China and Thailand celebrated victories, with China also setting world records as Asian competitors claimed five of the six podium spots in total on the first day of the 2024 IWF World Championships in Bahrain. Asia could have achieved a clean sweep, were it not for the outstanding effort by Thiago Felix from Brazil, who […]
China and Thailand celebrated victories, with China also setting world records as Asian competitors claimed five of the six podium spots in total on the first day of the 2024 IWF World Championships in Bahrain.
Asia could have achieved a clean sweep, were it not for the outstanding effort by Thiago Felix from Brazil, who secured a silver at 55kg, marking the nation’s inaugural senior Worlds medal on total and highlighting its remarkable improvement in the sport.
Felix led the competition until Natthawat Chomchuen from Thailand executed his fifth lift. Chomchuen concluded his performance with 120-153-273, improving his total by 14kg from last year’s third-place finish at the World Championships.
Natthawat Chomchuen (THA)
Pang Un Chol from PRK clinched gold in clean and jerk despite failing in snatch, while Yang Yang from China was unable to maintain his second place in snatch, slipping to fifth overall. Fernando Agad from the Philippines finished third.
The triple Olympic super-heavyweight champion Lasha Talakhadze, who outweighs all three men on the podium, was present to award medals. Although he is not competing in Bahrain, he participated in the opening ceremony on Thursday.
Felix, who excelled in gymnastics before transitioning to CrossFit, started weightlifting seven years ago despite hailing from a family in Sao Paulo with no sports background. After competing at 61kg for over four years, he took time off to drop to 55kg in preparation for this event.
Thiago Felix (BRA)
“This medal was always my goal, I believed I could achieve it,” stated Felix, who turns 24 later this month. “I took my time to shed the weight, maintained a healthy diet, stayed composed, and found it relatively easy to drop down.”
“Now I have to move back up again due to the weight category change, but since the Pan American Championships are more than six months away, I can take my time once more.”
Brazil’s head coach Dragos Doru Stanica displayed a commendable performance himself, solidifying his reputation as the loudest coach in weightlifting.
“I was almost shouting my voice away, and as you can see, moments like these are making me lose hair,” he remarked. “I’m extremely proud of Thiago, competing against China, PRK, Thailand, and Vietnam. He is well-suited to 55 and wasn’t progressing at 61, which is why we decided to drop down. This is an excellent result.”
Felix achieved a six-out-of-six performance of 121-148-269, earning snatch gold, clean and jerk bronze, and second on total. This was just 2kg shy of his personal best total at 61kg. Agad recorded 116-147-263, finishing 1kg ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Mansour Al Saleem in fourth place. Four athletes were unable to complete a total, including two from Vietnam.
Brazil enjoyed noteworthy performances in August and September as well. Laura Amaro, who is also known for her enthusiasm, secured seventh place at the Paris Olympic Games after qualifying at 81kg, while Mattheus Pessanha briefly held a junior world record when he placed second at the World Juniors in Spain in September.
Zhao Jinhong (CHN)
China made its debut in the women’s 45kg category at a World Championships and achieved a clean sweep of golds alongside two world records that may well remain unchallenged.
Zhao Jinhong, competing internationally for the first time at 23, outperformed PRK’s reigning champion Won Hyon Sim. Won initiated the session holding all three world records but ultimately ended up with just one.
The 45kg category will be discontinued starting June next year, following an IWF decision to revise weight divisions and reduce the total from 10 to eight. The last time China participated in the lightest women’s category at a World Championships was in 2015, where Jiang Huihua won at age 17 in the 48kg division, prior to the category changes in 2018.
Won Hyon Sim (PRK)
Zhao demonstrated that she could have secured numerous titles in recent years had China chosen to participate in the non-Olympic 45kg category. Her opening lift put her in the lead against Won, and her third lift was an attempt at the snatch world record. Although she failed to lift 88kg, she made up for it with her fifth lift at 110kg, earning two world records in clean and jerk and total.
Zhao surpassed her previous records on her final attempt, finishing with 87-113-200. This outcome was not surprising, as Zhao had totaled 198kg in a national championship last year, 2kg above the previous world record.
Won maintained her snatch world record, as both she and Zhao were unable to surpass it at 88kg, and she ultimately fell short on her last two attempts, concluding with a total of 86-105-191, 9kg behind Zhao.
Pham Dinh Thi from Vietnam rose from fifth in snatch to third overall with a total of 73-97-170.
Cicely Kyle (USA)
Cicely Kyle from the United States also might have registered three world records in Masters weightlifting. Finishing fifth, she is the oldest competitor at the Championships at 40.
She achieved three valid lifts with attempts of 72-95-167, narrowly missing an American clean and jerk record with an attempt at 98kg. “That would have been great – but they are definitely Masters records!” Kyle remarked. While valid at the national level, despite surpassing the world records for her 40-44 age group, they won’t be recognized because they weren’t achieved in a Masters event.
Kyle transitioned from gymnastics and competitive fitness to weightlifting around a decade ago. “I had my first international competition in 2020 at age 36, right before the worldwide shutdown due to Covid,” she recalled. Fifteen months later, she emerged victorious at the Pan American championship.
Kyle works as a physician’s assistant in a critical care unit. Her medical skills were pivotal in a remarkable incident six months prior, where she dislocated a finger during a clean lift at a national competition, quickly popped it back into place with the barbell on her shoulders, and completed the lift.
“It’s still pretty misaligned,” Kyle commented, displaying her bent finger. When asked which parts of her body hurt the most while competing at 40, she replied, “The knees, without a doubt.”
“I’m not sure if I’ll continue after this – it largely depends on how my knees feel. They are good now, but come tomorrow they might have different ideas.”
By Brian Oliver
Photos by DBM/deepbluemedia
