The women’s 71-kilogram weightlifting division is pushing the boundaries of strength in the sport. On Thursday, June 14, 2023, that boundary was pushed just a little bit further: Ecuadorian athlete Angie Palacios Dajomes snatched 121 kilograms, or 266.7 pounds, at the 2023 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Grand Prix I in Havana, Cuba. Not only was...
China’s women weightlifters are the single most dominant competitive force in the modern history of the sport — and that’s no exaggeration. On May 9, 2023, China logged yet another triple-gold-medal performance at the 2023 Asian Weightlifting Championships (AWC) in Jinju, South Korea. Liao Guifang (71KG) snatched 120 kilograms (264.5 pounds), clean & jerked 148...
Li Dayin may be the next big thing in Chinese men’s weightlifting. The 25-year-old powerhouse made a confident and commanding appearance in the 89-kilogram division at the 2023 Asian Weightlifting Championships (AWC) in Jinju, South Korea. Dayin set two new World Records during his performance on May 10: He snatched 180 kilograms (396.8 pounds) and...
The ink had hardly dried before it was wiped away. On May 10, 2023, Tian Tao returned to the weightlifting stage for the first time in over three years at the 2023 Asian Weightlifting Championships (AWC). There, during his competitive debut as an 89-kilogram athlete, he set a new World Record in the clean &...
“There’s a reason they call them the ‘Unbelievable Bulgarians‘,” exclaimed the commentators shortly after 18-year-old weightlifter Karlos Nasar set four new World Records with a single lift at the 2023 European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan, Armenia. At the conclusion of the 89-kilogram division, Nasar shocked the crowd when he successfully clean & jerked 221 kilograms,...
Aurora “Rory” van Ulft is unlike any other athlete in the world. She scores the weights that rival the most elite weightlifters on the planet and is not yet aged to double digits. On Jan. 21, 2023, at the 2023 Variety Village Open in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, van Ulft locked out a clean & jerk...
A fantastic year of Olympic lifting was capped off with the 2022 International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) World Weightlifting Championships (WWC). This year’s World Championships, held in Bogotá, Colombia, also marks the beginning of the professional weightlifter’s campaign toward the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Bogotá 2022, which began on Dec. 5 and ended on...
“It doesn’t matter to me,” is what 73-kilogram weightlifter Rahmat Erwin Abdullah told the commentators at the 2022 World Weightlifting Championships (WWC) when asked if he was concerned about being placed in the B Group. Shortly thereafter, Abdullah set a new clean & jerk World Record of 200 kilograms (440.9 pounds). Abdullah’s astonishing performance out...
Li Fabin has gotta catch ’em all. The 61-kilogram Chinese weightlifter wept, for he has no worlds left to conquer after setting a new World Record in the clean & jerk at the International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) 2022 World Weightlifting Championships (WWC). After winning a gold medal in the snatch portion of the competition, Fabin capped...
The best weightlifters in the world are drawing battle lines. On Friday, Nov. 11, 2022, Bulgarian weightlifter Karlos Nasar posted a video to social media. 18-year-old Nasar clean & jerked 220 kilograms (485 pounds) — an unofficial Junior and Senior World Record lift in the 89-kilogram division. Not only is this revelation a tremendous display of leg...
