WORLD No - Quomodof4.quomodo.com/B38A83CB/uploads/3020/IWF_140_lowres.pdf4 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING 2016 LIFTERS OF THE YEAR › 2016 LIFTERS OF THE YEAR TANASAN AND ROSTAMI VOTED TO

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL WEIGHTLIFTING FEDERATION

No.140

2016 WORLD RANKING LISTS

IWF President Dr. Tamás Aján with WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING’s Jenő Boskovics Lifter of the Year Trophy 2016” winners TANASAN Sopita, THA and ROSTAMI Kianoush, IRI

2017 YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

2017 EUROPEAN AND ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

PH

OTO

: JÓ

ZSEF

SZA

KA,

IWF

BEST OF 2016

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING / 1

CONTENTS No. 140

Published by International Weightlifting Federation

DR. TAMÁS AJÁNIWF President

IOC Honorary Member

MA WENGUANGIWF General Secretary

Editor-in-ChiefKORNÉL JANCSÓ

Senior EditorANIKÓ NÉMETH-MÓRA

Communication DirectorLILLA ROZGONYI

Photos JÓZSEF SZAKA

Art EditorCrazy Panda Studio

Graphic DesignMarcell Studio

(www.marcelltamas.hu)

Spanish & Russian EditionsDAVID COLON ARROYO

MARINA SHAFITÁGNES LUKÁCSFALVI

Printed by TypoNova (www.typonova.hu)

All communications:[email protected]

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 reproduces without

the written consent of the IWF, however, reference should be

made to this publication.

ISSN 0230-3035

02-03 | Foreword

04-07 | Lifters of the Year 2016 and 2015

08-17 | 2016 World Ranking Lists

18-29 | 2017 IWF Youth World Championships, Bangkok

30-36 | 2017 European Championships, Split

27-40 | 2017 Asian Championships, Ashgabat

41 | The 8th Women’s Category before the IOC

42 | Obituary: Imre Földi

44-45 | Women’s Page

46-47 | Technical Corner

2 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING

› FOREWORD

Dear Readers, Dear Friends

FOREWORD

Four years have passed since the 2013 Congressin Moscow and here we are again, at the end ofMay 2017, facing the most important manage-rial congregation of the IWF, the election of thesenior officers of the Federation.

This time, Thailand will host this prestigious event inBangkok. We have just been there, a short while ago,to celebrate the annual edition of the IWF Youth WorldChampionships and we shall now return to the sameplace. That is, however, by no mere chance: the ThaiAmateur Weightlifting Association (TAWA) is one of theworld’s most active national federations conducted bytwo persons none less important than IWF Vice Presi-dent Major General Intarat Yodbangtoey and his wife, thePresident of TAWA, Mrs. Boossaba Yodbangtoey. Thiscouple has done an amazing job in Thailand’s weightlift-ing. Thanks to them, the country boasts Olympicand world champions and a huge talent pool in all agegroups. Madam Boossaba is like a mother to all weight-lifters and has an attachment to each of them. I am gladthat Bangkok will host our Electoral Congress and I amglad that two people like them are main contributors toour sport.Now, let us speak of the elections! The IWF has comea long way, it has covered a remarkable path in the lastthirty-forty years. We started from an awfully low leveland have reached today’s top notch standard. Hugeprogress has been recorded and I have been lucky tobe part of this change. The IWF today is one of the mostrecognised organisations of international sport and theOlympic Movement. Not only is weightlifting a core sporton the Olympic Games’ program, but the IWF activitiesare universally praised as exemplary from the points ofview of good governance, management, finances, anti-doping control, administration and a number of otheraspects. In these achievements a significant role hasbeen assigned to my immediate colleagues, the staff at

the IWF offices, who work at top level and with a highdegree of dedication. Our Federation can boast an ef-ficient, well-structured Secretariat whose members areall professionals and experts in their own relevant jobs.The fact that we now have seven candidates to the Presi-dent’s and six to the General Secretary’s position andaltogether 119 candidates are running in the race for thedifferent officers’ posts demonstrates the wide recogni-tion of the sport. It is natural for people that they like tobe where everything works well. To give you an example:nobody wants to be the captain on a sinking boat; butit is good to work on a luxury ship cruising the world,which is lavishly outfitted, boasts an efficient system andup-to-the standard facilities.

Dr. Tamás Aján with Mrs. and Mr. Yodbangtoey


DR. TAMÁS AJÁNIWF PRESIDENT

That is how I could describe the IWF today: a well-organised, efficient Federation – and we made it like that. It is perfectly humane and normal to have the ambition to get promoted to a higher level, be part of the decision-making process. On the other hand, it is less acceptable if someone wants to fill a position ‘per se’, just for the rank itself, and is not attracted by the task, the job concerned. I believe in work and I support anyone wanting to get a higher position while being ready to do the hard work that comes with it.Nowadays sport is a gigantic industry where large monies are at stake. At the same time, it is a huge at-traction and demands more and more skilled profes-sionals. From this aspect the IWF – if only on its mod-est scale – keeps the pace, but new challenges keep arising and you must be ready to meet them not year by year but day by day, hour by hour. The fact that we have been ranked in a higher, more favourable group regarding the Olympic revenues is the feedback that we are able to fulfil these very tough conditions as well. The elec-tion is a challenge, too. It is a challenge for all and for me as well. But I am convinced that one must take it in a fair way. I want to underline: this is not a war –certain candidates see it that way – but a fair competition. I am a sportsman and keep Fair Play on my mind as a priority – while my level of adrenalin is naturally also rising. I confirm that I am running for President of the

IWF. I have submitted my candidature because I want to keep on serving the Federation and weightlifting. I have a lot of ideas and projects that I could and would like to realize – with your support – in every field of activity. For instance in management, governance, financial support to the sport. The doping controls, the fight for a clean weightlifting must be continued but it is impor-tant to realize that what happened was not by fault of the IWF! In the anti-doping battle the IWF is a good example, referred to as such by WADA, IOC. I want to pursue the battle on the same grounds at an ever-in-creasing standard. There are many other opportunities for development, e.g. in the World Cup or Grand Prix series. We need a more concentrated ‘star-producing’ program, because the sport does not exist without stars and we must help promoting them. I hope I shall be surrounded by colleagues in the leading bodies who are ready to support the ideas needed to further elevate weightlifting.Finally, I would like to say thanks to the IWF Executive Board, to the Committees but most importantly to the Member Federations for your support, because without your support we could not have come to where we are now.

Dr. Tamás Aján with Mrs. and Mr. Yodbangtoey

IWF Executive Board


2016 LIFTERS OF THE YEAR

› 2016 LIFTERS OF THE YEAR

TANASAN AND ROSTAMI VOTED TO RECEIVE THE ‘JENŐ BOSKOVICS’ TROPHY

TEXT: KORNÉL JANCSÓ & ANIKÓ NÉMETH-MÓRA

An unprecedented number of ballots – nearly 38,000(!) – was cast on the IWF website in the traditional annual voting for the ‘2016 Lifter of the Year’ titles in both genders. WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING – since the inauguration of the election of the Lifter of the Year in 1982 for men and 1991 for women – has never seen such interest. Thank you! For both genders Olympic champions were elected.

Among the ladies TANASAN Sopita (Thailand) became the winner with a good 1,200 votes ahead of the second best DENG Wei (China) and 2015 best HSU SHU-Ching (Chinese Taipei). A mere 55 votes decided between the latter two.

As Best Lifter in 2016 among men the most ballots were cast on ROSTAMI Kianoush (Iran) who drew an overwhelming 20,000 plus votes, three times more than runner up TALAKHADZE Lasha (Georgia). In third place RAHIMOV Nijat (Kazakhstan) landed with significantly less votes.

Sopita Tanasan, Kianoush Rostami with WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING Editor-in-Chief Kornél Jancsó


WW: How do you feel about being voted the best female Lifter of the Year 2016? How was it to receive this Award?ST: I’m so proud of being voted and really much thankful for every vote sent for me. I feel all my hard work being rewarded with this amazing award.

WW: Were you expecting such recognition? How does your family feel about your career and achievements? Can you tell us more about you and your family?ST: Please believe me that I didn’t expect it because I was sure there were many good lifters around much greater and better than me. But now my family is definitely very proud of me. In my family I have my dearest mother and younger sister; my father passed away many years ago.

WW: Did you expect to win the gold medal at the Rio Olympic Games? Has your life changed since you became Olympic Cham-pion?ST: I didn’t expect to be the gold medallist in the Rio Olympic Games. At that time I was only aware of doing my best and making it happen for my beloved country in the Olympic Games. Of course, ever since Rio my life has changed a lot – to the better. And not only for me but also for my family, what makes me really happy and grateful. I am happy to be much more well-known; I feel almost like a sport idol for youngsters in Thailand.After Rio I couldn’t rest for long, because I had to realize that I am now a public figure of Thais and it included a lot of shows and interviews. Fortunately, lately this has lessened a bit so I could get back to practice step by step, according to my head coach’s advice.

WW: What is your next competition? What about Tokyo 2020? Can you defend your title? ST: It will be up to my federation and the coaches to decide about any future competitions. My task is to train and be ready anyhow. So, I don’t know and Tokyo is too far ahead for me to think about it. But if I am lucky to be there, I will do my best.

SOPITA TANASAN, THAILANDBEST WOMAN LIFTER OF 2016:

› INTERVIEW

Sopita Tanasan, THA

• Born: 23 December 1994• 2011 to 2015 she participated in 53kg, at the 2016 Olympic Games in 48kg• Asian junior champion: 2012, 2013, 2014• Junior World Championships medals: 2012 silver, 2013 bronze, 2014 silver• World Championships: 2013 silver medal, 2014 and 2014 4th place• Olympic Games: 2016 Rio gold medal in 48kg – 200kg (92, 108)


WW: We have seen you on stage but please tell us more about you offstage, about your origins, your family and your first steps in the sport.KR: My family lives in Kermanshah (525km from Tehran to the West). My dad is a retired policeman and we have quite a big fam-ily: we are 4 sisters and 4 brothers, of which I am the youngest. I was 10 years old and my brother was a good lifter and a good coach, and I looked up on him as my idol. He taught me how to use my body. Our city is built on the slopes of a mountain and many

times I had to run up and down, up and down and if I did well he rewarded me. First I started with water polo and gymnastics – I even got medals in this sport. But later I was attracted to weight-lifting and stayed there.

WW: Did you dream of the Olympic medal right away? KR: You see it is funny, because now that I have two of the Olympic gold medals, I set a new goal. I want to win gold medal – not in three, but in four Olympic Games! I get a lot of support from the public. I have 125,000 followers on Istagram and about 1,820,000 people have visited my page.

WW: We understand that you have quite a peculiar way of train-ing and competing. KR: I have this capability and habit to drain the knowledge from everybody and use it to my own benefit. I can say that I know everything about the weightlifting sport and especially I know what works for me. For instance, I don’t do the 4-times-a-day routine like they usually do in the Iranian team. That’s killing! I do quite

light training, maximum 220kg in back squat, for instance. But when I am in competition, I only have one focus and that’s on the lifting. I went to Rio without a coach. Everybody said it was impos-sible but I did it. Usually I train without a coach, but I have friends. Good friends.

WW: What do you think of the new rule, we mean that body-weight doesn’t give you advantage anymore?KR: It’s good but it’s also very hard. But weightlifting is hard, so the competition must also be hard.

KIANOUSH ROSTAMI, IRANBEST MALE LIFTER OF 2016:

› INTERVIEW

Kianoush Rostami, IRI

• Born: 23 July 1991• Junior world champion in 77kg first time in 2010, then continued in 85kg• Junior World Championships: gold medals in 2010 and 2011• World Championships: gold in 2011 and 2014, silver in 2015• Asian Championships: silver in 2011 and 2012• Asian Games: silver in 2014• Olympic Games: 2012 in 85kg silver medal with 380kg; 2016 gold medal in 85kg with 396kg• World records: several, currently holder of the record in clean and jerk (220kg) and total (396kg)

“WEIGHTLIFTING IS HARD. THE COMPETITION MUST

ALSO BE HARD.”


WW: When you were a young girl, did you start with the weights right away?HSC: Oh no, I was playing basketball but when I was about 13 years old at the Lu-Bai Junior High School, Wu Mei-Yi saw me and thought that I had good balance, so I was suggested to go to weightlifting. Not that I’ve ever regretted this move… WW: Have you had many coaches since? Who is training you now and where?HSC: I’ve had four coaches in all, including my present one, Mr. Tsai Wen-Yi. Actually, I am training at the National Training Centre in Kaoshiung, while pursuing my academic studies. I already have a Bachelor Degree and now I am studying for a PhD at the National Sports University. Actually, my Professor does the curtesy of moving to Kaoshiung to teach me…WW: You have two Olympic titles and won countless major com-petitions. What is your secret?HSC: It’s nothing special: you must concentrate on the sport; go

for it and never give up! Nothing, even an injury should ever stop you. My role model is Liu Chunhong of China. WW: Do you have a boyfriend? Any hobbies? How do you relax?HSC: The barbell is my boyfriend… But seriously: as long as I com-pete I devote myself 100% to the sport – and studying, of course. My hobby is catching shrimps and sometimes I play basketball, the old love. WW: What’s your next target? Any plans reaching to 2020?HSC: I want to excel here, in Taipei in August, at the Universi-ade. That’s my priority for 2017 and I don’t know about the World Championships yet – let alone about Tokyo. Maybe…

INTERVIEW WITH HSU SHU-CHING, 2015 LIFTER OF THE YEAR

› 2016 LIFTERS OF THE YEAR

“THE BARBELL IS MY BOYFRIEND…”

TEXT: TEXT: ANIKÓ NÉMETH-MÓRA, SENIOR EDITOR

Early last year, as usual, our Readers and the world’s weightlifting fans voted as usual for the recipient of the annual “Jenő Boskovics Lifter of the Year Trophy”, and for 2015 HSU SHU-CHING of Chinese Taipei received the most votes among the women. Then, during the year, various technical obstacles arose preventing the due presentation of the crystal barbell to its merited winner. Finally, the Universiade Test Event held in Taipei early this year provided an ex-cellent opportunity to present the Trophy to the outstanding Taiwanese who had meanwhile become double Olympic

Champion. IWF Honorary Vice President Chang Chao-Kuo and myself, WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING’s Senior Editor Aniko Nemeth-Mora handed over the prestigious prize to HSU. I took the chance of asking her a few questions.pionships, in the presence of the top dignitaries of the IWF, TAWA and the Editorial Board of WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING.

Hsu Shu-Ching: Best Lifter of 2015

Hsu Shu-Ching was awarded the Jenő Boskovics Trophy by Senior Editor Anikó Németh-Móra in the presence of Mr. Chang Chao-Kuo, IWF Honorary Vice President, Mrs. Chang, CTWA President and her coach


› WORLD RANKING LISTS - 2016

The highlight of last year, the Olympic Games in Rio, left its strongest mark on the 2016 World Ranking Lists for both men’s and women’s weightlifting. So pivotal was this impact that hardly any result other than Olympic was able to rank its owner in either one of the top three positions. The Rio domination was especially prevalent in the male fields: Olym-pians reserved 22 out of the 24 podium positions of the eight categories, leaving only two third places to other major event participants. In particular, an outstanding total achieved at the Junior World Championships in Tbilisi and another

one scored at the European Championships in Forde positioned their achievers as virtual “bronze medallists” in the ranking. In the women, Rio de Janeiro’s dominance was slightly less overwhelming with just one category having a non-Rio ranking leader: the best of 53kg was the Asian champion of 2016, who triumphed in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). Six of the runner-up or third positions were attained through performances prior to the Olympic Games. As for the nationality breakdown of the world ranking leaders, China was the most successful nation in both genders. Among the men, Chinese lifters took the pole position in three bodyweight catego-ries – of which in the 77kg tying with Kazakhstan - , while in the women China had four top-ranked athletes. Iran was second best represented among the men with two world’s bests; whereas in the female categories Thailand was most successful behind China with their two pole positions. DPR Korea completes the countries’ roster. Remarkably, a junior-aged lifter was able to make it to the top ranks: in the men’s 105kg Armenian MARTIROSYAN Simon, born in 1997, junior European champion of 2016, ranked second best. A last statistical curio: our magazine, WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING is publishing its 38 th World Ranking List for men and its 31st for women. By this summary we wish to looks back on the year left behind and make a retrospective assessment of its performanc-es. We must note that we considered the 2-lifters- per-nation- per-category ranking lists for our article.

OLYMPIC GOLD NEEDED IN MOST CATEGORIES FOR A POLE POSITION

TEXT: KORNÉL JANCSÓ, EDITOR IN CHIEF

Formerly dominating the category, in 2016 Chinese TAN Yayun finally met someone even stronger than her. TANASAN Sopita of Thailand was the one defeating the former champion and ranking leader. TANASAN did not only become the category’s best

but was also elected “2016 Lifter of the Year” in the voting of WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING. In August, 20-year old TANASAN took the Olympic gold in the lightest category with a total of 200kg and this result promoted her into the pole position of the world classification. In the years before, TAN Yayun had sored winning results below 200kg when sweeping the 2013 or the 2014 world championships, or even the 2016 Asian Championships, whereas the Thai woman (in the higher category of 53kg) had registered totals like 208kg in 2014 or 210kg in 2015. For the sake of Rio she slimmed down to fit into 48kg and the reward came all right: Olympic gold with 200kg. TAN is second best in 48kg with her Asian Champion-ships result of 198kg, and the world ranking “bronze” was earned by Asian runner-up PRK lifter RYANG Chun Hwa.

48KG – TANASAN PRECEDING TAN

TANASAN Sopita – THA

WORLD RANKING LISTS - 2016


› WORLD RANKING LISTS - 2016 - WOMEN

1 TANASAN SOPITA 23.12.1994 THA 47.91 92 108 200 RIO 08.2016

2 TAN YAYUN 18.11.1992 CHN 47.55 88 110 198 TASHKENT 04.2016

3 RYANG CHUN HWA 12.06.1991 PRK 47.75 85 111 196 TASHKENT 04.2016

4 KHAMSRI PANIDA 13.01.1989 THA 47.45 84 110 194 TASHKENT 04.2016

5 JIANG HUIHUA 22.01.1998 CHN 47.16 86 107 193 TBILISI 06.2016

6 AGUSTIANI SRI W. 13.08.1994 INA 47.25 85 107 192 RIO 08.2016

NGUYEN THI THUY 23.08.1990 VIE 47.75 82 110 192 TASHKENT 04.2016

8 CHEN WEI-LING 04.01.1982 TPE 47.20 85 106 191 TASHKENT 04.2016

9 MIRABAI CHANU S. 08.08.1994 IND 47.55 84 106 190 TASHKENT 04.2016

10 MIYAKE HIROMI 18.11.1985 JPN 47.95 81 107 188 RIO 08.2016

53KG – CHEN PUT AN END TO THE TIE

In 2015, Chinese CHEN Xiaoting and HSU Shu-Ching of Chinese Taipei had been unable to decide who was best and tied in the leading position with 221kg to both. In 2015 the situation changed: CHEN repeated the 221kg total winning the Asian

Championships in Tashkent but HSU could only lift 212kg at the Games. It is true that she did not need more to take the Olympic gold medal. HSU, by the way, made an encore, since she was the defending Olympic

champion from 2012 London; besides she was world champion in 2015, the year she was voted “Lifter of the Year” of WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING. She still owns the total world record, 233kg. In 2010 CHEN was world champion but two years ago she had to settle for a silver medal, defeated by HSU. Trailing the leading duo, in third place we find another Chinese, ZHANG Wangqiong, for her silver-medal winning 211kg at the continental championships in Tashkent.

1 CHEN XIAOTING 11.01.1991 CHN 52.70 96 125 221 TASHKENT 04.2016

2 HSU SHU-CHING 09.05.1991 TPE 52.60 100 112 212 RIO 08.2016

3 ZHANG WANQIONG 21.01.1994 CHN 52.50 95 116 211 TASHKENT 04.2016

4 IOVU CRISTINA 08.11.1992 ROU 52.56 90 120 210 FORDE 04.2016

5 DIAZ HIDILYN 20.02.1991 PHI 52.80 90 118 208 TASHKENT 04.2016

6 PAKKARATHA RATTANAPHON 14.06.1997 THA 52.65 88 115 203 TASHKENT 04.2016

7 PARATOVA IULIIA 07.11.1986 UKR 52.51 94 108 202 FORDE 04.2016

8 PIRON CANDELARIO B. E. 27.02.1995 DOM 49.80 91 108 199 CARTAGENA 06.2016

YOON JIN HEE 04.08.1986 KOR 52.59 88 111 199 RIO 08.2016

10 KOHA REBEKA 19.05.1998 LAT 52.19 90 108 198 FORDE 04.2016

CHEN Xiaoting – CHN

HSU Shu-Ching – TPE

TAN Yayun – CHN


› WORLD RANKING LISTS - 2016

58KG - SRISURAT: A FOURTH TURNS FIRST

Here is another category led by a Thai athlete: SRISURAT Sukanya (22). In 2014, bronze medallist of the world championships, she was merely fourth best of the year with 230kg to her credit, but in 2016 she produced

240kg, a total that gave her the Olympic laurels and at the same time the top position in the ranking. The category’s runner-up athlete, KUO Hsing-Chun (TPE) also had a promotion since 2013 when she was the world champion. KUO took bronze at the Rio Olympics, but earned her second best place in the annual ranking with her Asian-Championship winning result of 238kg. By the way, the athlete from Chinese Taipei had already been the ranking leader in her prime year 2013, when she was the absolute best in 58kg with an impressive 241kg total output. Third in 2016: Azerbaijan’s KOSTOVA

Boyanka Minkova, owing to her 235kg at the European Championships in Forde. – (KOSTOVA had been the category leader the year before in 2015 – with a world record of 252kg…)

1 SRISURAT SUKANYA 03.05.1995 THA 56.89 110 130 240 RIO 08.2016

2 KUO HSING-CHUN 26.11.1993 TPE 58.00 103 135 238 TASHKENT 04.2016

3 KOSTOVA BOYANKA M. 10.05.1993 AZE 57.41 105 130 235 FORDE 04.2016

4 ZHOU JUN 27.02.1995 CHN 57.40 103 130 233 TASHKENT 04.2016

5 SIRIKAEW PIMSIRI 25.04.1990 THA 57.40 102 130 232 RIO 08.2016

6 LI PING 15.09.1988 CHN 56.70 100 130 230 TASHKENT 04.2016

7 ALVAREZ CAICEDO YENNY F. 24.05.1995 COL 57.61 100 124 224 CARTAGENA 06.2016

8 ESCOBAR GUERRERO M. A. 17.07.1980 ECU 57.23 100 123 223 RIO 08.2016

9 ANDOH MIKIKO 30.09.1992 JPN 57.56 94 124 218 RIO 08.2016

RIVAS ORDONEZ LINA M. 24.04.1990 COL 57.79 99 119 218 CARTAGENA 06.2016


SRISURAT Sukanya – THA

KUO Hsing-Chun – TPE

CHOE Hyo Sim – PRK



63KG – DENG, THE ONLY WOMAN TO MAKE WORLD RECORD IN RIO LEADS

As opposed to the seven world records for men, two were scored for women at the Rio Olympic Games and we must thank both to DENG Wei of China. Like in 2015, DENG Wei dominated the 63kg and duly occupied

the place #1 for the second consecutive time. DENG, 24, was world’s best in the 58kg category earlier, besides winning Youth Olympic, junior and two senior world champion titles (the last one in 2015, with 259kg), and she produced unprecedented results in Rio in clean and jerk (147) and in Total (262). Next best in 2016 were the medallists of the Olympic Games: double bronze medal winner CHOE Hyo Sim (PRK) and two times world junior medallist GORICHEVA Karina (KAZ), with their 248 and 243kg results, respectively.

A fixture in the pole positions of the 69kg for recent years, Chinese XIANG Yanmei continued to dominate in 2016. Still merely 24 years old, this outstanding athlete came to Rio as double world champion

(2014 and 2015). At the Games she left no doubt about her superiority in the category. Her final result was 261kg, two kilograms more than the total achieved by ZHAPPARKUL Zhazira (KAZ), second both in Rio and in the ranking list. The year before, ZHAPPARKUL had been third in line with her 256kg and got a promotion in 2016. The third best ranked competitor, AHMED Sara Samir Elsayed Mohamed, made even more progress: she was upgraded from a previous seventh position. Egypt’s junior world champion fought successfully for a bronze medal at the Olympic Games registering 255kg.

1 DENG WEI 14.02.1993 CHN 62.34 115 147 262 RIO 08.2016

2 CHOE HYO SIM 05.12.1993 PRK 62.17 105 143 248 RIO 08.2016

3 GORICHEVA KARINA 08.04.1993 KAZ 62.66 111 132 243 RIO 08.2016

4 RIM UN SIM 05.07.1996 PRK 62.66 105 135 240 TBILISI 06.2016

5 GULNOI SIRIPUCH 17.07.1993 THA 60.60 103 131 234 TASHKENT 04.2016

PEREZ TIGRERO M. I. 07.08.1987 COL 62.74 104 130 234 RIO 08.2016

7 GURROLA ORTIZ EVA A. 17.05.1994 MEX 62.85 98 125 223 CARTAGENA 06.2016

HUANG TING 16.01.1999 CHN 62.88 98 125 223 TOKYO 11.2016

9 KHLESTKINA NATALIA 23.04.1992 RUS 60.75 99 123 222 FORDE 04.2016

TOMA LOREDANA-E. 10.05.1995 ROU 62.70 102 120 222 DOHA 12.2016

1 XIANG YANMEI 13.06.1992 CHN 68.78 116 145 261 RIO 08.2016

2 ZHAPPARKUL ZHAZIRA 22.12.1993 KAZ 69.00 115 144 259 RIO 08.2016

3 AHMED SARA SAMIR E. M. 01.01.1998 EGY 68.00 112 143 255 RIO 08.2016

4 SOLIS ARBOLEDA L. Y. 17.02.1990 COL 68.61 110 143 253 RIO 08.2016

5 ZHANG WANGLI 27.05.1996 CHN 66.25 110 135 245 TASHKENT 04.2016

6 AVDALYAN NAZIK 31.10.1986 ARM 68.55 107 135 242 RIO 08.2016

7 ROGERS MARTHA ANN 23.08.1995 USA 68.19 106 133 239 CARTAGENA 06.2016

8 PACHABUT DARYA 31.12.1994 BLR 66.88 105 132 237 RIO 08.2016

DAJOMES BARRERA N. P. 12.05.1998 ECU 68.83 107 130 237 RIO 08.2016

BEAUCHEMIN-NADEAU M.-E. 13.10.1988 CAN 68.90 103 134 237 CARTAGENA 06.2016

MUNKHJANTSAN A. 25.12.1997 MGL 68.97 106 131 237 RIO 08.2016

69KG – XIANG MEANS CONTINUITY

DENG Wei – CHN

XIANG Yanmei – CHN


75KG – RIM PROMOTED FROM RUNNER-UP TO FIRST


By now two-times Olympic champion – London, 69kg and Rio, 75kg – North Korean RIM Jong Sim took the honours in the field of 75kg. Second best in the previous year, 24-year old RIM made a serious 274kg total in Brazil’s

metropolis and although she had registered higher re-sults before (e.g. 276kg for a bronze in 2014 or 280kg for a silver in 2015), this output was just sufficient for her to secure the pole position in the annual classification. Moreover, her result at the Olympic Games outclassed 2016 second best DEKHA Iryna’s 260kg by 14 kilograms, a result the Ukrainian won the Junior European Cham-pionships in Israel with. Third best was Olympic silver medallist NAUMAVA Darya of Belarus. It should be mentioned that Spain’s superstar lifter,

VALENTIN PEREZ Lidia, Olympic bronze medallist, oc-cupies the fourth position in the world ranking of 2016 with her 257kg product.

1 RIM JONG SIM 05.02.1993 PRK 74.47 121 153 274 RIO 08.2016

2 DEKHA IRYNA 14.05.1996 UKR 74.48 119 141 260 EILAT 12.2016

3 NAUMAVA DARYA 26.08.1995 BLR 74.63 116 142 258 RIO 08.2016

4 VALENTIN PEREZ LIDIA 10.02.1985 ESP 74.00 116 141 257 RIO 08.2016

5 MUNKHJANTSAN A. 25.12.1997 MGL 73.82 115 138 253 TBILISI 06.2016

6 VALOYES CUESTA U. 06.07.1982 COL 74.28 111 136 247 RIO 08.2016

7 LIANG XIAOMEI 20.09.1997 CHN 74.98 109 136 245 TBILISI 06.2016

8 VALDES PARIS M. F. 17.03.1992 CHI 74.61 107 137 244 CARTAGENA 06.2016

9 NAYO KETCHANKE G. V. 20.04.1988 FRA 73.87 110 132 242 FORDE 04.2016

ARTHUR JENNY LYVETTE 11.12.1993 USA 74.65 107 135 242 RIO 08.2016

1 MENG SUPING 17.07.1989 CHN 120.27 130 177 307 RIO 08.2016

2 KIM KUK HYANG 20.04.1993 PRK 100.34 131 175 306 RIO 08.2016

3 PULSABSAKUL C. 04.11.1993 THA 120.20 132 155 287 TASHKENT 04.2016

4 ROBLES SARAH E. 01.08.1988 USA 143.30 126 160 286 RIO 08.2016

5 HARIDY SHAIMAA A. K. 01.01.1991 EGY 123.75 117 161 278 RIO 08.2016

6 LEE HUISOL 27.08.1989 KOR 119.49 122 153 275 RIO 08.2016

7 SON YOUNGHEE 24.04.1993 KOR 109.58 118 155 273 RIO 08.2016

ESPINOSA YANIUSKA I. 05.12.1986 VEN 114.08 121 152 273 RIO 08.2016

9 USMAN MARYAM 09.11.1990 NGR 127.63 120 150 270 YAOUNDE 05.2016

10 MASCORRO OSUNA T. G. 24.11.1988 MEX 109.49 119 146 265 CARTAGENA 06.2016

CHAIDEE DUANGAKSORN 11.08.1997 THA 111.48 115 150 265 TBILISI 06,2016

AANEI ANDREEA 18.11.1993 ROU 120.01 120 145 265 RIO 08,2016

+75KG – MENG TOOK OVER KASHIRINA’S HERITAGE

As the category’s “All-Time Champion Lady”, domi-nant for all these last years, KASHIRINA Tatiana of Russia was not given the right to participate in Rio (as a member of the Russian team) and did not compete either before

or after the Games, the top position became vacant in the – hitherto – highest category of the women. The vacancy was eventually filled by MENG Suping who won at the Rio Olympic Games with 307kg. The 27-year old Chinese, who had col-lected world championship silvers in 2010, 2014 and in 2015, was able to win even with a – for her – somewhat moderate total result of 307kg. The ranking’s runner-up position is taken by the Olympic silver medallist from PRK, KIM Kuk Hyang with her 306kg and the third place is occupied by Thailand’s strongest woman weightlifter. Two-fold world championships bronze medallist, PULSABSAKUL Chitchanok secured her rank by a total of 287kg earning for her a silver medal at the Asian Championships in Tashkent. If we take a look back at the rank-ing in 2015, what happened last year was that with KASHIRINA being absent each of the three competitors behind her were upgraded by one step.

RIM Jong Sim – PRK

MENG Suping – CHN

56KG – THIS TIME LONG WAS BETTER

The prolonged duel between both top-notch, both Olympic champion competitors, Chinese LONG Qingquan and North-Korean OM Yun Chol continued in the lightest category. This time Rio’s hero LONG managed to outclass his ancient foe, taking revenge on London’s Olympic gold medallist OM and stealing the show in Brazil by set-

ting a new total world record of 307kg. Still the world record holder in clean and jerk, OM also performed at his best on the Olympic platform, but his 303kg was merely good for the silver medal and the same position in the world ranking. Bronze medallist in Rio, Thailand’s KRUAITONG Sinphet trails the leading duo from a great distance with his 289kg. This rank, however, means a huge leap for the Thai champion as in the year before he was only 8th in the list.

1 LONG QINGQUAN 03.12.1990 CHN 55.68 137 170 307 RIO 08.2016

2 OM YUN CHOL 18.11.1991 PRK 55.57 134 169 303 RIO 08.2016

3 KRUAITHONG SINPHET 22.08.1995 THA 55.43 132 157 289 RIO 08.2016

4 MENG CHENG 18.11.1997 CHN 55.70 126 159 285 TASHKENT 04.2016

5 CHONTEY ARLI 01.07.1992 KAZ 55.64 130 148 278 RIO 08.2016

6 TRAN LE QUOC TOAN 05.04.1989 VIE 55.85 121 154 275 RIO 08.2016

7 COLONIA NESTOR 16.02.1992 PHI 55.50 120 148 268 TASHKENT 04.2016

DE LAS SALAS DE LA R. H. 19.04.1987 COL 55.85 118 150 268 CARTAGENA 06.2016

9 MINGMOON WITOON 10.02.1996 THA 55.50 115 150 265 TBILISI 06.2016

10 SCARANTINO MIRCO 16.01.1995 ITA 55.54 120 144 264 FORDE 04.2016

BRACHI GARCIA JOSUE 08.09.1992 ESP 55.73 121 143 264 FORDE 04.2016

62KG – FIGUEROA SAID GOODBYE WITH OLYMPIC GOLD AND POLE POSITION

If you say goodbye you should do it in style and possibly while on top – this could be the philosophy of FIGUEROA MOSQUERA Oscar Albeiro, who made a perfect closure of his competitive career at the age of 34, walking off

with an Olympic gold and as world ranking leader. Runner-up in the previous year, the Colombian superman was an Olympian already at the 2004 Games (!) – finishing in the respectable fifth place

– and in 2012 he earned the silver medal, only to fi-nally make it to the top of the dais in Rio de Janeiro thanks to a 318kg total. Second best of the category in both the ranking and on the Olympic stage was another long-time protagonist, IRAWAN Eko Yuli. Third in London 2012 and a constant member of the top trio since 2009, the Indonesian is still just 27 years old and has a strong grip on the category. Last year he took silver in Brazil for his 312kg out-put. The Chinese came out with a new promising talent, 21-year old MO Yongxiang.

› WORLD RANKING LISTS - 2016 - MEN

1 RIM JONG SIM 05.02.1993 PRK 74.47 121 153 274 RIO 08.2016

2 DEKHA IRYNA 14.05.1996 UKR 74.48 119 141 260 EILAT 12.2016

3 NAUMAVA DARYA 26.08.1995 BLR 74.63 116 142 258 RIO 08.2016

4 VALENTIN PEREZ LIDIA 10.02.1985 ESP 74.00 116 141 257 RIO 08.2016

5 MUNKHJANTSAN A. 25.12.1997 MGL 73.82 115 138 253 TBILISI 06.2016

6 VALOYES CUESTA U. 06.07.1982 COL 74.28 111 136 247 RIO 08.2016

7 LIANG XIAOMEI 20.09.1997 CHN 74.98 109 136 245 TBILISI 06.2016

8 VALDES PARIS M. F. 17.03.1992 CHI 74.61 107 137 244 CARTAGENA 06.2016

9 NAYO KETCHANKE G. V. 20.04.1988 FRA 73.87 110 132 242 FORDE 04.2016

ARTHUR JENNY LYVETTE 11.12.1993 USA 74.65 107 135 242 RIO 08.2016

1 FIGUEROA MOSQUERA O. A. 27.04.1983 COL 61.86 142 176 318 RIO 08.2016

2 IRAWAN EKO YULI 24.07.1989 INA 61.91 142 170 312 RIO 08.2016

3 MO YONGXIANG 10.04.1996 CHN 61.64 137 170 307 TBILISI 06.2016

4 KHARKI FARKHAD 20.04.1991 KAZ 61.60 135 170 305 RIO 08.2016

MOSQUERA VALENCIA F. A. 01.04.1992 COL 61.93 135 170 305 CARTAGENA 06.2016

6 ITOKAZU YOICHI 24.05.1991 JPN 61.87 133 169 302 RIO 08.2016

7 ATAK HURSIT 24.05.1991 TUR 61.68 126 170 296 FORDE 04.2016

8 SAAD AHMED AHMED M. 01.11.1986 EGY 62.00 133 161 294 RIO 08.2016

9 QIN FULIN 12.01.1994 CHN 61.48 133 158 291 MERIDA 11.2016

PAK JONG JU 14.03.1997 PRK 61.94 131 160 291 TBILISI 06.2016

MENG Suping – CHN

LONG Qingquan – CHN

The Rio podium with FIGUERA MOSQUERA Oscar Albeiro – COL, IRAWAN Eko Yuli – INA and KHARKHI Farkhad – KAZ

69KG – SHI SAVED HIS LEAD

Four kilos improvement: that is what SHI Zhiyong produced in a year’s span. In 2015 he took the world’s top rank with 348kg, in 2016 with 352kg in the 69kg category. 23 years of age, the reigning world champion preserved his lead by winning the

Olympic title and outclassing everyone else in 2016. His advan-tage at the Games was not too much, one kilogram only, but just enough to defeat 18 months older ISMAYLOV Daniyar.

Thus, Olympic silver medal winner, two-times European cham-pion Turkish ISMAYLOV reached his life’s best in Rio with 351kg in total, eight kilograms on his own result one year before. Third best in 2016 in this category was Olympic bronze medal-list MOSQUERA LOZANO Luis Javier (335kg) just having turned 22 years old this March. The Colombian made a progress by two grades, from fifth to third.

1 SHI ZHIYONG 10.10.1993 CHN 68.72 162 190 352 RIO 08.2016

2 ISMAYILOV DANIYAR 03.02.1992 TUR 68.59 163 188 351 RIO 08.2016

3 MOSQUERA LOZANO L. J. 27.03.1995 COL 68.54 155 183 338 RIO 08.2016

ARTYKOV IZZAT 08.09.1993 KGZ 68.55 150 188 338 TASHKENT 04.2016

5 ROQUE MENDOZA BREDNI 11.11.1987 MEX 68.85 148 188 336 CARTAGENA 06.2016

6 YUAN CHENGFEI 14.07.1995 CHN 68.75 150 185 335 TASHKENT 04.2016

7 CALJA BRIKEN 19.02.1990 ALB 68.84 145 181 326 RIO 08.2016

8 MOSQUERA ROA EDWIN O. 26.07.1985 COL 68.87 148 175 323 CARTAGENA 06.2016

9 KWON YONG GWANG 14.01.1996 PRK 68.55 141 181 322 TASHKENT 04.2016

PETROV SERGEY 17.02.1994 RUS 68.58 147 175 322 FORDE 04.2016

CECHIR SERGHEI 15.10.1990 MDA 68.75 144 178 322 RIO 08.2016

77KG – LYU AND RAHIMOV

TIE ON THE TOP


A solid grasp on his winning position by LYU Xiaojun – with the only change being that he has to share the top shelf with RAHIMOV Nijat of Kazakhstan. Though in the world ranking the two champions tie on top, at the Olympic Games lower bodyweight

favoured RAHIMOV and gave him the gold medal beating LYU who also recorded a 379kg total. Interesting to note that at the year’s highlight event the defending Olympic champion and 3-fold world champion Chinese set a new world record in snatch, 177kg. Yet it was not enough for him to retain the title since RAHIMOV answered with a world record jerk of 214kg stealing the total gold under LYU’s nose. Third place winner in the 77kg for 2016 is world championship bronze medal winner Armenian KARAPETYAN Andranik, thanks to his 367kg total that gave him the European gold in Forde, Norway.

1 RAHIMOV NIJAT 13.08.1993 KAZ 76.19 165 214 379 RIO 08.2016

LYU XIAOJUN 27.07.1984 CHN 76.83 177 202 379 RIO 08.2016

3 KARAPETYAN ANDRANIK 15.12.1995 ARM 76.55 170 197 367 FORDE 04.2016

4 MAHMOUD MOHAMED I. Y. A. 21.11.1989 EGY 76.69 165 196 361 RIO 08.2016

5 CHINNAWONG CHATUPHUM 19.07.1993 THA 76.52 165 191 356 RIO 08.2016

6 MARTIROSYAN TIGRAN 09.06.1988 ARM 76.44 160 192 352 FORDE 04.2016

7 LOPEZ LOPEZ YEISON 09.01.1999 COL 75.73 160 191 351 PENANG 10.2016

8 SHI ZHIYONG 10.10.1993 CHN 72.40 157 191 348 TASHKENT 04.2016

CAPTARI DUMITRU 12.07.1989 ROU 76.62 156 192 348 FORDE 04.2016

10 CAICEDO PIEDRAHITA A. M. 15.08.1997 COL 76.41 156 191 347 CARTAGENA 06.2016

SPAC ALEXANDR 21.11.1989 MDA 76.52 155 192 347 RIO 08.2016

SHI Zhiyong – CHN

RAHIMOV Nijat – KAZLYU Xiaojun – CHN


85KG – ROSTAMI RECAPTURED THE LEAD AND BECAME LIFTER OF THE YEAR

Formerly junior and senior world champion ROSTAMI Kianoush of Iran had more than one reason in 2016 to feel happy. Following the disqualification of Russian AUKHADOV Apti, he was promoted from bronze to silver medallist of the 2012 London Olympic Games. In Rio he changed this silver for gold with a wonderful performance. As if

he had wanted to make up for that runner-up place at the 2015 WWC, he was irresistible in Rio de Janeiro leaving no doubt that he was still the best of the category, like back in 2014. After having pinned a 220kg world record in clean and jerk at the beginning of the year, he rewrote the record in total at the Olym-pic Games with 396kg. This figure proved to be the highest of 2016 and ROSTAMI became the best of the category. As a bonus, he received the highest number of votes in the Lifter of the Year election of our magazine. Behind him, in the same setup as in Rio, 23-year old Chinese TIAN Tao is next in rank with his 395kg, whereas the third position went to 2016 Asian champion Kazakh ULANOV Denis, third also at the Rio Olympic Games.


1 ROSTAMI KIANOUSH 23.07.1991 IRI 84.26 179 217 396 RIO 08.2016

2 TIAN TAO 08.04.1994 CHN 84.85 178 217 395 RIO 08.2016

3 ULANOV DENIS 28.10.1993 KAZ 84.95 175 215 390 RIO 08.2016

4 PIELIESHENKO O. 07.01.1994 UKR 84.73 175 210 385 RIO 08.2016

5 ASAYONAK PETR 27.02.1993 BLR 84.24 170 207 377 RIO 08.2016

6 YUFKIN ALEXEY 11.01.1986 RUS 84.65 168 205 373 TEHRAN 05.2016

7 SINCRAIAN GABRIEL 21.12.1988 ROU 84.37 169 202 371 FORDE 04.2016

8 KHADASEVICH PAVEL 16.07.1993 BLR 84.47 170 195 365 RIO 08.2016

LIU JIAWEN 23.08.1996 CHN 84.48 165 200 365 TBILISI 06.2016

10 MOUSAVIJARAHI S. 21.04.1995 IRI 84.84 166 196 362 TEHRAN 05.2016

94KG – RIO MEDALLISTS IN THE LEADING TRIO

The same three weightlifters occupy the top positions in the world ranking as the ones who had been standing on the podium of Rio de Janeiro, in the medal ceremony of the 94kg. Then, in Brazil, Iran’s MORADI Sohrab totalled 403kg, securing a comfortable lead on his challengers both representing ex-Soviet Republics. MORADI, who had scored his previous best result when taking the Asian title, was not listed in 2015, so the defending leader of the category to beat was STRALTSOU Vadim of Belarus. As a consequence of the Iranian’s supremacy, he finished in second place and the

former runner-up, DIDZBALIS Aurimas of Lithuania landed in third position. As per their Rio results, STRALTSOU stands with 395kg and – former European Champion – registers 392kg this time.

1 MORADI SOHRAB 22.09.1988 IRI 93.64 182 221 403 RIO 08.2016

2 STRALTSOU VADZIM 30.04.1986 BLR 93.70 175 220 395 RIO 08.2016

3 DIDZBALIS AURIMAS 13.06.1991 LTU 92.42 177 215 392 RIO 08.2016

4 SUMPRADIT SARAT 17.04.1994 THA 34090 177 213 390 RIO 08.2016

5 ABDALLA RAGAB A. SAAD A. 04.03.1991 EGY 93.45 174 213 387 RIO 08.2016

CHUMAK DMYTRO 11.07.1990 UKR 93.66 174 213 387 RIO 08.2016

ZIELINSKI TOMASZ B. 29.10.1990 POL 93.70 176 211 387 FORDE 04.2016

8 SEDOV VLADIMIR 03.02.1988 KAZ 93.80 175 211 386 TASHKENT 04.2016

9 HASHEMI ALI 01.11.1991 IRI 93.65 173 212 385 TEHRAN 05.2016

10 BERSANAU ALIAKSANDR 01.09.1992 BLR 93.57 173 208 381 RIO 08.2016

STANULIS ZYGIMANTAS 11.01.1993 LTU 93.57 175 206 381 FORDE 04.2016

SHI Zhiyong – CHN

ROSTAMI Kianoush – IRI

MORADI Sohrab – IRI



1 NURUDINOV RUSLAN 24.11.1991 UZB 104.96 194 237 431 RIO 08.2016

2 MARTIROSYAN SIMON 17.02.1997 ARM 104.63 190 227 417 RIO 08.2016

3 ZAICHIKOV ALEXANDR 17.08.1992 KAZ 104.51 193 223 416 RIO 08.2016

4 YANG ZHE 14.07.1991 CHN 104.59 190 225 415 RIO 08.2016

5 EFREMOV IVAN 09.03.1986 UZB 104.90 194 220 414 RIO 08.2016

6 BARARI MOHAMMADREZA 31.03.1988 IRI 104.65 186 220 406 RIO 08.2016

7 PLESNIEKS ARTURS 21.01.1992 LAT 104.25 177 226 403 FORDE 04.2016

MICHALSKI ARKADIUSZ 07.01.1990 POL 104.92 177 226 403 FORDE 04.2016

9 SAMORAJ JAROSLAW P. 16.06.1994 POL 104.54 180 220 400 KAZAN 03.2016

10 BOCHKOV RODION 27.09.1993 RUS 104.54 182 215 397 FORDE 04.2016

105KG – NURUDINOV BEST BY ALL STANDARDS

NURUDINOV Ruslan first secured a primary posi-tion in the ranking of the 105kg lifters in 2013. Now, three years later, the Uzbek recaptured this honour – in addition to his own merit also because Kazakhstan’s ILYA Ilyin, deprived of both Olympic

titles and suspended, disappeared from the ranks of eligible competitors. This, however, does not diminish the value of NURUDINOV’s efforts to become the best of the category. Hav-ing paid a brief visit to the +105kg (finishing 4th in that category at the 2016 Asian Games) he continued his career “normally” in the 105kg, in which he was 2012 Olympic fourth, 2013 world champion, 2014 silver medallist (behind Ilyin) with 432kg, reaching the pinnacle at the Olympic Games in Rio and winning the gold with 431kg. His closest challenger was Armenian MARTIROSYAN Simon (20), Junior European champion who totalled 417kg in Rio. Third in the world ranking – like at the Games - is ZAICHIKOV Alexandr of Kazakhstan, 2015 world champion, this time with 416kg.

1 TALAKHADZE LASHA 02.10.1993 GEO 157.34 215 258 473 RIO 08.2016

2 MINASYAN GOR 25.10.1994 ARM 143.67 210 241 451 RIO 08.2016

3 TURMANIDZE IRAKLI 13.12.1984 GEO 135.58 207 241 448 RIO 08.2016

4 ALEKSANYAN RUBEN 14.03.1990 ARM 151.64 195 245 440 RIO 08.2016

5 SARAIVA REIS FERNANDO 10.03.1990 BRA 154.58 195 240 435 RIO 08.2016

6 DJANGABAEV RUSTAM 25.08.1993 UZB 145.88 195 237 432 RIO 08.2016

CHEN SHIH-CHIEH 27.11.1989 TPE 152.40 191 241 432 TASHKENT 04.2016

8 SEIM MART 24.10.1990 EST 149.10 187 243 430 RIO 08.2016

SALIMIKORDASIABI BEHDAD 08.12.1989 IRI 168.00 205 225 430 TEHRAN 05.2016

10 TOYCHYYEV HOJAMUHAMMET 16.01.1992 TKM 144.50 190 237 427 TASHKENT 04.2016

MOULAEI BAHADOR 21.03.1992 IRI 146.55 180 247 427 TASHKENT 04.2016

+105KG – WITH WORLD RECORDS ABSOLUTELY THE BEST: TALAKHADZE

Considering all the men’s categories, the most significant advantage – 22 kilograms – is registered by the superheavy category’s winner, TALAKHADZE Lasha. Undoubtedly, the young Georgian giant counts as the supreme ruler in the +105kg. Back in

Rio he opened with a superb 215kg new world record in snatch. Momentarily, he lost that record to the King of recent years, SALIMIKORDASIABI Behdad, who answered with 216kg. How-ever, TALAKHADZE was undisturbed by this (or by the incident in clean and jerk as a matter of fact) and continued with a splendid clean and jerk finishing with a 473kg new total world record, the absolute best result in weightlifting so far. The Olympic gold medal was now turned into a lead in the world ranking and the next two ranked athletes are also the same as the Rio medal winners: second is MINASYAN Gor of Armenia (451kg) and third is the other Georgian, TURMANIDZE Irakli (448kg). (We might add as a post scriptum: Talakhadze picked up the thread in 2017 which he dropped in 2016: at the European Championships in April he snatched 217kg and took back the world record from Salimikordasiabi. See our interview with the Georgian hero.)

NURUDINOV Ruslan – UZB MARTIROSYAN Simon – ARM

TAKHADZE Lasha – GEO


TEXT: BRIAN OLIVER

INTERVIEW WITHLASHA TALAKHADZE

› INTERVIEW

Lasha Talakhadze finished off his marvellous year with another gold medal at the European Under-23 and looked forward to win-ning many more in the future, including three more at the Olympic Games.The awesome Georgian’s long-term target is to become the first man in history to win more than two Olympic gold medals in weightlifting’s heaviest weight category.“I feel deep inside that weightlifting is in my genes, and I am look-ing forward to achieving more,” he said. “I know that nobody has won three gold medals in super-heavyweights and that is not my aim – I want four!”“The heavier lifters have more stability, we don’t have to worry about making the weight and that gives us an advantage over the lower categories, so I can keep training and competing for many years.” - The 23-year-old Georgian weighed in at 158kg at his most recent event in Split.Talakhadze has the habit of treating himself to tattoos to celebrate his triumphs.On his right arm he has ‘Georgian’ inked in the ancient language of his home-land, on his left ankle he has the Olympic motto ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ and on his right wrist he has the latest, a map of Georgia.There have been other consequences of his Olympic triumph. Talakhadze was named Georgia’s sportsman of the year for 2016, and has already been presented with the Order of Excellence by his nation’s President, Giorgi Margvelashvili. “Since the Olympics there has been a big increase in the popu-larity of weightlifting, and the number of people doing it,” he said. “The recent national championships had a much higher entry than usual.”An estimated two million of Georgia’s 4.7m population watched the broadcast from Rio and in his home town of Sachkhere a giant screen was erected in the square, where thousands saw his late-night win.Talakhadze was a useful sprinter in his youth – “I’m still quite fast now” – and also played rugby, which is very popular in Georgia, but he took up weightlifting seriously because his father, Koba, his first coach, was an international competitor.His current coach, Avtandil Gakhokidze, first predicted that Tal-akhadze would go on to great things when he totalled more than 400kg at the 2011 European Junior Championships.

His family’s support was desperately needed when, in 2013, Talakhadze tested positive for stanozolol and was banned for two years. He lost his place in the national squad, his funding and his coach, yet when he returned to action in 2015 he had improved his performance by about 12%. How did he manage that?“It was very difficult, no training camp, everything withdrawn, and my father was a very big help at that time. He supported me financially and in helping me to train, and I trained at home almost every day for those two years.”He lives in a national team training camp for ten months of the year, a couple of hours drive from home and about 700m above sea level.“It’s physically and psychologically tough, an intense professional life.” “The strategy for 2017 is not to rush, to win when I compete, to gradually improve my power, my technique. If the competition demands a big weight close to a record, I will go for it.”

“I’M STILL QUITE FAST NOW”

1 NURUDINOV RUSLAN 24.11.1991 UZB 104.96 194 237 431 RIO 08.2016

2 MARTIROSYAN SIMON 17.02.1997 ARM 104.63 190 227 417 RIO 08.2016

3 ZAICHIKOV ALEXANDR 17.08.1992 KAZ 104.51 193 223 416 RIO 08.2016

4 YANG ZHE 14.07.1991 CHN 104.59 190 225 415 RIO 08.2016

5 EFREMOV IVAN 09.03.1986 UZB 104.90 194 220 414 RIO 08.2016

6 BARARI MOHAMMADREZA 31.03.1988 IRI 104.65 186 220 406 RIO 08.2016

7 PLESNIEKS ARTURS 21.01.1992 LAT 104.25 177 226 403 FORDE 04.2016

MICHALSKI ARKADIUSZ 07.01.1990 POL 104.92 177 226 403 FORDE 04.2016

9 SAMORAJ JAROSLAW P. 16.06.1994 POL 104.54 180 220 400 KAZAN 03.2016

10 BOCHKOV RODION 27.09.1993 RUS 104.54 182 215 397 FORDE 04.2016


The coming Youth Olympic Games due in Buenos Aires in 2018 loomed in Bangkok as the 2017 edition of the IWF Youth World Championships was at the same time the main qualification event for the big challenge of the age group of 13 to 17 years. As a matter of fact, the

Games will welcome only those aged 15 to 17 years but the right of participation was to be achieved by all athletes fitting in the IWF Youth age category. China proved to be the most successful nation at the World Cham-pionships given that its squads excelled in both genders obtaining the maximum quote of two times two athletes for Buenos Aires. Second best – again in both men and women – was Kazakhstan and the maximum of four members quota was won also by Turkey and the host Thailand.

In the Medal Tally the most successful nation for the young ladies was China (8 gold, 5 silver, 2 bronze), followed by

Kazakhstan (3, 2, 4), DPR Korea (3, 2, 3), Ecuador (3, 0, 0), Turkey (2, 1, 0), Russia (2, 1,0), Colombia (1, 6,0), Austria

(1, 2, 0) and Thailand (1, 0,3). That means nine countries captured at least one gold medal and altogether 14 nations went home with some kind of medal in their pockets.

WORLD RECORDS, USA ANDCHINESE SUCCESS IN THAILAND

TEXT: KORNÉL JANCSÓPHOTO: JÓZSEF SZAKA

2017 IWF YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BANGKOK

› 2017 IWF YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BANGKOK


2017 IWF YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BANGKOK The medal distribution for men shows a similar diffusion, i.e. the power relations

seem to be more balanced than before. 11 countries won gold medals and represen-tatives of 18 nations could mount on the podium in the victory ceremonies. For the men, to no little surprise the US team was most productive: the Americans returned home with four gold and two silver medals in their pockets! In this kind of ranking, the next most suc-

cessful nation is Kazakhstan with their 4-1-4 collection and China became third best (3, 4, 5). Further countries having clinched at least one gold medal are: Bulgaria (3, 0, 0), Russia (2, 4, 1), Thailand (2, 1, 0), Belarus (2, 0, 1), Poland (1, 2, 0), Iran (1, 1, 2), Vietnam (1, 1, 1), DPR Korea (1, 1, 0). It is worth noting that India collected three silver medals and one bronze and even Oman won a medal: a bronze.In IWF history, since the inaugural Youth World Championships in 2009 (also hosted by Thailand) this was the seventh time the youth lifters could vie for the titles of the age group. This time, however, there was one more set of medals on offer, having equalled the number of bodyweight categories to 8 for both genders. The earlier +69kg for women was replaced by 75kg and +75kg as new categories. The chance of Olympic qualification and more categories attracted unprecedented numbers in participation: altogether 187 women from 40 countries and 237 men from 49 countries competed. Though the aggregate number of participants (424) remains under the record of 433 of Tashkent 2013, in terms of the variety of countries attending – altogether 54! – Bangkok 2017 has surpassed all previous top marks. Thailand, its Weightlifting Federation the TAWA, however, under the baton of Madam Boossaba YODBANGTOEY, President and Maj. Gen. Intarat YODBANGTOEY, Honorary President and IWF Vice President, took the challenge easily and pampered the teams, officials and guests, as usual with top level technical organisation, above-the-stan-dard accommodation and wonderful hospitality. The competitors expressed their satisfaction and gratitude by setting new marks, in particular in two categories for men. We shall go into more detail in our catego-ry-by-category summary, so let us mention here only that two US prodigies set new world records in clean and jerk. The one in 69kg, the name is familiar: Clarence CUMMINGS Jr., and in 77kg someone new: Harrison James MAURUS. Once again, CUMMINGS got the IWF Media Trophy of Best Lifter, while the same recognition was awarded among the girls to Angie Paola PALACIOS DAJOMES from Ecuador.



50KG – THAI TWIN WIN ON THE FIRST DAY

The hosts could celebrate their first gold already on the first day: Teerapat CHOMCHUEN triumphed in total (216kg). Fourth in snatch, the Thai lifted 125kg in clean and jerk, just one kilogram off the youth world record. He scored a close win on Vietnam’s

Nguyen Quoc Bao Le, who took the snatch gold medal with 96kg and added 119kg for a 215kg total. HUANG Shiguo (CHN) landed in third position with 213kg. A very special feature highlighted the first competition: Teerapat CHOMCHUEN could not only rejoice over his own gold medals but the silver medal of his twin brother, Natthawat CHOMCHUEN in the snatch!

› 2017 IWF YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BANGKOK - MEN

56KG – CHEN & CHEN WINNING

An Asian was the champion in the next boys’ cat-egory as well: CHEN Maoran from China. Born in 2000, this Chinese young man finished the snatch in a fifth place for 106kg only to catapult to the lead in clean and jerk (135kg) and in total for an

aggregate 241kg. In the runner-up position for the jerk (130kg) and total (240kg) we find Lalrinnunga JEREMY of India, young-est in the group, born in 2002. Turkish Caner TOPTAS picked up the three bronze medals. Just off the total podium, another CHEN – also Chinese but Jian – took the snatch gold medal for 111kg.

1 CHOMCHUEN TEERAPAT 31.07.2001 THA 49.97 91 125 216

2 LE NGUYEN QUOC BAO 01.01.2000 VIE 49.57 96 119 215

3 HUANG SHIGUO 06.07.2000 CHN 49.88 90 123 213

4 CHOMCHUEN NATTHAWAT 31.07.2001 THA 49.88 94 118 212

5 DENG HANPENG 14.02.2000 CHN 49.68 92 118 210

6 VILLAR MANJARRES E. JOSE 12.03.2001 COL 49.83 90 115 205

1 CHEN MAORAN 15.01.2000 CHN 55.72 106 135 241

2 JEREMY LALRINNUNGA 26.10.2002 IND 55.66 110 130 240

3 TOPTAS CANER 14.08.2001 TUR 55.91 109 128 237

4 CHEN JIAN 07.07.2000 CHN 55.70 111 125 236

5 O WON GWAN 02.01.2001 PRK 55.69 105 127 232

6 ALMAZYADI NAWAF M. S 19.08.2000 KSA 55.71 96 126 222

Thailand’s twin brothers, CHOMCHUEN Teerapat and CHOMCHUEN Natthawat among the medal winners in 50kg

CHEN Maoran, CHN, 56kg



62KG – RUSSIA WINS FIRST EUROPEAN GOLD

Europe’s first gold medal was won in the third category, i.e. Zulfat GARAEV of Russia took the snatch gold of 62kg for his 128kg result. In the second act, however, he had to be disappointed failing at 151kg three times in succession. Second

in snatch, Anatoliy SAVELYEV of Kazakhstan took his chance and – performing six good lifts and jerking 154kg for 281kg in total – pocketed both remaining gold medals. Bronze medallist in snatch with 126kg, WEI Yun (CHN) added two sil-vers to his collection but in the end Indonesian Muhammad Halim SETIAWAN was also happy about the bronze medal in total (267kg), three weeks prior to his 17th birthday.

69KG – CUMMINGS PUSHES

ON WITH WORLD RECORD

In the snatch, RI Kwang Song (PRK) surprised by capturing the gold medal in the 69kg with 140kg, but the clean and jerk

“reinstated order”: absolute favourite Clarence CUMMINGS Jr. from the USA proved his superiority and won hands down. For instance, he outscored the North-Korean by 16 kilos.

2016 youth and junior world champion CUMMINGS did not content himself with just winning; he had to further improve his own world record. So he did: from 182 to 185kg. Still before his 17th birthday due in June, the American wunderkind secured his world cham-pion titles in his first clean and jerk attempt of 170kg and reap-peared later only to make a transition lift at 177kg before ultimately attacking the youth world record with 185kg. Thus rewriting his own mark from 2016 Penang, he equalled his own world record total of 322kg.

1 SAVELYEV ANATOLIY 06.01.2000 KAZ 61.76 127 154 281

2 WEI YUNBAN 19.06.2001 CHN 61.72 126 150 276

3 SETIAWAN MUHAMMAD H. 22.04.2000 INA 61.25 121 146 267

4 OSORIO HERNANDEZ JOSE L. 04.03.2000 COL 61.13 116 147 263

5 HUANG YUDI 27.02.2001 CHN 61.47 118 140 258

6 CHIANG NIEN-EN 19.02.2000 TPE 61.46 111 146 257

1 CUMMINGS JR CLARENCE 06.06.2000 USA 68.75 137 185 322

2 RI KWANG SONG 31.05.2000 PRK 68.79 140 166 306

3 WEI NIANRONG 12.08.2001 CHN 68.23 134 172 306

4 DUMITRASCU PAUL 31.01.2000 ROU 68.63 127 166 293

5 ZHARNOUSKI ILYA 21.08.2000 BLR 68.64 134 155 289

6 SU LIAN 04.01.2000 CHN 67.71 136 151 287

SAVELYEV Anatoliy, KAZ, 62kg

CUMMINGS Clarence, USA, 69kg – Youthworld record 185kg


77KG – INSPIRED, MAURUS DID NOT GIVE IT FOR LESS THAN A WORLD RECORD

Drawing motivation from CUMMINGS, teammate Harrison James MAURUS in the 77kg put on a splendid performance, too. 2016 Youth World Championships runner-up MAURUS started copy-ing by taking only silver in snatch (140kg) defeated

by Russian Aleksandr URVACHEV (142kg). Then, in the second part, he also launched a dazzling spectacle: following 175 and 184kg, he held the 192kg barbell overhead sending the former world record to oblivion that had been registered under the name of Yeison LOPEZ LOPEZ of Colombia since 23 October last year with 191kg. At the same time, the total world record of 351kg held by LOPEZ might only be a more distant goal for

MAURUS, who stopped at 332kg in Bangkok. After the open-ing gold medal, URVACHEV pocketed the available two silver medals, whereas all three bronze medals were awarded to Kazakhstan’s Assylzhan BEKTAY.


85KG – FAULTLESS LIFTING – KAZAKH VICTORY

The 85kg presented an archetypal battle: the best in the category all performed the three straight in clean and jerk. At least, even those for a long time “in the profession” cannot remember when for the last time the top nine in the field (!) all pulled

through three successful attempts.

That means the spectators witnessed 27 good lifts in a row! The heaviest weight of 185kg was lifted by Artyom ANTROPOV (KAZ), seventh in the previous YWC. Taking only the third place in snatch, ANTROPOV killed two birds with one stone in the jerk: winning both the clean and jerk and the total golds. Polish Bartlomiej Stefan ADAMUS was capable of a total five kilos less, 318kg, while Iran’s Mahdi PAPI picked up the bronze. Only rarely among the medallists, Oman was present here with Murshid Mohamed AL AJMI whose 173kg clean and jerk was rewarded with bronze.

1 MAURUS HARRISON JAMES 26.02.2000 USA 76.08 140 192 332

2 URVACHEV ALEKSANDR 09.01.2000 RUS 76.58 142 170 312

3 BEKTAY ASSYLZHAN 10.02.2000 KAZ 76.54 140 166 306

4 BEBEN PATRYK SYLWESTER 18.03.2000 POL 76.09 137 160 297

5 YANTSEVYCH YEVHENII 26.09.2000 UKR 76.54 135 161 296

6 FICCO CRISTIANO GIUSEPPE 05.04.2001 ITA 76.79 128 165 293

1 ANTROPOV ARTYOM 23.01.2000 KAZ 84.49 138 185 323

2 ADAMUS BARTLOMIEJ S. 12.05.2000 POL 79.15 143 175 318

3 PAPI MAHDI 05.09.2000 IRI 82.88 132 172 304

4 BAKICI TOLGA 23.09.2001 TUR 84.41 139 162 301

5 AL AJMI MURSHID M. M. 06.02.2000 OMA 84.05 125 173 298

6 KHOJIEV AZIMJON 16.11.2000 UZB 84.91 132 165 297

USA coaches incl. DIMAS Pyrros congratulating MAURUSHarrison J.after his Youth world record 192kg

ANTROPOV Artyom, KAZ, 85kg



94KG – EUROPE UP FRONT WITH BULGARIA

As the bodies and the weights lifted were growing heavier, Europe gradually started to dominate. In the 94kg Bulgaria won all the three gold medals, Greece collected two silvers and only the remaining four medals went to

another continent. Two Uzbeks took them home to Asia. There was intense rivalry already in the snatch for the lead-ing position between Hristo HRISTOV (BUL) and Evangelos GALIATSATOS (GRE). Eventually, the Bulgarian won with his 145kg before the Greek snatching 144kg. Aleksandr LI (UZB) completed the competition with three bronze medals. In the second half, the other Uzbek, Saidmukhtor SAIDAKHROROV did his best to interfere with the leading duo lifting 175kg and taking the silver for that. In total, however, his 305kg was not enough to clinch a podium position. GALIATSATOS missed a medal in jerk but on the overall his 316kg was worth the silver medal. HRISTOV declined his third attempt when he al-ready had the gold medals in his pocket after 171 and 176kg.

+94KG – BELARUS WINDS UP YWC

Once Europeans captured the lead they did not let it go in the closing event of the Youth World Championships. Kanstantsin KUROUSKI from the Republic of Belarus became the ultimate winner. Though not endangering the records in

the category, this young man born in August 2000 made an easy victory in snatch (155 – 161 – 165kg) ahead of Iranian Mohammadreza ROSHANI (156kg) and Russian Dmitri GOGICHAEV (155kg). In clean and jerk the other Iranian, Mohammad SHAHABANDAZ stepped forward and lifted the heaviest weight, 205kg. For a medal in total, however, even this result was insufficient as he tied with ROSHANI’s 347kg but the bronze again went to the former competitor. KUROUSKI had no reason to be unhappy about winning only bronze in clean and jerk, because the total victory was his thanks to a superior 360kg aggregate result.

1 HRISTOV HRISTO DIMITROV 27.04.2001 BUL 93.80 145 176 321

2 GALIATSATOS EVANGELOS 02.03.2000 GRE 91.07 144 172 316

3 LI ALEKSANDR 16.09.2000 UZB 93.60 138 173 311

4 SAIDAKHROROV SAIDMUKHTOR 25.12.2001 UZB 90.52 130 175 305

5 KHAPPAEV MAGOMET 11.02.2001 RUS 92.72 136 165 301

6 ROMANAK TOMAS 18.12.2000 SVK 92.43 135 160 295

1 KUROUSKI KANSTANTSIN 04.08.2000 BLR 102.21 165 195 360

2 GOGICHAEV DMITRII 20.08.2000 RUS 122.53 155 197 352

3 ROSHANI MOHAMMADREZA 03.02.2000 IRI 156.08 156 191 347

4 SHAHABANDAZ MOHAMMAD 08.11.2001 IRI 157.15 142 205 347

5 LIN SHENG-LUN 22.01.2000 TPE 110.36 155 191 346

6 KAPLAN YILDIRAY 19.04.2000 TUR 107.99 147 168 315

HRISTOV Hristo, BUL, 94kg

Medallists of +94kg


› INTERVIEW

TEXT: TÍMEA HORVÁTH

BORN TO A FAMILY OF CHAMPIONS

INTERVIEW WITH ANGIE PAOLA PALACIOS DAJOMES

“Last year it was very difficult to win, perhaps now it was a bit more easy. I had a good competition,” – explained Ecuador’s star to WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING. “220kg in total is a personal best but I may have been able to lift even more this time.”

Of course, like most of the athletes, Angie Paola is also dreaming of becoming Olympic champion.

“For the moment I am only thinking as far ahead as the next competition, which is the Junior Worlds in Tokyo in July. I want to lift well again and then, later on, naturally I hope that I can return to Tokyo in 2020 and once I’m there I would like to win the gold medal..”

Dajomes lives in Guayaquil in the training centre, while her parents and six brothers and sisters are living in another city.

“My sister Neisi has also won the world championships in weightlifting, and the rest of my brothers and sisters also lift weights” – said Angie Paola (17 years old this coming September) who can indeed boast of having been born to an athletic family. She added that initially she was very fond of track and field but when she finished third at her first weightlifting competition there was no more question about her sticking to this sport.

As last year in Penang, Malaysia, she had won the youth title, 69kg Ecuadorian Angie Paola Palacios Dajomes came to Bangkok as the defending champion. In the end, not only did she confirm her leading position but she was also voted Best Lifter for Women at the 2017 IWF Youth World Championships.

“I HOPE THAT I CAN RETURN TO TOKYO”


› INTERVIEW

TEXT: TÍMEA HORVÁTH

“JAVIER MOSQUERA MIGHT BE THE NEXT COLOMBIAN OLYMPIC CHAMPION”INTERVIEW WITH MARIA ISABEL URRUTIA

One of the most renowned and celebrated representatives of Colombia’s sport, Maria Isabel Urrutia (b.1965) was also present in the Thai capital participating in the YWC as coach-official of the Colombian squad. We asked her about her life since that epic victory at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.“After Sydney I left the sport and worked in Colombia’s political life: for eight years until 2010 I was a Member of the Chamber of Representatives,” – this always smiling, wonderful sportswoman answered our question. “But even in politics I was in charge of sport, of community and mass sport and their promotion. I did not only propagate weight-lifting but sports and physical exercise in general, mainly among the youth of 12 to 18 years in Colombia.”

Three years ago, while working in the same field in Bogota, she took a job as a coach in the local club. Weightlifting was practised but there was no success in the club. “Last December the Colombian Weightlifting Federation held elec-tions and I was elected to the Executive Board. I’m the treasurer.”

She came to Bangkok with three girls and a male competitor but not as a na-tional coach but as a club coach since her club gave four lifters

to the Colombian squad. “Who could be the next Colombian Olympic Champion in weightlifting after Oscar Figueroa who won in Rio? I think it’s going to be Javier Mosquera but Lopez Lopez also has a chance and, naturally, I trust some of my own athletes will be there in Tokyo, in 2020.” We wanted to know when she last grabbed the barbell and she answered: “I no longer lift weights; no, I’m not in training any more, I only de- monstrate correct technique for my lifters…”

Initially she competed in shot put and discus throw, and participated in the 1988 Sum-mer Olympics in these events. She switched to weightlifting in 1989, and won silver at the 1989 World Championships. She won gold at the 1990, silver 1991, gold 1994, sil-ver 1995, bronze 1996, silver 1997, and bronze at the 1998 World Weightlifting Championships. Urrutia won a gold medal in the women’s 75 kg category in the 2000 Summer Olympics, her country’s

first Olympic gold medal.

“I PROPAGATE SPORTS AMONG

THE YOUTH”


44KG – THREE GOLD MEDALS FOR CHINA

48KG – ASIANS AS PROTAGONISTS

› 2017 IWF YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BANGKOK - WOMEN

1 CHEN YAROU 31.08.2003 CHN 41.46 72 92 164

2 BERRIO ZULUAGA M. A. 18.06.2000 COL 43.81 71 89 160

3 PAK SONG HUI 11.04.2002 PRK 43.94 70 87 157

4 HUANG YATING 01.09.2000 CHN 43.21 66 86 152

5 CAMBEI MIHAELA-V. 18.11.2002 ROU 43.68 60 79 139

6 VINATASARI NUR 05.07.2001 INA 43.47 63 75 138

1 HAN JONG SIM 25.08.2000 PRK 47.94 79 102 181

2 HE SI 12.09.2000 CHN 47.97 81 98 179

3 BUACHATTURAT CHOTIMA 12.03.2000 THA 47.70 68 90 158

4 LUU THI CHUC MY 30.10.2000 VIE 47.99 72 85 157

5 BALTAG SABINA 24.04.2001 ROU 47.82 70 87 157

6 HERNANDEZ VIEYRA Y. Y. 15.12.2001 MEX 47.91 67 89 156

Ultimately, all the gold medals for sale in the lightest category went to CHEN Yarou of China, but it was by no means an easy race for her. She had to battle for the champion titles with Manuela BERRIO ZULUAGA (COL) and PAK

Song Hui (PRK). This trio, by the way, pocketed all the medals of the category. CHEN won in snatch with 72kg. BERRIO ZULUAGA registered 71kg and PAK 70kg, respec-tively. The order between them remained the same for the clean and jerk and the Chinese young lady (not yet 14 years old) lifted 92kg, just one kilo under the youth world record. The Colombian (17) lifted 89kg and the North-Korean 87kg. CHEN Yarou’s total of 164kg – considering a comparison of bodyweight with result – was to remain the best in the whole Youth World Championships for women.

A China vs. DPR Korea duel characterized this category as well – with alternating success for both parties. In snatch HE Si (CHN) was better with her 81kg final result (missing 85kg). Fail-ing to snatch 82kg, HAN Jong Sim (PRK) was

left in second position here. The bronze medal was awarded to Vietnam’s LUU Thi Chuc My. The clean and jerk brought a change of the landscape because HAN seemed to have found her stronger self and pulled off with 97, then 100 and finally successful with 102kg. Meanwhile, the Chinese was unable to get past her opening attempt of 98kg and missed 101kg twice. The Thai hosts were happy and proud as the bronze medals in both the clean and jerk and in total were earned by their athlete, Chotima BUACHATTURAT for lifting 90kg and recording 158kg in all.

HAN Jong Sim, PRK, 48kg

CHEN Yarou, CHN, 44kg


53KG – CHINA NEXT

58KG – PAIN AFTER JOY FOR THAILAND


1 YU MENGQIAN 27.03.2000 CHN 49.29 85 104 189

2 KIM IL GYONG 27.07.2003 PRK 52.72 81 107 188

3 KONOTOP KAMILA 23.03.2001 UKR 52.79 85 101 186

4 HUANG XUEMEI 01.01.2000 CHN 52.90 80 106 186

5 SINISTERRA TORRES Y. 04.05.2000 COL 52.58 85 100 185

6 OLARU RALUCA-ANDREEA 26.01.2001 ROU 52.66 81 97 178

1 LEVENT NURAY 08.05.2000 TUR 57.57 84 107 191

2 HANHUR MARIIA 24.08.2000 UKR 54.79 84 102 186

3 FAYZULLAEVA KUMUSHKHON 20.01.2002 UZB 57.92 79 106 185

4 VALODZKA SIUZANNA 17.08.2000 BLR 57.94 83 101 184

5 EMDU AILADA 23.10.2000 THA 57.73 88 95 183

6 GRIGORIU MARIA-LUANA 07.02.2000 ROU 58.00 78 102 180

In the prolonged China vs. DPR Korea battle this time the former emerged victorious, though by no means according to the usual libretto… Namely, KIM Il Gyong from DPR Korea finished only 4th in snatch with her 81kg, whereas as many as three others man-aged to lift 85kg each. Among them YU Mengqian (CHN), taking

silver, Ukrainian Kamila KONOTOP, winning bronze and Colombian Yenny SINISTER TORRES who was first to lift this weight and thus became the gold medal winner. In clean and jerk, in turn, the South American young lady was too nervous and missed two of her attempts, leaving the only 100kg as valid, giving her a sixth place in the lift and fifth in total. In contrast, KIM switched into a higher gear and produced a serious of 101 – 104 – 107kg, winning the gold in clean and jerk. Her Chinese rival, however, did even better, as she could add a 104kg jerk result to make a winning total of 189kg.

From a Thai point of view the fourth competition day of the youth World Championships could not have started better. Representative of the host country, Ailada EMDU won the snatch in the 58kg. And she accumulated a seemingly comfortable 4kg lead on her challengers with her 88kg.

Surprisingly – and disappointingly – however, pain followed joy in the clean and jerk when EMDU lifted on 95kg giving her a 14th (!) place in this portion of the competition. In total she thus had to settle for a 5th position. Meanwhile, the overall gold was awarded to snatch silver medallist Nuray LEVENT (TUR) for her 191kg and spending clean and jerk of 107kg. Following her bronze in snatch, Mariia HANHUR (UKR) earned another bronze in the second act but these results added up to 186kg in total and the silver medal. After a weaker snatch, Kumushkhon FAYZULLAEVA (UZB) made a splendid finish clean and jerking 106kg for a silver medal and a third position on the podium in total.

LEVENT Nuray, TUR, 58kg

YU Mengqian, CHN, 53kg


1 FANG LIN 14.05.2000 CHN 61.82 93 117 210

2 PAVLOVA DARYA 02.06.2001 KAZ 62.74 90 111 201

3 JIANG YUNLIU 27.05.2001 CHN 62.59 86 113 199

4 BELKHIR GHOFRANE 11.08.2001 TUN 61.95 88 108 196

5 JARQUIN GONZALEZ J. 04.11.2000 MEX 62.29 89 106 195

6 MOLAYA CABRERA E. A. 25.04.2000 VEN 62.98 87 106 193

1 PALACIOS DAJOMES A. P. 12.09.2000 ECU 66.25 100 120 220

2 RIVAS MOSQUERA VALERIA 23.04.2000 COL 68.68 95 114 209

3 KUZGANBAYEVA KARINA 13.11.2000 KAZ 68.86 94 113 207

4 JABBOROVA TURSUNOY 04.03.2002 UZB 68.61 84 104 188

5 VIZGINA EKATERINA 24.10.2001 RUS 68.45 81 101 182

6 AYYILDIZ EMINE 05.05.2001 TUR 65.67 80 100 180

69KG – ECUADOR REGISTERS SOUTHAMERICA AMONG GOLD MEDAL WINNERS

63KG – TWO CHINESE, FIVE MEDALS

There was a Chinese dominance in the 63kg as they pocketed five out of the available nine med-als. The three shiniest ones went to FANG Lin, who dominated the field during the entire com-petition, both in snatch, clean and jerk and total.

In snatch, Kazakhstan’s Darya PAVLOVA finished second with 90kg (3 kilos under FANG) and Mexican Jessica JARQUIN GONZALEZ was third. In clean and jerk FANG did not stop until finishing with 117kg, completing six valid attempts and walking off with a total result of 210kg. That happened after another Chinese JIANG Yunliu lifted 113kg for silver and PAVLOVA taking the bronze for her 111kg. In total, however, the Kazakh athlete, who also made a clean six, earned the silver medal (201kg) and JIANG picked up the bronze medal.

South Americans had to wait until the sixth women’s category to finally celebrate their own world champion. In the 69kg Angie Paola PALACIOS DAJOMES from Ecuador rewarded their patience and she did not give it for less

than three gold medals. Voted as the Best Lifter of the 2017 Youth World Championships, the 17-year old competitor re-corded a series of 94 – 96 – 100kg in snatch, five kilos more than the next best, another South American, Valeria RIVAS MOSQUERA from Colombia. PALACIOS went on to excel in clean and jerk, pinning three good lifts again, and she fi-nished with the highest result of 120kg, totalling 220kg. The Colombian was happy about further two silver medals and the three bronze medals were picked up by Karina KUZGANBAYEVA of Kazakhstan.


RIVAS MOSQUERA Valeria, COL, 69kg

FANG Lin, CHN, 63kg


An unusual duel for the champion title in the high-est women’s category: between Russia and Aus-tria (!). In the battle of the biggest young women first Austria got a vantage thanks to the snatch victory of Sarah FISCHER. The Austrian went 93,

96 and finally 99kg – all good, whereby her Russian rival, Daria RIAZANOVA remained one kilo under hers with 98kg being her best. In the second act, however, the Russian athlete put on her one-woman show and appeared to take her opening attempt after the others had finished their job, including FISCHER on 119kg. RIAZANOVA undertook two attempts: 121 followed by 125kg – both good. The Russian competitor thus captured both champion titles, the jerk and the total, and the Austrian landed in the runner-up position with 218kg. The total bronze was won by Kuinini Juanita MANUMUA from USA. The entire group must be complimented on a technically top level performance: out of the 27 snatch attempts of the nine competitors in this session only two were no lift!

The Kazakh team’s representative turned into gold what was only bronze in the previous category. The snatch result sheet showed a beautiful scale of 1kg differences between the top four (91-90-89-88kg), just as intended by the new rule (!), but the gap

widened for the clean and jerk. Eventually Olga PASTUKHOVA (KAZ) pulled off by a 14kg lead over the runner-up and by 15kg over the bronze medallist. Performing only successful attempts throughout the whole competition, PASTUKHOVA completed her flawless lifting with 91kg in snatch, 120kg in jerk and 211kg in total. The silver and bronze medals were equally distributed between Uzbekistan’s Gulnoza AKHMADOVA and Mexican Angela GUTIERREZ LOPEZ, with the former ultimately winning the more precious silver medal in total and the Mexican walking home with the bronze.

1 PASTUKHOVA OLGA 12.02.2002 KAZ 74.43 91 120 211

2 AKHMADOVA GULNOZA 02.03.2000 UZB 71.46 89 108 197

3 GUTIERREZ LOPEZ ANGELA Y. 11.12.2001 MEX 71.49 90 106 196

4 SCHRIJVER ATHENA S. JEWEL 19.01.2001 USA 70.94 86 106 192

5 OTGONBAYAR DARKHIJAV 09.02.2000 MGL 71.11 88 102 190

6 BAZARKINA MARIYA 09.01.2000 KAZ 74.95 83 105 188

1 RIAZANOVA DARIA 24.08.2000 RUS 88.41 98 125 223

2 FISCHER SARAH 09.11.2000 AUT 82.57 99 119 218

3 MANUMUA KUININI J. M. 12.12.2000 USA 97.79 93 117 210

4 VLASENKO ANASTASIIA 02.05.2001 UKR 91.64 92 117 209

5 KHAMHAENG SUPATCHANIN 14.04.2001 THA 98.48 90 118 208

6 ANANGONO PADILLA E. Y. 24.12.2000 ECU 93.15 92 115 207

75KG – KAZAKHSTAN: THREE NEW CHAMPION TITLES

+75KG – RUSSIA 2 – AUSTRIA 1


RIAZANOVA Daria, RUS, +75kg

PASTUKHOVA Olga, KAZ, 75kg


› EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, SPLIT, CRO

TEXT: KORNÉL JANCSÓ

CROATIANS WERE EXCELLENT HOSTS – WORLD RECORD WAS THEIR REWARD

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, SPLIT, CRO

PHOTO: JAKOV MATIC

It was 20 years since Croatia last hosted weightlifting continental Championships (1997, Rijeka), so the 2017 European Championships have to be especially acclaimed for being organised in an excellent manner.

“Our Croatian friends staged an outstanding continental championship – thanks to the new Federation leadership of enthusiastic but at the same time professional people”, thus summarized his opinion the Director General of the IWF, Attila ÁDÁMFI, who could witness the European Championships car-ried out on a high level in Split, a beautiful city of Dalmatia on the Adriatic coast.

“The Championships were broadcast on television; it was permanently advertised in Croatian TV and the event’s spot was everywhere in the media, drawing large-scale and substantial

sponsorship. I wish to mention both officials, the President Damijan KRKLEC and the General Secretary Jaksa IVANISEVIC, who can be proud of this event. The competitions were held in a very fitting venue with a nice look and the training was under the same roof which made the Championships very athlete-friendly. The competitors only had to focus on their perfor-

mance as all other conditions were provided to their comfort: perfect hotel, great food.” – said Attila Ádámfi. According to the IWF Director General, both the organisers and spectators got their due reward on the last day, when a new world record was born in the men’s superheavyweight, thus elevating the 2017 continental challenge’s professional value also to the maxi-mum. “I was lucky to witness Georgian Lasha TALAKHADZE’s epic record in snatch in the +105kg, the 217kg. Split made a memorably entry into the sport’s annals”, said Attila Ádámfi, noting that if the weight had been 218kg Talakhadze would have lifted it all the same. So easy looking and convincing was the lift by the Georgian superstar. We might want to add that at a time the 23-year old giant had already been the holder of the snatch world record –

if only for a fleeting moment. At the Olympic Games in Rio last year he snatched 215kg but his joy was short-lived before Iran’s dad SALIMIKORDASIABI quickly took it back with a suc-cessful barbell of 216kg.

IWF Director General Attila ÁDÁMFI congratulated Croatian Weightlifting Federation President Damijan KRKLEC and General Secretary Jaksa IVANISEVIC on the excellent organisation

Fantastic new world record snatch 217kg by Lasha TALAKHADZE of Georgia


Behdad SALIMIKORDASIABI quickly took it back with a suc-cessful barbell of 216kg. In Rio, Talakhadze compensated with a new world record total of 473kg, while at the same time winning the Olympic gold medal. Now, in Croatia, the Georgian took ownership of the snatch’s best mark again. Although at the 2017 European Championships Talakhadze undoubtedly stole the show, there were other outstanding performers before him. Mainly on behalf of the Russians who finished in the lead of the medal tables in both genders and of course in aggregate (5, 4, 2). Russia’s women collected 4 gold, 2 silver medals and 1 bronze medal; their chart for men includes 1, 2 and 1 medals, respectively. Noteworthy and sig-nificant is the medal distribution for men, whereby each of the eight gold medals in total went to a different nation! In women, five countries boasted European champions. One of the precious continental titles among women was won

by Tatiana KASHIRINA. In 2016 Kashirina did not compete. First, she skipped the European Championships because she was concentrating on the Olympic Games in Rio, which event the entire Russian team had to miss – due to a ban issued as a consequence of the country’s doping situation – and it pre-vented her participation as well. Alas, the Russian squad took an ample recompense in Split and for instance Kashirina became the epic first European cham-pion in the new category of +90kg – with a huge advantage. Formerly the supreme champion of the +75kg, the Russian lady amassed a 40kg lead on the silver medallist Ukrainian. Still of the tender age of 26, Kashirina scored her seventh European Championship victory since 2009 and added this title to her collection of 4 world champion titles and 2012 Olympic silver medal. In Split she triumphed with 317kg.

Fantastic new world record snatch 217kg by Lasha TALAKHADZE of Georgia French Anais MICHEL won the 48kg category

Joanna LOCHOWSKA of Poland won gold in the 53kg

1 MICHEL ANAIS 12.01.1988 FRA 47.80 80 100 180

2 CSENGERI MONICA-S. 21.03.1996 ROU 47.85 85 94 179

3 ANDRIES ELENA RAMONA 21.09.1994 ROU 47.60 75 89 164

1 LOCHOWSKA JOANNA 17.11.1988 POL 52.75 86 106 192

2 HERNANDEZ MARTIN A. 10.12.1994 ESP 52.65 86 105 191

3 PANKOVA LIUDMILA 25.03.1997 BLR 52.85 83 106 189

48KG

53KG

1 SCARANTINO MIRCO 16.01.1995 ITA 55.90 120 146 266

2 DUDOGLO IURI 09.07.1991 MDA 55.75 115 146 261

3 CIOTOIU ILIE-C. 11.07.1995 ROU 56.00 111 131 242

56KG



Another glorious moment of the ladies’ competitions was the splendid victory by Spain’s prime competitor, Lidia VALENTIN PEREZ. In the women’s 75kg category she celebrated the third continental champion title in her career. In marvellous shape and condition at the age of 32 years, Valentin totalled 252kg which was 14 kilograms more than the result of the runner up from Russia. It should be noted that the defending champion of the category, Ukrainian Iryna DEKHA – after having won the gold in snatch with 120kg, five kilos higher than Valentin’s result – zeroed in clean and jerk and thus facilitated the victory for the Spanish. Lidia Valentin, who can call herself Olympic champion today, scored 252kg in aggregate, a total that would have given her the European title even a category higher.Still speaking of the women: in each of the lighter categories the final victories were earned in great fights, exciting duels. The new rule – abolishment of the bodyweight advantage – seems to be doing the job! In the first category of 48kg French Anais MICHEL managed to win by one kilogram (180kg) on Romanian Monica-Sunetta CSENGERI. In 53 and 58kg the situ-ation was similar: in 53kg Polish Joanna LOCHOWSKA was the final winner with her 192kg pushing Spain’s Aenery HERNANDEZ MARTIN into second place for her 191kg. In the 58kg Russian Natalia KHLESTKINA totalled 214kg against Rebeka KOHA (LAT) finishing with 213kg. In the 63kg the difference was larger: Romanian Loredana-Elena TOMA with 226kg outscored silver medallist Tatiana ALEEVA (RUS) 223kg by three kilograms. In this category there was a big name, Tima TURIEVA (RUS), who has world and European titles and

Italy’s Mirco SCARANTINO was supreme again in the 56kg

The second gold medal by France: Bernardin KINGUE MATAM, 69kg


1 ATAK HURSIT 24.05.1991 TUR 62.00 130 160 290

2 SEZER BUNYAMI 04.07.1988 TUR 62.00 135 154 289

3 KHALIBEKOV FELIKS 03.02.1990 RUS 61.95 131 154 285

62KG

1 KINGUE MATAM B. L. 20.05.1990 FRA 68.75 140 180 320

2 CHEN OLEG 22.11.1988 RUS 68.85 150 169 319

3 JOACHIM ROBERT F. 13.01.1987 GER 68.85 141 176 317

69KG


In 75kg Lidia VALENTIN PEREZ, ESP proved her class once more

Those who made it to the podium in 69kg: RUS, UKR, GBR and BLR


1 KHLESTKINA NATALIA 23.04.1992 RUS 57.75 95 119 214

2 KOHA REBEKA 19.05.1998 LAT 57.25 95 118 213

3 MOLIE MADALINA-B. 27.04.1996 ROU 57.95 94 114 208

58KG

1 TOMA LOREDANA-ELENA 10.05.1995 ROU 62.65 100 126 226

2 ALEEVA TATIANA 01.03.1991 RUS 62.95 98 125 223

3 TURIEVA TIMA 22.06.1992 RUS 62.75 97 121 218

63KG



Oleksandr PIELIESHENKO, UKR dominated the 85kg

First ever European champion of 90kg: Diana MSTIEVA, RUS


two world Championship silver medals in 2014 and 2015 on her scorecard, but this time she could only make a low 218kg result and had to leave with the bronze medal. Another famous competitor was present in 69kg: from Albania the European vice champion of European Championships Romela BEGAJ, but she could not finish higher than in 5th place. The category celebrated a new champion: Anastasiia ROMANOVA, Russia, with a total of 243kg. The other two medal winners, Ukrainian Mariya KHLYAN and Belarus Anastasiya MIKHALENKA both scored 225kg – much less than the winning result.

1 CAPTARI DUMITRU 12.07.1989 ROU 76.85 160 200 360

2 MARTIN RAZVAN C. 22.12.1991 ROU 76.75 158 190 348

3 QERIMAJ ERKAND 10.08.1988 ALB 76.85 155 193 348

77KG

1 PIELIESHENKO OLEKSANDR 07.01.1994 UKR 84.55 175 211 386

2 OKULOV ARTEM 05.05.1994 RUS 84.90 165 212 377

3 ZWARYCZ KRZYSZTOF M. 13.12.1990 POL 85.00 159 199 358

85KG


In the new category of 90kg there was a fierce battle for the historic, first ever European title between Russia and Ukraine. Ultimately, 22-year old Diana MSTIEVA of Russia was victorious with 241kg and Valentyna KISIL from Ukraine became second.In the men’s +105kg the Olympic Champion of Rio, Talakhadze won hands down, with a plus of 21 kilograms on Olympic runner up Armenian Gor MINASYAN. That was the most overwhelming of all victories at the Championships. Almost as convincing as this one was the win by Simon MAR-TIROSYAN in the 105kg. The 20-year old Armenian rose to the occasion and put on a performance worthy of a former youth Olympic champion, junior world champion and Rio Olympic silver medallist. In Split he collected his life’s first European champion title with an impressive 414kg. That was 17 kilos more than Bulgarian Vasil Georgiev GOSPODINOV’s result who

took the second position. Most surprisingly, a former great star left the stage without a valid total: David BEDZHANYAN who came to Croatia as two-times European champion, world championships silver and bronze medallist made zero in snatch before getting some consolation with a silver medal in clean and jerk.Still earlier, we saw a persuading victory in the 85kg by the defending champion, Ukrainian Oleksandr PIELIESHENKO. His total measured 386kg, while former world champion Russian Artem OKULOV scored 377kg and had to settle for a gold medal in clean and jerk. The 77kg proved to be a “domestic” duel be-tween Romanian Dumitru CAPTARI, last year’s European third, and his compatriot Razvan Constantin MARTIN. The former triumphed beating MARTIN and Albanian Erkand QERIMAJ by 12 kilograms on both.

“I’m here! Beware…!” – Tatiana KASHIRINA, RUS

indicated with her easy win in the new +90kg category

Oleksandr PIELIESHENKO, UKR dominated the 85kg


1 ROMANOVA ANASTASIIA 02.10.1991 RUS 68.95 112 131 243

2 KHLYAN MARIYA 08.06.1992 UKR 68.70 99 126 225

3 MIKHALENKA ANASTASIYA 08.12.1995 BLR 68.60 95 130 225

69KG

1 VALENTIN PEREZ LIDIA 10.02.1985 ESP 74.90 115 137 252

2 VOSTRIKOVA MARIIA 02.11.1993 RUS 71.55 113 125 238

3 POGHOSYAN SONA 29.06.1998 ARM 73.40 101 126 227

75KG

1 MALIGOV ADAM 06.05.1993 RUS 92.75 180 208 388

2 CHUMAK DMYTRO 11.07.1990 UKR 93.55 174 214 388

3 DIDZBALIS AURIMAS 13.06.1991 LTU 93.50 181 205 386

1 MARTIROSYAN SIMON 17.02.1997 ARM 104.90 184 230 414

2 GOSPODINOV VASIL G. 05.11.1993 BUL 103.35 180 217 397

3 MICHALSKI ARKADIUSZ 07.01.1990 POL 105.00 170 217 387

94KG

105KG


1 TALAKHADZE LASHA 02.10.1993 GEO 158.10 217 250 467

2 MINASYAN GOR 25.10.1994 ARM 141.85 211 235 446

3 ALEKSANYAN RUBEN 14.03.1990 ARM 151.15 190 244 434

1 MSTIEVA DIANA 25.11.1994 RUS 89.70 109 132 241

2 KISIL VALENTYNA 05.07.1998 UKR 86.70 110 130 240

3 HAKOBYAN TATEV 21.03.1996 ARM 81.25 105 125 230

1 KASHIRINA TATIANA 24.01.1991 RUS 107.05 137 180 317

2 LYSENKO ANASTASIIA 02.12.1995 UKR 104.00 125 152 277

3 MAGAT KRISZTINA 02.03.1989 HUN 103.00 104 130 234


+105KG

90KG

+90KG

Adam MALIGOV, RUS: a new name on the champions’ list in 94kg

Right at the beginning of the Championships, defend-ing European champion, Italian Mirco SCARANTINO collected another title and proved to be five kilos superior to Moldova’s Iuri DUDOGLO. In the 62 and 69kg the new rule made its effect: the gold medal was decided by a 1kg difference in both cases. In 62kg the two Turks, 2015 European champion Hursit ATAK once again outlifted his teammate Bunyami SEZER, the former silver medallist. In the 69kg this time Frenchman Bernardin Ledoux KINGUE MATAM proved his excellence with 320kg against 319kg by Russian Oleg CHEN, despite the latter’s more brilliant former record (3 times world championship runner-up and twice European champion).The closest race could be enjoyed in the 94kg: only two kilograms separated the first from the third. Sil-ver medal winner in the year before, Adam MALIGOV, Russia was promoted into the champion’s position. Closing with an identical result of 388kg, Ukrainian Dmytro CHUMAK was second and Lithuania’s star Aurimas DIDZBALIS landed in the third place.

At 20 years of age: Armenian Simon MARTIROSYAN collects senior titles


› 2017 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, ASHGABATTEXT: KORNÉL JANCSÓ

ASIA GOES TO BRAND NEW VENUE IN TURKMENISTAN

2017 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, ASHGABAT

It was with understandable and justified pride that the new sports leadership of Turkmenistan welcomed the senior representatives of international weightlifting - IWF Presi-dent Dr. Tamás Aján, 1st Vice President Nicu Vlad, IWF Director General Attila Ádámfi, EWF General Secretary

Hasan Akkus – to the Asian Championships hosted by the country’s sporting capital, Ashgabat, late April. Judging from the success of the event no-one should be surprised to see in the foreseeable future this excellent and fire new location host-ing e.g. a junior or youth world championship… This year’s continental challenge had a secondary assignment as well: it was a test for another major event coming up in Turkmenistan this September, the fifth Asian Indoor and Mar-tial Arts Games. For the first time, weightlifting will be among the over twenty sports on the Games program. No doubt the Asian Championships were carried out in a fantastic venue in the newly built and spectacular Olympic Complex. Nearly 150 lifters were battling for the medals. 18

countries for women, 22 countries for men sent their rep-resentatives and in the end many of them – 12 – could leave with at least one medal won by their respective teams. In the medal allocation China took the largest share in both genders. Chinese lifters accumulated altogether 22 (!) gold medals, in addition to 8 silver and 5 bronze medals. In the combined medal table second best is PRK (5, 7, 2) followed by Iran (5, 3, 3). Further nations acquiring medals, in order of success, are: TPE (4, 9, 6), UZB (3, 4, 6) and THA (3, 4, 5), as well as KAZ (2, 2, 0), VIE (1, 6, 4), KOR (1, 3, 8), TKM (1, 2, 6), JPN (1, 0, 2) and finally IRQ (0, 0, 1).In the team classification CHN, THA, TPE was the ranking for women; IRI, CHN, UZB for the men.For Asia quite unusually, this time the world records were not in danger in any of the 16 categories. We might wonder why and we assume that the general approach of participants was that they preferred to save their top form for the World Cham-pionships at the end of the year in Anaheim (USA).


All but one exception: in the women’s 58kg category KUO Hsing-Chun of Chinese Taipei was brilliant winning with 241kg in total. Boasting the world champion title from 2013, defending Asian champion and – not incidentally – Olympic bronze medallist, KUO made six impeccable lifts and her final result in Ashgabat remained just a bit under the current world record. At 23 years of Age, KUO scored an easy win on 2016 junior world champion Chinese OU Lingli, just like KIM Su Ryon (PRK). Surprise in the same category: snatch world record holder in 53kg, now lifting among the 58kg lifters a category higher, Chinese LI Ping could not make it to the podium and had to settle for a single bronze in clean and jerk.The intense battle in 63kg deserves special mention: last year’s junior world champion RIM Un Sim (PRK) now advanced to senior continental champion rank, winning both halves of the competi-tion, totalling 237kg and defeating serious challengers Siripuch

GULNOI (INA) and CHIANG Nien-Hsin (TPE). GULNOI came to Turkmenistan as the defending champion, whereas CHIANG was youth Olympic gold medal winner in 2014.In the men’s competitions the tightest fights were seen in the lightest category, the 56kg. In conclusion, LONG Decheng tri-umphed winning his countryman LI Fabin and Vietnam’s TRAN Le Quoc Taon. Junior continental champion in 2014, this year LONG Decheng put on an impressive 273kg overall performance, beating his rivals by one and two kilos, respectively.The top-ranked Asians of the +105kg in last year’s world ranking list – save Salimikordasiabi – were present and occupied the continental positions in the same order: DJANGABAEV (UZB) 1st, – CHEN (TPE) 2nd, – TOYCHYYEV (TKM) 3rd . In addition, Hojamuhammet TOYCHYYEV earned a gold medal in snatch and another in clean and jerk – thus guaranteeing a happy ending for the host nation.

The crowded 85kg podium; among the presenters Kianoush ROSTAMI, Olympic champion of the category

IWF Anti-Doping Commission Chairman Dr. Patrick SCHAMASCH held a seminar for the participants


RIM Un Sim, PRK earned her first title among seniors

CHI Danhui, CHN proudly posing with her medals won in 69kg

Former junior world champion (in 2009), LI Rong-yan, CHN took the Asian title in 75kg

The first Asian champion in +90kg: JIA Weipeng, CHN

1 SUKCHAROEN THUNYA 21.04.1997 THA 47.95 84 106 190

2 NGUYEN THI THUY 23.08.1990 VIE 47.95 78 105 183

3 DZHUMABAYEVA YULDUZ 22.04.1998 TKM 47.46 72 93 165

1 WEI CHENGJI 02.07.1994 CHN 52.91 88 112 200

2 KAEWKHONG SUPATTRA 11.03.1996 THA 52.82 82 108 190

3 SHERMETOVA KRISTINA 25.05.1993 TKM 52.59 78 104 182

1 KUO HSING-CHUN 26.11.1993 TPE 57.61 104 137 241

2 OU LINGLI 21.10.1997 CHN 57.95 95 124 219

3 KIM SU RYON 24.10.1993 PRK 57.93 98 120 218

1 RIM UN SIM 05.07.1996 PRK 62.85 106 131 237

2 GULNOI SIRIPUCH 17.07.1993 THA 62.70 102 129 231

3 CHIANG NIEN-HSIN 29.04.1997 TPE 60.70 101 130 231

1 SHI DANHUI 11.05.1991 CHN 68.54 107 126 233

2 KIM SUHYEON 06.02.1995 KOR 68.58 100 130 230

3 HUNG WAN-TING 21.06.1990 TPE 68.61 103 125 22

1 LI RONGYAN 05.01.1991 CHN 74.84 110 140 250

2 YAO CHI-LING 31.03.1993 TPE 74.53 101 136 237

3 YEOM YUNJEONG 12.12.1996 KOR 74.85 98 119 217

1 SHI JIAQI 02.07.1999 CHN 79.41 108 137 245

2 LO YING-YUAN 07.05.1996 TPE 88.68 95 136 231

3 DAVRONOVA DOLERA 03.11.2001 UZB 30225 89 115 204

1 JIA WEIPENG 08.08.1995 CHN 113.28 129 170 299

2 KIM KUK HYANG 20.04.1993 PRK 98.93 126 166 292

3 PULSABSAKUL C. 04.11.1993 THA 120.82 123 145 268

48KG

53KG

58KG

63KG

69KG

75KG

90KG

+90KG

WOMEN

› 2017 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, ASHGABAT - WOMEN

ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS


1 LONG DECHENG 01.06.1995 CHN 55.82 123 150 273

2 LI FABIN 15.01.1993 CHN 55.78 123 149 272

3 TRAN LE QUOC TOAN 05.04.1989 VIE 55.65 124 147 271

Albert LINDER scored victory for Kazakhstan in 69kg

Last year silver medallist in 69kg, this year first in 77kg: YUAN Chengfei, CHN

The joy of Mohammadreza BARARI, IRI, when he won the 105kg category

Hojamuhammet TOYCHYYEV in +105kg catered for a happy ending for host Turkmenistan

1 SIN CHOL BOM 15.06.1990 PRK 61.73 133 168 301

2 TRINH VAN VINH 17.12.1995 VIE 61.92 132 167 299

3 HUANG MINHAO 21.08.1992 CHN 61.87 140 155 295

1 LINDER ALBERT 13.01.1996 KAZ 68.96 148 187 335

2 O KHANG CHOL 16.09.1993 PRK 68.87 148 183 331

3 FENG LVDONG 23.10.1991 CHN 68.65 155 170 325

1 YUAN CHENGFEI 14.07.1995 CHN 76.33 160 195 355

2 REJEPOV REJEPBAY 23.02.1992 TKM 76.69 158 185 343

3 KIM WOO JAE 26.09.1991 KOR 76.81 154 186 340

1 ZHAO YONGCHAO 16.03.1995 CHN 84.44 160 196 356

2 CHERAGHI SALEH 01.06.1991 IRI 84.69 162 190 352

3 YAMAMOTO TOSHIKI 08.09.1991 JPN 84.92 152 199 351

1 SOBIROV FARKHODBEK 10.09.1997 UZB 93.86 175 205 380

2 MOUSAVIJARAHI S. 21.04.1995 IRI 93.53 166 206 372

3 WANG CHING-CHIEH 14.04.1997 TPE 93.73 145 172 317

1 BARARI MOHAMMADREZA 31.03.1988 IRI 104.95 177 221 398

2 SEO HUIYEOP 29.02.1992 KOR 104.87 170 220 390

3 HASHEMI ALI 01.11.1991 IRI 100.63 171 213 384

1 DJANGABAEV RUSTAM 25.08.1993 UZB 149.20 196 241 437

2 CHEN SHIH-CHIEH 27.11.1989 TPE 151.40 185 243 428

3 TOYCHYYEV H. 16.01.1992 TKM 139.80 197 230 427

56KG

MEN

62KG

69KG

77KG

85KG

94KG

105KG

+105KG

› 2017 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, ASHGABAT -MEN


› 8TH WOMEN’S CATEGORY FOR TOKYO 2020TEXT: ATTILA ÁDÁMFI, IWF DIRECTOR GENERAL

TOWARDS OLYMPIC PARITY

The IWF has always been keen to enhance Women’s participation on every level - its history started in 1983. Following the introduction of the Olympic Agenda 2020, the IWF evaluated the possibilities how to

share its Principles and implement its Recommendations. In 2015 the IOC approved our proposal to add an additional women’s bodyweight category to the program of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in order to reach full gender equality in athletes’ quota and number of bodyweight cate-gories. This huge achievement – considering the IOC’s usual approach not to increase the number of events… – gave us the courage to go further and start the discussions with the IOC to include an additional bodyweight category for the program of 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.In April 2016, during the SportAccord Convention, I had my first meeting with IOC Sport Department together with Matthew Curtain, CGF Director of Sport (the Commonwealth Games Federation was the first Multisport Organisation to confirm the 8th bodyweight category on their program). In this meeting the IOC was informed that the IWF intends to introduce the addi-tional bodyweight category in order to achieve gender equality in line with the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 Recommendations.Since the IWF introduced the 8th bodyweight category from 1 January 2017, my first official visit of 2017 was paid to the IOC Headquarters in Lausanne to meet Kit McConnell, Sports Director to present the case, including our efforts to reach gender equality on different levels alongside women’s weight-lifting’s long and rich history.

We submitted the official application to the IOC in February, highlighting that our request does not only serve gender equal-ity but supports other Olympic Agenda 2020 Recommendations as well, while requiring minimal investment, since:

• No additional quota is requested • No additional Team Officials are needed • No additional Technical Officials are needed • No additional days are requested• No additional Competition Venue is needed • No additional Training Venue is needed • No additional Sport Equipment is needed • No additional Technology is needed• No negative impact on the environment

During my recent visit to Tokyo, I met Yoshiro Mori, Tokyo 2020 President and Koji Murofushi, Tokyo 2020 Executive Director of Sports and discussed the possible inclusion of the additional women bodyweight category.Following our deliberate and careful but well-grounded ap-proach we hope that the IOC will positively evaluate our request in line with the Agenda 2020 Recommendations and we can cheer for 8 women gold medallists in Tokyo and beyond.

H.E. Yoshiro Mori, President of Tokyo 2020 was positive about the IWF’s request

Presenting the case to IOC Sports Director Mr. Kit McConnell


› OBITUARY – IMRE FÖLDI (78)TEXT: ANIKÓ NÉMETH-MÓRA

HUNGARY MOURNS ITS MOST SUCCESS-FUL WEIGHTLIFTER IN HISTORY

OBITUARY – IMRE FÖLDI (78)

Imre Földi, the first Olympic champion of Hungarian weightlifting, Sportsman of the Nation, died shortly before his 79th birthday due on 8 May.Imre Földi medalled in three Olympic Games in the 56kg category. In 1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico City, both times

he had to settle for a silver medal but he did not give up and fi-nally won the gold in 1972 Munich, where he set a world record, one of his altogether 20 world records. He was six times world and ten times European champion. For a long time he held a unique record in the sport as he was the only weightlifter in the world to have participated in 5 Olympic Games.He was also successful as a coach of his daughter, Csilla Földi who collected 16 European champion gold medals.In 2002 Imre Földi was awarded the Olympic Order and had Hungarian weightlifting stronghold city Tatabánya’s Sports Hall being named after him in 2009. In 1993 he became a member of the Hall of Fame and in 2005 he was elected by the IWF among the Lifters of the Century.With Földi’s death the weightlifting sport world lost one of its all-time greatest champions and Hungary its most successful weightlifter ever.Our sympathy goes to the family and the Hungarian Weightlift-ing Federation.


WERK SANS p o r t I n t e r n a t i o n a l

The real power of athletes

Weightlifting


› WOMEN’S PAGE

2ND IOC-ASOIF WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP FORUM

TEXT: MOIRA LASSEN, CHAIR IWF WOMEN’S COMMISSION

Gender equality is simply stated as ‘the state of having the same rights, status, and opportunities as others, regardless of one’s gender.’ Simply stated, not simply achieved. The International Olympic Committee steered by Olympic Agenda 2020 aspires to remedy this challenge by way of Recommendation 11 – Foster gender equality and Recommendation 39 – Implement a targeted recruitment process. The International Weightlifting Federation as a devoted and constant sport within

the Olympic Movement celebrates the IOCs vision and aspirations.The IOC indicates that “achieving gender equality - both in sport and society as a whole - requires an innovative, inclusive approach” and one of those innovations, in partnership with ASOIF, is the IF Women in Leadership Forum. Following on the success of the 2016 event, the 2nd Annual Forum in Lausanne, on 06-08 March, hosted over sixty-five representatives from International and National Federations as well as National Olympic Committees. Women leaders – elected officials and staff – represented twenty-six sports; from Athletics to Wrestling.Representing Weightlifting was myself, Ms Moira Lassen, IWF ExecutiveBoard and Chair of the Women’s Commission and Ms Ursula Garza Papandrea, USAWF Chair. Excitedly, all Forum participants were also able to hear from Dr Tamas Ajan as one of the senior panellists.The Forum commenced on Monday 06 March with opening remarks by Mr Christophe De Kepper, IOC Director Gen-eral who stated ‘we need more women leaders in the IOC to benefit from their knowledge and creativity’;Mr Francesco Ricci Bitti, ASOIF President stating ‘there are too many men in fact’ and ‘we, men are ready to play our role’. Ms Lydia Nsekera, IOC Member and Women in Sport Commission Chair summoned all by saying ‘we have to lead the fight – we have to conduct strategies, search for votes and mobilize resources’. The theme of the Forum was #Time2Run which aimed to identify concrete measures to increase development op-portunities and the recruitment of women in decision-making positions at all levels of sport, including leadership, management, coaching and officiating. The Forum provided helpful advice for women on performing their current role, embracing the possibility of stretch-ing into new roles and, as well, enabled women to become mentors for other women working, or seeking to work, in the world of sport.

The IWF was amply represented at the Forum


After an IOC hosted luncheon at the Olympic Museum, participants appreciated afternoon panel discussions by leading authorities in their field.The second panel of experts discussed “Translating Poli-cies into Practice – a Framework to Inspire Change”, with the IWF President included. “Dr Aján‘s contribution to the Forum was outstanding; his message was clear – ‘we need to have even more women not only in the sport itself but also as sport leaders.’The 2nd Annual Forum wrapped up on 08 March in con-junction with the International Women’s Day celebrations alongside many IOC Members and IF Presidents joining in the festivities. The IWD2017 theme was Be Bold for Change and with the knowledge that the IWF was bold for change in order to se-cure Women’s Weightlifting on the 2000 Olympic program; true to form, all IWF representatives, as well as Ms Reiko Chinen, 2020 Tokyo Weightlifting Sport Manager, networked with IOC Members regarding the inclusion of the 8th body-weight category for women as a medal event.Closing the Forum, Chair Nsekera clearly stated to Forum participants and guests alike “We all need to know that we have a place in sport, and that power is not for men alone, far from it. It is for us as well. We need to understand also

that, without support from men, our fight will be in vain!” Achieving gender equality is a team effort with a com-mitment from all to be bold, work together and strive for greater female leadership in sport.Fostering gender equality and strengthening women’s participation in, and through, sport is one of the key mis-sions of the IOC. Over the years, the IOC has observed that women’s participation in the world of Olympic sport has grown steadily in cooperation with the IFs and NOCs. Now we must all pursue the goal of increasing the number of women in decision-making roles. As Forum participants and as women, we vow to:

• Increase collaboration with male leaders to achieve the minimum target of 30% of women in leadership roles in the Olympic Movement by 2020;

• Stand for election for decision-making positions in na-tional, international and continental associations;

• Become mentors for other women in sport; and• Include the participation of men in the 3rd Annual IF Women in Leadership Forum, so as to enrich and diversify the exchanges.As future Forum participants and as men, please consider what you vow to do. Are you going to be a part of the win-ning team? If so, please let us know!

Dr Aján on the panel

IWF delegates vote with the Forum


›TECHNICAL CORNER

TEXT: SAM COFFA, IWF VICE PRESIDENT, CHAIRMAN IWF TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

In November 2016 at the Constitution Congress held in Penang-Malaysia the IWF Member Federations, at the recommendations of the Technical Committee and after the approval of the Executive Board, as well as reviewing the TCRR, made 3 important decisions:

1) Addition of an extra bodyweight category for women (90kg) and as consequence altering the +75kg category to +90kg. 2) The 20/15 Kg rule was modified to 20kg for men and women.3) Abolition of the bodyweight advantage in classification.

With regard to the 1st and 2nd changes, these were ac-cepted by acclamation. The extra bodyweight category for women has been on our agenda for some time with all three IWF Committees and staff working hard at it. Finally, the matter was taken up by our Women’s Com-mission which not only brought a new approach but was able to galvanise our collective resolve – the result was a clear winner with all 3 Committees, the Executive Board and finally the Congress approving the move unanimously.A great outcome for our sport, a great step forward for gender parity (8 categories each for men and women) and certainly a sense of relief and a degree of satisfaction for all concerned – especially our female athletes.Already the IWF has made an application to the IOC to consider granting an additional event at the Olympic Games and we pray that positive consideration is given to our proposal which is in full accordance with the IOC Agenda 2020. (See on Page 41.)

The 20kg rule was a no brainer as no one was able to tell us why on earth the women were compelled to start their attempts 5kg closer to their entry totals than their male counterparts. The change was easily accepted and understood.

As for the 3rd change, the abolition of the bodyweight ad-vantage, immediately after the decision I was inundated by questions, enquiries, concerns and some confusion. In my replies I endeavoured to calm the multitudes by as-suring everyone that the change will not cause the world of weightlifting to collapse as indeed it has not. Already national, international events and including the World Youth Championship in Bangkok, Thailand have been held and athletes, coaches and officials and most certainly the public have embraced the new rule.

The main scoreboard has been reconfigured to reflect the new chapter and it is so much easier to follow the progress of the competition.

Some of the advantages we foresaw are becoming evi-dent. For instance, it can be noted that athletes are now weighing in close to the bodyweight category limit. This, I contend, is a plus for the health of our athletes. There is no longer a need for unscrupulous coaches to keep their charges in sauna rooms to shed the last drop of body fluid to gain bodyweight advantage.

The coaches are now compelled to work and strategise like never before. No longer can they rely on or hide behind the 0.02kg bodyweight advantage; now they must ensure that their athletes lift that crucial 1kg more to place themselves on top of the ranking or make sure that they perform the winning lift first in accordance with the sequence (more of that later) and relative to the Total in particular, that they register the winning Total first with the least number of attempts.

THE NEW TCRR AND ITS CHANGES!TECHNICAL CORNER

On the way to become the first ever continental champion in the new +90kg category: Tatiana KASHIRINA, RUS. Will she be the first to capture the world title as well?


Some argue that the lot number now has an inordinate influence on the result of a competition. On that I must re-mind all that the argument was always thus. Yes it is true that the lowest lot number has advantages but equally I argue that there are perhaps more advantages in knowing what your opposition has done and you, as a consequence, know exactly what you need to do to get in front, lift one kilo more. So, there are advantages and disadvantages and in all circumstances it is in the domain of the athlete and coaches to determine their course of action which in turn impacts on their ultimate result. To that end, I think it is terrific for the sport that such teamwork is now deployed to enhance our competitions, the interest and excitement for the public and world-wide presentation.

Back to the technical process when dealing with the clas-sification of athletes without the bodyweight advantage.

What we call the Calling Order or ‘sequence’ is generated by the Technology Information Service (TIS). It is the se-quence which determines who is the athlete to be called on the platform first, considering the chosen weight, lot number, number of attempt, etc.

6.6.6 Calling Order (Regulation)The following four (4) factors listed in priority must be considered when calling the athletes:1. The weight of the barbell (lightest weight first) 2. The number of the attempt (lowest number first) 3. The sequence / order of the previous attempt(s) (the athlete who lifted earliest is first) 4. The start number of the

athlete (lowest first) – For the allocation of start num-bers see Regulation to 6.4 – Weigh-inWhen studying the ‘sequence’, one must know that in world events it is not possible to group 45 athletes in one session of lifting. By necessity, we have to split them into groups, (A,B,C,D). This is determined following the verification of final entries (VFE) and on the basis of the declared Entry Totals, however, the TIS recognises all groups as ONE CATEGORY. Which means that whether an athlete competes in a C group at 10am, or B group at 3pm or the A group at 7.30pm, the ‘sequence’ determines which athlete performed the individual lift or the Total first and not the CLOCK TIME. 6.8.2 Factors to decide the classification of athletes in Snatch and Clean & Jerk:1. best result – highest first; if identical, then: 2. best result’s attempt number – least number of attempt first; if identical, then: 3. previous attempt(s) – least number of attempt first; if identical, then: 4. lot number – lowest first Factors to decide the classification of athletes in Total:1. best result – highest first; if identical, then: 2. best Clean & Jerk result – lowest first; if identical, then: 3. best Clean & Jerk result’s attempt number – least number of attempt first; if identical, then: 4. previous attempt(s) – least number of attempt first; if identical, then: 5. lot number – lowest first. The sequence / order of the competition applies when a bodyweight category is divided into multiple groups. (See Regulation to 6.8)

It was a delight to see the new rule in operation at the Youth World Championships when it was clear that the coaches and athletes understood the message: LIFT ONE KILO MORE AND YOU WIN!

B Group

Lot Start No Name

Snatch Clean & JerkTotal Rank

1 2 3 Result Rank 1 2 3 Result Rank

100 1 A 100 (4) 100 (9) 100 (11) 100 11 120 (6) 120 (9) 120 (12) 120 8 220 10

101 2 B 95 (3) 100 (8) --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

102 3 C 100 (5) 100 (10) 105 (15) 100 7 120 (7) 120 (10) 125 (14) 120 4 220 7

103 4 D 90 (1) 100 (7) 105 (14) 105 3 115 (2) 115 (4) 115 (5) 115 10 220 3

104 5 E 94 (2) 101 (12) 105 (16) 101 4 110 (1) 115 (3) 120 (11) 120 5 221 1

105 6 F 100 (6) 101 (13) 105 (17) 100 5 120 (8) 125 (13) 125 (15) 120 1 220 4

A Group

Lot Start No Name

Snatch Clean & JerkTotal Rank

1 2 3 Result Rank 2 3 Result Rank

200 1 G 91 (3) 95 (6) 100 (12) 100 10 115 (3) 116 (8) 120 (12) 120 7 220 9

201 2 H 100 (7) 100 (10) 105 (16) 100 8 115 (4) 120 (10) 125 (14) 120 3 220 6

202 3 I 90 (2) 95 (5) 105 (15) 105 2 114 (2) 115 (6) 115 (7) 115 9 220 2

203 4 J 85 (1) 94 (4) 105 (14) 105 1 --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

204 5 K 100 (8) 100 (11) 105 (17) 100 9 110 (1) 115 (5) 120 (11) 120 6 220 8

205 6 L 100 (9) 103 (13) 105 (18) 100 6 120 (9) 125 (13) 125 (15) 120 2 220 5

›TECHNICAL CORNER




FOLLOW THE FUTURE OF STRENGTH AT ELEIKO.COM

RAISING THE BAR FOR 60 YEARS

Documents

WORLD No - Quomodof4.quomodo.com/B38A83CB/uploads/3020/IWF_140_lowres.pdf4 / WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING 2016 LIFTERS OF THE YEAR › 2016 LIFTERS OF THE YEAR TANASAN AND ROSTAMI VOTED TO