Iran aiming to reclaim superheavyweight territory, weightlifting chief Anoushiravani says
must build on the latest success at the Asian Weightlifting Championships to reassume dominance in the superheavyweight class for the years to come, Sajjad Anoushiravani, the chairman of the Iranian Weightlifting Federation, insists.
Young Iranian Alireza Yousefi marked his return to the global stage in style by setting a new world record of to win the Asian clean & jerk gold in the men’s +110kg event in Gandhinagar, India, on Sunday.
Following last year’s weight class adjustments, new standard records were set by the International Weightlifting Federation, including 260kg for the clean & jerk in the men’s superheavyweight division. Yousefi exceeded the mark by one kilogram with his final lift in Gandhinagar.
Making his first international appearance in 18 months after recovering from knee surgery, the 22-year-old prodigy added the snatch bronze and total silver to his haul as the Iranian depleted two-man squad finished fifth in the overall medals table – which also featured the women’s competition – with two golds as well as one silver and one bronze apiece.
Two-time world junior champion Alireza Nasiri had to recover from three failed snatch attempts in his 110kg campaign on Saturday to bag the clean & jerk gold.
Speaking to ISNA upon the team’s return, Anoushiravani said the primary goal in India was to assess Yousefi’s condition after a year and a half away from major competition. “Thank God, he performed exceptionally well and set the world record in the superheavyweight category,” the federation chief said. “He has a chance to compete in the Asian Games and Olympic qualifiers, and he is still young.”
Anoushiravani, however, acknowledged that Yousefi still has room for improvement in the snatch. “The technical staff of the national team must address the issue, and Alireza is fully aware of it,” he added, while also praising Dr. Reza Shirvani, head of the federation’s medical committee, for orchestrating Yousefi’s powerful comeback from knee surgery.
Yousefi – also a winner of two world junior titles – made his senior international debut at the 2024 World Championships in impressive fashion, stunning fellow Iranian Alireza Davoudi and Armenian Olympic silver medalist Varazdat Lalayan to claim the C&J gold with a then-continental record lift of 262kg, before winning bronze in the total with 456kg.
Iran dominated the superheavyweight division for the best part of the early years of the century, with legendary Hossein Rezazadeh and Behdad Salimi – the head coach of the national team – sharing three Olympic golds and dozens of world medals between them.
However, Iran was dethroned by Georgian Lasha Talakhadze, who made the class his own territory for more than a decade, collecting triple Olympic titles and seven successive world crowns.
Anoushiravani was adamant about Iran’s long-term ambitions in the weight division. “Sooner or later, we must reclaim the superheavyweight titles both in Asia and the world. That is our plan,” stressed the Iranian, who has an Olympic and world silver in the category under his belt. “God willing, this will happen at the Asian Games and also at the World Championships in China.”
Regarding 21-year-old Nasiri, who recently moved up from the junior national team, Anoushiravani noted that the young lifter was dispatched to gain experience in a more professional setting ahead of the Asian Games. “Nasiri is one of the talents we have invested heavily in over the past few years,” he said. “He started with a heavy weight in the snatch, and the technical staff wanted to see how he would handle intense competition. Now his weaknesses have been identified, and we will address them.”
He concluded that overall, both lifters’ performances were decent given the heavy opening weights they faced. “We have several weight categories where we are capable of breaking world records,” Anoushiravani said. “This will happen in the near future.” He added that both athletes would return far stronger for September’s Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and the World Championships in Ningbo, China, in October, with a clear goal of qualifying for the Olympics.