IWF World Youth & Junior Championships:
Iran’s Yazdani, Zare’ grab triple golds, collect six medals on Day 5
Iranian weightlifters Hossein Yazdani and Abolfazl Zare’ made a clean sweep of three medals in their respective events at the IWF World Youth & Junior Championships, grabbing triple golds between them on Day 5 of the competitions in Lima, Peru.
Representing the country in the men’s youth +102kg contests, Yazdani began his snatch campaign with a 138kg lift before a second effort of 144kg saw the 17-year-old Iranian settle for a bronze medal behind Armenia’s Harutyun Hovhannisyan (150kg) and Russian Semen Karavaev (147kg), who competed as a neutral.
The Iranian teenager went on to dominate the clean & jerk event, raising 190kg above his head to beat Ukrainian Volodymyr Chmykh (180kg) and Karavaev (175kg) to the ultimate prize of the category.
A 144-190-334 tally secured the total gold for Yazdani, with Hovhannisyan and Chmykh – both recording 323kg – taking the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
“I was a bit stressed during the snatch event, but thank God, I managed to win a medal. I felt much calmer in the clean & jerk because I was confident I’d finish on the podium,” the Iranian said after his impressive performance in the Peruvian capital.
In the junior competitions, 18-year-old Zare’ got off to a flying start in the men’s 102kg event by claiming the snatch gold, thanks to a successful 176kg lift on his third attempt.
Brazilian Mattheus Pessanha finished runner-up to Zare’ on 175kg, with Egyptian Mahmoud Hosny registering 168kg for the bronze.
Amirmohammad Soleimani was the other Iranian in the weight class, finishing fourth in the snatch competition with 166kg.
Pessanha topped the C&J standings with a new world record of 220kg – 10kg clear of silver-winning Zare’ – to become his nation’s first male world champion in any age group, while Hosny settled for the bronze with 203kg.
Soleimani, meanwhile, again missed out on the podium, finishing fifth after lifting 184kg with his second effort.
Zare’ secured his second silver of the afternoon by recording 386kg in total, following Pessanha (395kg), with Hosny (371kg) and Soleimani (350kg) in third and fourth places.
Dedicating his medals to those who lost their lives in last week’s massive explosion at a commercial port in southern Iran, Zare’ was pleased with his performance in Lima, saying: “I gave it my all today. I really wanted to complete six successful attempts, but I missed the 214kg snatch. Hopefully, I can make up for that mistake in future competitions and win triple golds instead of just one.”
When asked about his ultimate ambitions in the sport, Zare’ replied: “Every athlete dream of winning the Olympic gold one day, and I’m no exception.”
Sunday’s results came after Iran had picked up five junior medals on the preceding night.
Having missed out on a snatch medal, Hamidreza Zarei went on to lift 203kg for the C&J gold in the men’s 96kg class.
Zarei would have also won the total gold, had he made his final attempt on 209kg, but he failed and stood fourth on a 158-203-361 record.
Zarei’s compatriot Amirhossein Sepah made sure Iran would finish the event with a total medal after he took the silver with 364kg – a third medal for the Iranian following his snatch and clean & jerk bronzes.
Illia Salehipour was also among the Iranian medalists on Saturday, succeeding with the 195kg effort to win the C&J bronze in the men’s 89kg class.
Iranian girl Alma Hosseini had notched up first medals for the country in Lima, collecting a silver and a bronze in the women’s youth 64kg event on Friday.