Rezazadeh urges Yousefi to improve snatch performance ahead of LA28
Weightlifting legend Hossein Rezazadeh has urged his compatriot Alireza Yousefi to improve his snatch performance if he is to vie for the top prize at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in two years.
Yousefi headlined Iran’s eight-medal haul at the recently concluded IWF World Championships in Ningbo, China, claiming clean and jerk gold in the men’s +110kg category and setting a new world record in the process, before taking silver in the total on Sunday.
Yousefi’s fellow Iranian superheavyweight Ali Davoudi, meanwhile, settled for bronze in the snatch but missed out on the podium in the clean and jerk and total, finishing fourth in both events.
The snatch competition was hardly one to remember for Yousefi, who opened with a successful 186kg lift before clearing 191kg and 195kg on his next two attempts, ultimately settling for fourth place.
Ali Ammar, who controversially lost out to Davoudi in the race for gold at September’s Asian Games after being denied an attempt due to a timing error, made history by winning gold in the total and snatch, as well as silver in the clean and jerk, to become the first Iraqi world champion in an Olympic sport.
In the clean and jerk, both Davoudi and Yousefi had two attempts remaining after Ammar had completed his campaign with 255kg.
Yousefi initially lifted 258kg but had the attempt overturned because of bar oscillation. The Iranian and his coaching staff were visibly unhappy with the decision, arguing that the rules only penalize “deliberate oscillation” and that the bar had moved without any intervention from the lifter.
Remarkably, Yousefi, who had trailed Ammar by 16kg in the snatch, bounced back to lift a world-record 263kg and claim clean and jerk gold. The effort also propelled him past Armenian two-time defending champion Varazdat Lalayan, a silver medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympics, into second place in the total with a combined 458kg (195-263).
“World Championships are always highly competitive, particularly in sports where results are decided by the smallest margins. We witnessed closely contested events across several weight categories in Ningbo. Iran had lifters competing in every division from 85kg to +110kg, and fortunately, four of our representatives won medals, bringing our overall tally to eight,” Rezazadeh, vice president of the Iranian Weightlifting Federation, said upon the team’s return to Iran on Monday.
The two-time Olympic champion, who dominated the superheavyweight class in the 2000s, also praised Davoudi and Yousefi, saying: “Both are accomplished weightlifters and were involved in close contests with their Iraqi and Armenian opponents.
“Had Davoudi managed to lift 261kg in the clean and jerk, he could also have claimed the gold medal in the total,” he said.
Commenting on Yousefi’s performance, Rezazadeh said the 23-year-old, who also won clean and jerk gold and total bronze on his World Championships debut in 2024, was capable of lifting heavier weights but insisted that “he and the coaching staff need to work on his snatch as well to improve his total, because the combined result is all that matters when it comes to the Asian Games and, particularly, the Olympic Games.”
Addressing Davoudi’s performance, Rezazadeh said the former Olympic silver medalist had impressed in the snatch at both the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and the World Championships but needed to improve his clean and jerk.
“Lifting heavy weights in training and competition are two different things. Lifters must be technically and mentally prepared to handle such weights,” Rezazadeh said.
Emphasizing the need to plan for upcoming competitions, he added: “We must start planning for next year and, more importantly, the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. From now on, the weightlifters must devote all their attention and focus to these competitions, because the Olympics are our biggest goal.”