The 2017 Weightlifting World Championships are currently underway in Anaheim, California, and the year’s first champions were crowned on Day 2 of the competition. Lifting in the Men’s 56kg & 62kg categories and the Women’s 48kg category has officially concluded. We’ve discussed the overall (total) winners and highlights (so far) below.
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A full breakdown of results for all lifters can be found here.
Women’s 48kg
Overall (total) results:
1. Chanu Saikhom Mirabai (India): 194kg
2. Thunya Sukcharoen (Thailand): 193kg
3. Ana Iris Segura Segura (Colombia): 182kg
In a close-fought competition between Mirabai and Sukcharoen, the lifter from India finished ahead by a single kilogram. According to the International Weightlifting Federation, Mirabai became the first world champion representing India in any weightlifting event since the introduction of the current weight categories in 1998.
American lifter Alyssa Lynn Ritchey totaled 177kg for 7th place overall at her first World Championships.
Men’s 56kg
Overall (total) results:
1. Kim Tuan Thach (Vietnam): 279kg
2. Le Quoc Toan Tran (Vietnam): 270kg
3. Witoon Mingmoon (Thailand): 267kg
The 56kg men kicked off their competition with two lifters bombing out in the snatch — and another in the clean & jerk — and all lifters seeming to struggle in some phase of the competition. But in the end, it was Thailand all the way in this session, with Thach taking a commanding lead out of the snatch and extending it through the clean & jerks. Thach has won 10 medals at IWF World Championships, the most for any athlete from Vietnam. (Note that at World Championships, unlike Olympic Games, medals are awarded for the top three finishers in the snatch, clean & jerk, and total.)
Lifting in his first-ever World Championships, American Brian James Reisenauer finished with a 232kg total for 9th place overall.
Men’s 62kg
Overall (total) results:
1. Fancisco Antonio Mosquera Valencia (Colombia): 300kg
2. Yoichi Itokazu (Japan): 299kg
3. Shota Mishvelidza (Georgia): 298kg
It was a tight competition between the top three men, but in the end, Colombia once again stood on top of the podium. Since 1998, Colombia has won 16 World Championships medals in the men’s 62kg event. )It won two medals in all other men’s events.)
Trinh Van Vinh of Vietnam won the snatch portion in this weight class to give Vietnam its first-ever World Championships medal in a men’s weight category other
than the men’s 56kg.
Featured image: @iwfnet on Instagram
