Yousefi targets emphatic comeback in 2026 after year-long injury layoff
Iranian weightlifting prodigy Alireza Yousefi is nearing his long-awaited return to action after being sidelined by a knee injury for the past 12 months.
The 22-year-old is among the 11 weightlifters called up by head coach Behdad Salimi for the national team’s training camp, which began in Tehran on Friday, as preparations get underway for April’s Asian Championships in Ahmedabad, India.
With the Aichi–Nagoya Asian Games in September, followed by the IWF World Championships in Ningbo, China, in October, also on the horizon, Yousefi will be aiming to pick up where he left off before his injury setback.
A two-time world junior champion, Yousefi stole the headlines at last December’s Senior World Championships in Manama, claiming gold and bronze medals in the men’s +109kg category.
After placing fifth in the snatch, he set an Asian record of 262kg in the clean & jerk to defeat compatriot Ali Davoudi and Armenia’s Varazdat Lalayan for gold. His 456kg tally then secured the total bronze, establishing the young Iranian as a leading contender in the super-heavyweight class in the post-Lasha Talakhadze era.
However, the breakthrough campaign came at a cost. Yousefi underwent knee surgery upon returning from the Bahraini capital, ruling him out of the 2025 World Championships and the Islamic Solidarity Games.
“Thankfully, the injury is now fully behind me,” Yousefi told Mehr News Agency on Friday. “Having completed a lengthy rehabilitation, all potential post-surgery risks have been resolved. I continued my training in my hometown in Qaemshahr throughout this period and join the national team camp in good shape, which will allow me to build toward peak condition for the upcoming competitions.”
Looking ahead to 2026, Yousefi acknowledged the challenges that await.
“Next year will be a tough one for us. The Asian Games will be our most important competition, and after that come the World Championships, which will be part of the qualification pathway for the Los Angeles Olympics. I have to make sure I step onto the platform at both events in my best form,” he said.
Yousefi’s 262kg lift in Manama was just five kilograms shy of Georgian great Talakhadze’s world clean & jerk record. However, his personal best of 194kg in the snatch remains 24 kilograms below the world standard set by the International Weightlifting Federation for the new super-heavyweight category (+110kg).
The Iranian believes improving his snatch will be key to future success. “My main goal for next year is to post strong numbers in the snatch and close the gap on my rivals. I hope to achieve this important objective,” he said.
Before Talakhadze’s decade-long dominance, the super-heavyweight division belonged to Iranians, with legends Hossein Rezazadeh and Salimi winning three Olympic gold medals between them across four Games from 2000 to 2012. Now, Iranian fans will hope Yousefi can restore the nation’s foothold on weightlifting’s most prestigious prize at the Los Angeles Games in two years’ time.