILLA ROZGONYI

WOMEN BEHIND THE SCENES

INTERVIEW WITH ZUKHRA ABDULLAEVA WW: Is it difficult to organize IWF World Junior Championships?

ZA.: It’s perhaps more difficult to answer this question. In general, organizing such a high-ranking event is a great honour for any country. But only when you actually conduct such a sporting event will you understand the huge responsibility. The first time Uzbekistan hosted a prestigious international weightlifting event was in 2005: the Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships. 8 years later, our country was chosen to host the IWF World Youth Championships in 2013. From 2005 to 2013, we carried out 5 major Asian competitions. We are a big team, dedicated to our work, under the leadership of the Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the National Olympic Committee and Uzbekistan Weightlifting Federation, and with the permanent guidance of the International Weightlifting Federation. The latter generously supports our sport manifesting especially in the results of our national weightlifters who have become world class athletes.

In 2018, we undertook to hold a really large-scale event – the IWF World Junior Championships – on relatively short notice. In the end, the organization was highly appreciated. Now, we can say with certainty that we are ready to take on the IWF World Senior Championships; we have the prerequisites and accumulated experience.

WW: What was your role in organizing this important event?

ZA.: I am Sport Director of the Uzbekistan Weightlifting Federation, as well as the head of the International Department. Thus my work includes cooperation with the International and Asian Weightlifting Federations, as well as the national and regional federations.

My main duties include organizing trips for our national team to international competitions and ensuring the participation of representatives of the Uzbekistan Weightlifting Federation at the IWF and AWF Congresses and Executive Board meetings. When international competitions are held in our country, the task of our department includes meeting and hosting foreign guests, recording competition schedule, designing the hall, working with the press and television etc. In addition, I am an international category one Technical Official. I had the opportunity to judge competitions such as the Rio 2016 Olympics and many World and Asian Championships .I am also an announcer at major international competitions, like just recently the Asian Games in Jakarta.

WW: What difficulties did you encounter during the competition and how did you solve this issue?

ZA.: I am never afraid of difficulties in life and always try to find a way out of any situation. Since the beginning of this year, we have been preparing parallel for two major competitions: April 20 to 30 the 2018 Asian Qualification Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Urgench, where about 420 people participated. At the same time, we had to get ready for July 7 to 14, 2018 the IWF Junior World Championship in Tashkent, welcoming 550 participants.

It seems that we managed both to satisfaction… But speaking of difficulties, for example, on the first day of the competition Thailand won the first gold medal to be awarded by the President of the IWF, however due to technical errors the anthem couldn’t be played. It was an awkward moment 46 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

and I had to solve this problem urgently. Within a few seconds, I remembered to use my mobile phone and the YouTube application to find and play the national the anthem of Thailand. The problem was solved.

“I AM NEVER AFRAID OF DIFFICULTIES IN LIFE AND ALWAYS TRY TO FIND A WAY OUT OF ANY SITUATION. ” WW: How long have you been involved in weightlifting?

ZA.: I came on board in 2005 as a student at the Uzbek State World Languages University when we were sent as translators and volunteers to practice English at the above mentioned competitions. Before that, I had nothing to do with sports. I began to translate the negotiations at official meetings, and then I was invited as an announcer at the Asian Championships. I was very excited and I felt I was made to be a professional presenter. Ever since, they keep inviting me as a speaker and I enjoy my work tremendously. Since then, I graduated from the Uzbek State University of Physical Culture and Sports and I am a licensed coach as well: I have been absorbed by weightlifting…

WW: Your best memories?

ZA.: In 2010, at the International Arnold Classic tournament which was held in Ohio, USA, I was fortunate enough to meet Arnold Schwarzenegger. We not only met but worked together in the same team as referees of this tournament. One of the greatest memories in my life is also the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as a referee. I became the first female from our country to be TO in weightlifting at the Olympic Games. When our athlete Ruslan Nurudinov won a gold medal and set an Olympic record, I was centre referee, giving me both pride and joy. It will remain in my memory for a long time.

WW: What did you expect and how far did your dreams come true?

ZA.: I was born and grew up in the city of Nukus of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, which is located 1,200 kilometres away from the capital. I, like all my friends in my childhood, dreamed to travel all over the world. My dreams came true only because of weightlifting and my favourite work which I dedicate my life to. I’m infinitely happy. With confidence, I can say that the weightlifting world has given me more than I did. Today, I have a lot of friends from different countries. I repeat, I came to sports by chance, but it was a lucky chance, which is not given to everyone. And most importantly, I do not want to stop, but continue to achieve my goals.

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 47

› TECHNICAL CORNER TEXT: ATTILA ÁDÁMFI

NEW CATEGORIES - NEW RECORDS!

A

fter 20 years the IWF decided that it is high time to change the structure of weightlifting bodyweight categories and established a new set of categories for both genders. As of 1 November 2018 the men (seniors and juniors) shall compete in the following IWF bodyweight categories: 55kg, 61kg, 67kg, 73kg, 81kg, 89kg, 96kg, 102kg, 109kg, +109kg and the women in: 45kg, 49kg, 55kg, 59kg, 64kg, 71kg, 76kg, 81kg, 87kg, +87kg

The youth categories have been set accordingly. (See www.iwf.net) These new Technical Rules – with regard to their significance in the sport – were ratified by the IWF Congress in Tashkent.

Naturally, new categories demand new records, therefore the Sport Programme Commission’s Working Group elaborated a method to be applied in the establishment of new World and Olympic Records. Since the record figures have been scientifically created in a mathematical process, and do not represent the actual achievement of an athlete, it was agreed to call them World Standards until an athlete exceeds them by a minimum of 1 kg.

The methodology applied is the following: - The trendline of the current World / Olympic Records for both genders and age groups is drawn; - The point where the trendline meets the new bodyweight category is the reference figure for the new Standard; - The reference figure is decreased by a set percentage to provide a realistically reachable figure, also supporting marketing objectives; - Percentage (different for both gender and age groups) aligned to the average winning results of the last 3 IWF World Championships - * Women Records for the 7th (90kg – Senior/Junior, 75kg - Youth) bodyweight categories are not considered for the trendline as results clearly show that the athlete performance is not yet maximised; - ** Superheavy Records were made with higher bodyweight than the new highest bodyweight category (i.e. athletes’ bodyweight is the same), for this reason the actual Record is decreased by a set percentage; Percentages GENDER

SENIOR

JUNIOR

YOUTH

MEN

95%

90%

89%

WOMEN

92%

87%

85%

Example – Senior Men:

48 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

The Working Group agreed that the World Standards/Records should be reconsidered after 2020 and in the categories where World Standards still exist the highest athlete performance shall be considered as World Record.

WERK SAN Sport International

Weightlifting

The real power of athletes WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 49

RAISING THE BAR FOR 60 YEARS

50 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

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