IWF Youth World Championships Preview: The First Competition With The Chance for Simultaneous Medals
The IWF Youth World Championships kicked off in Lima, Peru, yesterday, marking a new era in weightlifting competitions.
Over the next five days, all 20 weight categories, 10 for men and 10 for women, will be contested simultaneously on two platforms, a first in major IWF competitions.
The idea is for one platform to be used for the men and another one to be used for the women, giving countries a chance to win two medals at the same time.
The biggest chance of that happening is in India, as they have athletes in four A categories – the 55 kg men’s, the 40 kg women’s, 73 kg men’s and 45 kg women’s.
The development of the sport in India should come as no surprise as the country is aiming to host the Olympic Games in 2036 and knows that finding talent and working to get it to the top is a key part of their preparation.
At last year’s World Youth Championships in Albania, India won 5 medals in total – one silver and four bronze and aims to improve on its accomplishment. When asked about the development of weightlifting in his country, head coach Vijay Sharma said:
“The government wants us to do a long-term plan, and we have already started our talent identification process state by state. The level of interest is the key.
Boxing, wrestling and athletics are the most popular among children, but weightlifting has become more popular after Mira (Mirabai Chanu) won her silver medal in Tokyo. There’s a lot of interest in her home state of Manipur, especially for girls.”
Along with India, Chinese Taipei is sending a big team to Peru with 11 athletes and there are also five big Pan American teams – 19 for hosts Peru, 18 for Mexico, 15 for Colombia, 14 for Venezuela and 11 for the United States. Turkey, Poland and Spain send the largest teams from Europe.
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Author: Tanya Shaiko
News Editor, Olympic Lifting Enthusiast
Best Results: Snatch – 61 kg,
C&J – 78 kg
I’m Tanya, and I just can’t do without fitness. About six years ago, I got into Olympic weightlifting and instantly fell in love with it. Weightlifting is like no other sport – it’s just you versus the bar. Driven by my unwavering passion for an active lifestyle, I’ve been eager to share my personal journey and sports enthusiasm with others. As a journalist and photographer, my interests come full circle, adding an extra dimension to the news column that I curate. This way, I keep my readers updated with the latest happenings in the sports world.
