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Phuket, Day 10: Olympic champion Neisi Dajomes takes her last chance for Paris, and Vibert hails strength of Team USA

Two Olympic champions and two Tokyo silver medallists were among the 21 athletes who lined up for top two sessions of the women’s 81kg at the IWF World Cup in Phuket. Only one of them will be in Paris. Neisi Dajomes from Ecuador was the day’s big winner. The Tokyo 76kg gold medallist had to make 266kg to overtake her team-mate Tamara Salazar, who withdrew after weigh-in because of a long-term injury. Dajomes did it in style by winning with five good lifts and had the luxury of declining her final attempt. Neisi Dajomes (ECU) “I’m very happy with that, happy for the team, and I want to thank my coach,” said Dajomes. “It has been difficult because I had a bad knee injury last year.” Her 123-146-269 put Dajomes second in the Paris rankings behind Liang Xiaomei from China. Third-placed Sara Samir from Egypt withdrew after weigh-in and fourth-placed Solfrid Koanda from Norway was a clear winner at 87kg in the final session of the day. Wang Zhouyu from China and Salazar, first and second at 87kg in Tokyo, both went out when they were ranked behind a team-mate. Wang had been behind Liang throughout qualifying and was unable to take advantage when Liang, lifting within herself because of injury, was 31kg down on her best total. Wang made 120-147-267 in second place. Eileen Cikamatana from Australia improved her best total and won clean and jerk gold on 114-149-263, finishing third on total and fifth in the rankings. Eileen Cikamatana (AUS) Kate Vibert, second behind Dajomes in Tokyo, would be in the top 10 at 71kg but for the presence there of her USA team-mate Olivia Reeves. Vibert moved to 81kg and made career highs on 113-145-268 today. That left her sixth in the Paris list but because Jourdan Delacruz at 49kg, Reeves and super-heavyweight Mary Theisen Lappen are ranked higher, Vibert will not be selected. “It’s incredible that our talent pool is so deep I can be in the top 10 in two weight classes and still not make it,” said Vibert. “It’s a reflection of how amazing this sport is in the USA. “We have so many good lifters. As much as it sucks to lose, we push each other. That forces us to be better, to be an international threat to everyone else. The respect for the US team throughout this quad has exponentially increased.” Kate Vibert (USA) Kim Suhyeon from Korea left it very late to claim her place in Paris. Kim had celebrated qualification at the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan two months ago – prematurely, as it turned out. Her team-mate Kim Iseul improved her best total by 17kg in the C Group, jumping from 23rd in the extended rankings – two or more per nation – to the top six, overtaking Kim Suhyeon by 1kg on 115-140-255.  “That’s very good but I was hoping for 118-145,” said Kim Iseul. Kim Suhyeon needed 256kg to qualify. Her first clean and jerk was overturned by the jury, she dropped the second, and the jury intervened again when she made her final attempt at 144kg. Kim waited at the bottom of the steps off the platform and bowed to the jury when they confirmed it was a good lift. “I was very nervous,” she said. “My left arm was a problem again. God helped me.” The loudest celebrations of the day were by Laura Amaro from Brazil and her coach Dragos Doru Stanica. “I wanted to have fun out there and wow! That really was fun,” said Amaro, who improved her best total by 6kg on 112-141-253 to finish 10th the rankings.   “I went to the 2016 Youth Winter Olympics in skeleton – the only woman in Brazil in skeleton. Then I had to choose between skeleton and weightlifting and I made the right choice. “I’m going to the real Olympics! I’m so happy, I love the Olympic dream. The spirit of the Olympics is in me.” Laura Amaro (BRA)  Ayamey Medina from Cuba and Marie Fegue from France were the other top-10 finishers. Fegue is also ranked at 71kg, China may not contest this category, USA prefers other options, and the continental place will be reallocated because all continents are represented in the top 10. This gives a chance to the athletes placed 11 to 14 – Yudelina Mejia from Dominican Republic, Dayana Chirinos from Venezuela, Ankhtsetseg Munkhjantsan from Mongolia and Rigina Adashbaeva from Uzbekistan. Solfrid Koanda (NOR) In the calmer 87kg session Koanda came out after everybody else had finished. She made a career-best snatch and failed with two clean and jerk attempts at 158kg that would have given her a personal best total. Koanda finished on 123-152-275. Koanda weighed in at 84.84kg, which was about 3kg heavier than second-placed Kim Yong Ju from DPR Korea. Kim made 113-145-258 ahead of Anastasiia Manievska from Ukraine on 105-129-234. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Weightlifting refugee Yekta Jamali takes World Cup opportunity to boost her Paris 2024 hopes

Teenager Yekta Jamali boosted her chances of going to the Paris Olympic Games when she made a career-best total in her first competition for the IWF’s Weightlifting Refugee Team (WRT). Jamali was the best young female weightlifter in Iran when, in 2022, she fled to Germany “in order to be able to continue safely practising her sport”, according to the International Olympic Committee, which funds Jamali and fellow WRT lifter Ramiro Mora with Refugee Athlete Scholarships. Yekta Jamali (WRT) Jamali, 19, and 26-year-old Mora lifted at the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand this week. They are both candidates for a place at Paris 2024 and will learn in May whether they have made the IOC Refugee Team. Any places for the Refugee Team are additional to sport-by-sport athlete quotas. “I hope to be there. It went well today,” Jamali said in Phuket after making 100-125-225 in the 81kg C Group. “I have no family in Germany, and when I arrived I could not train for about six months. But I have friends there who have been so kind and helpful. I am in Frankfurt, and I feel happy now. I hope to get a German passport.” Jamali, who is studying as well as training, is coached by Almir Velagic, who also moved to Germany from his homeland. Velagic, who left his native Bosnia in a time of war and became a German citizen in 2000, lifted at the Olympics three times for Germany and is now a national coach. Women were not allowed to practise weightlifting in Iran until 2018. Only one member of the Iran women’s team, the 35-year-old 2022 Asian champion Seyedeh Elham, has ever bettered Jamali’s numbers. Mora, originally from Cuba and now living in Britain, was less successful in the men's 102kg on Monday. He made his career best snatch of 162kg and his first clean and jerk at 197kg, but had to withdraw because of an adductor injury. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Phuket, Day 9: Photo Gallery

All photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia [gallery size="large"

Phuket, Day 9: World records put China’s Liu Huanhua clear in Paris rankings– and B Group lifter jumps 18 places to qualify

Liu Huanhua from China broke two world records and built a big lead in the Olympic rankings with the final lift of a memorable day at the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand. Another highlight was a jump of 18 places by Davranbek Hasanbayev from Turkmenistan in a B Group that produced four medallists. There was good news for the United States too, when results went right for Wes Kitts to qualify with the continental slot. Before today, nobody had beaten the 102kg world standards set in 2018 when new weight categories were introduced. Liu made a 7kg jump to 232kg for his last attempt and made it to claim world records in clean and jerk and total on 181-232-413. Liu Huanhua (CHN) That gives him the biggest lead over his nearest challenger in all five men’s categories for Paris 2024. After a day of many ranking changes the nearest challenger is 20-year-old Garik Karapetyan from Armenia. Karapetyan was not in the simplified lists – one athlete per nation – when the four 102kg sessions started here. In making 185-216-401 before declining his final attempt, the triple junior world champion knocked out his older team-mate Samvel Gasparyan. Garik Karapetyan (ARM) Lesman Paredes made a successful return to the platform after an absence of 483 days. “I’m very pleased with that,” he said after making 186-212-398 in fourth place, improving his best total by 1kg. The Bahrain lifter made three lifts and declined three. “I had two elbow surgeries last year, in March and July, so this was a good comeback, especially as I didn’t want to take any risks before Paris,” he said. Half of the top 10 finishers came from the B Group, which was won by Yauheni Tsikhantsou. The Individual Neutral Athlete from Belarus made 183-214-400 for third place, up 2kg on his previous best, but he was not happy. “I wanted more, I know I have more in me,” he said after failing with a final attempt at 225kg. “I will do better in Paris.” Lesman Paredes (BRN) Don Opeloge from Samoa took silver in clean and jerk and moved up to qualify in 10th place, the best effort by a male lifter from Oceania in all categories. He made 170-221-391. Bekdoolot Rasulbekov from Kyrgyzstan won clean and jerk bronze on 220kg but did not qualify. He made only one snatch of 165kg. Others who failed to make it included Reza Dehdar from Iran and Tudor Bratu from Moldova, who had started the day in the top 10. The Olympic 96kg gold medallist Meso Hassona from Qatar, who ended the day third in the rankings, withdrew after weigh-in. He suffered an abductor injury in training here last week and expects to be out of action for two to three weeks. Davranbek Hasanbayev (TKM) The top 10 in ranking order were: Liu, Karapetyan, Meso, Akbar Djuraev from Uzbekistan, who lifts at 109kg here on Wednesday, Tsikhantsou, Jang Yeonhak from Korea, Paredes, Hasanbayev, Irakli Chkheidze from Georgia and Opeloge. Kitts did not lift because of a hip injury. He could have been overtaken by Jhonatan Rivas, who has also had injury problems, but the Colombian bombed out in clean and jerk, leaving Kitts 14th in the rankings. When Opeloge made the top 10, the continental place went to Kitts as the highest-ranked Pan American lifter. Hasanbayev made the biggest rankings move to date in the World Cup, which ends on Thursday. He punched the air, screamed and kissed the barbell after jumping from 26th place to eighth on 187-205-392. He won gold in snatch. “It’s a great feeling, not just for me but for everybody in the team,” Hasanbayev said. He was full of praise for his coaches for their strategy in bringing about a 19kg improvement on his best total. In the two months since the Asian Championships, where he was 27kg lower on 365kg, Hasanbayev had “trained very hard without a break, keeping to a very strict daily schedule of when I train, sleep, eat”. The biggest factor, he said, was putting on weight. “I had always trained at 99 to 100 kilos because I had trouble getting up to 102. The coaches said I had to be heavier. I went up to 104-105 kilos, I stayed there and I trained much better. “Inshallah now I can win a medal in Paris. If I keep training like I did for the last two months I really believe it”. Jong Chun Hui (PRK) DPR Korea had its eighth winner of the week when the Asian Games silver medallist Jong Chun Hui had her third straight success at 76kg. Jong missed her first and last attempts in making 114-145-259, a very respectable total given her weight. Although she competes at 76kg, Jong weighed less than 70kg at the Asian Games, where there was no 71kg category. She was only a few grams over 71kg when she won the Qatar Grand Prix and the Asian title, and again today. Marie Fegue, France’s top hope for the Olympics who is ranked in the top 10 at 71kg and 81kg, was second on 115-130-245. Fegue appeared to start her third snatch after the clock had run down but there was no jury review. Miyareth Mendoza took bronze for Colombia on 106-134-240. Shania Bedward from Canada made a career-best 102-132-234 in fourth. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio

Phuket, Day 8: Photo Gallery

All photos by Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia [gallery size="large"

Phuket, Day 8: USA’s Olivia Reeves turns tables on China and PRK with sensational World Cup victory

Olivia Reeves from the United States achieved the best result of her career when she defeated all three world record holders in the women’s 71kg at the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand. At the final qualifier for Paris 2024, Reeves made all six lifts for career bests across the board on 118-150-268. That put her on top of the podium ahead of the best lifters from China and DPR Korea. The Stars and Stripes sat above the flags of China and PRK at the medal ceremony. When Mike Gattone, USA Weightlifting’s head of performance and coaching, was asked when that had last happened he said it was a question of if, not when. “I can’t recall it ever happening,” he said. Olivia Reeves (USA) Between them, China and PRK hold all but two of the current women’s world records. While 20-year-old Reeves improved her best Olympic ranking total by 6kg in second place, the athletes standing first, third and fourth were collectively 46kg down on their best. Reeves has put 23kg on her total since qualifying began 16 months ago and is a genuine gold medal contender for Paris. The rankings leader Liao Guifang from China holds the world record on total, Song Kuk Hyang from DPR Korea set the clean and jerk mark at the Asian Championships two months ago, and snatch specialist Angie Palacios from Ecuador remains the only non-Asian holder of a current women’s world record. Liao Guifang (CHN) Liao was second on 115-149-264, Song third on 115-146-261 and Palacios sixth on 113-132-245. All three of them made only two good lifts. The only other athlete in the top 10 to improve her total was the Tokyo 64kg bronze medallist Chen Wen-Huei from Chinese Taipei, fourth here on 105-141-246. Reeves, youngest of 11 athletes in the A Group, had said before the competition, “My goal is to get as close as I can to China, see what I can push there.” After finishing 4kg ahead of Liao she said, “It certainly went to plan. I couldn’t have asked for better, especially after a short turnaround from Bulgaria (the last qualifier in February). It’s as good as it gets. “I can’t quite believe I got 150 – I’m going to have to watch that again.” Reeves had finished behind Liao and Song at the Qatar Grand Prix in December. Asked how she had turned third place into first, she said: “I lifted more weight, that’s all there is to it.  Nothing else changed, I just have confidence in my lifts.” Besides Liao, Reeves, Palacios and Chen, the others ranked in the top 10 are Loredana Toma from Romania, Vanessa Sarno from the Philippines, Neama Said from Egypt, who weighed in without lifting here, Mari Leivis Sanchez from Colombia, the Individual Neutral Athlete Siuzanna Valodzka from Belarus, and Marie Fegue from France, who lifts at 76kg on Monday. Sarno and Valodzka both opted to lift in the B Group. There was heartbreak in the final half-hour of that tense session. Four lifters had two tries each to earn a place in Paris, including one who started the day in 20th place. All eight attempts were no-lifts. Yeniuska Mirabal from Cuba had made her first four when she failed twice at 133kg. She would have moved up 10 places to tenth if she had done it. Mun Minhee from Korea missed twice at 134kg, again after four good lifts, and Pham Thi Hong Thanh from Vietnam failed both times at 135kg. Eyglo Sturludottir (ISL) Eyglo Sturludottir from Iceland was “really happy and positive” despite missing attempts at 134kg that would have earned qualification. Sturlodottir, a 22-year-old medical student whose big aims are to become a doctor and lift at the Olympic Games, competed in all seven qualifiers. She improved from 94-119-213 in the first to 106-130-236 in the last. “I’ll keep training, keep competing and hopefully in the next qualification for Los Angeles I will be more secure in the rankings,” she said. “I’ll graduate in 2027, then I’ll have a year of no school, just train for the 2028 Games. I’m not done. I’ll be a doctor at the next Olympics. See you there.” There is still a chance that Sturludottir will be in Paris. Iceland has applied for a universality place on her behalf. The International Olympic Committee Tripartite Commission will assess the 32 applications and send invitations to six athletes – three men and three women - in mid-June. Joy Eze from Nigeria was another athlete who failed with a final attempt that would have put her in the top 10. It happened in the previous day’s C Group, where Eze totalled 239kg and moved up to 11th place. That might be enough to qualify depending on the reallocation of France’s host nation places. Amanda Schott from Brazil is 12th and, despite being unable to lift here because of injury, is not without hope. If China opts not to compete in this category in Paris – it can select a maximum three women from the five who have qualified – Schott could move up. The men's 96kg podium Won Jongbeom won the non-Olympic men’s 96kg by a wide margin. He declined his final attempt after making 170-219-389 to finish clear of Karim Abokahla from Egypt – who declined his last two – on 165-205-370. Braydon Kennedy from Canada was third on 165-193-358. By Brian Oliver Photos by Giorgio