Saara Retulainen won the Bronze Medal for the Women’s 59 kg Category at the 2024 IWF European Championships  

The women’s 59 kg category was one of the most exciting battles we’ve seen so far during the European Championships.

In a real battle for Olympic qualification and medal spots, these female athletes really gave it their all and provided us with a thrilling show. 

Fortunately for Saara Retulainen from Finland, her efforts were rewarded in the best possible way – her performance made her a bronze medalist. She started off the competition by getting fourth place for the Snatch by lifting 95 kg.

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However, it was her Clean & Jerk lift that gave her the medals – she managed to lift 119 kg, which was enough for the silver medal for the lift and for third place on the podium overall. The impressive thing is that all of her C&J attempts were successful – she started with 114 kg, then 117 kg, and finally 119 kg on the last attempt. 

During last year’s European Championships in Yerevan, Saara finished fifth overall, so this performance is definitely an improvement to her previous results. Along with that, she has broken several Finnish weightlifting records and twice won the Women’s Finish Championships. 

Our full coverage of the European Championships in Sofia can be found on our blog, so if you’ve missed out on important news and you want to catch up – that’s the perfect place to go. And if you want more visual and behind-the-scenes content, make sure to check out our social media channels and our YouTube channel as well.