The third day of the 2019 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Pattaya, Thailand has concluded with a rarely seen record setting performance by Uzbekistan’s Adkhamjon Ergashev. The twenty year old set seven Junior World Records in the -67kg weight class, which included two in the snatch, two in the Clean & Jerk, and three in the overall Total.
His five successfully completed lifts gave him a 328kg total, and a bronze medal at the World Championships in the Clean & Jerk. He ended his competition with 146kg in the snatch and on 182kg in the Clean & Jerk.
Read More: IWF World Championships Day 2 Recap
Men’s 67KG overall medalists:
- Gold – Lijun Chen (CHN) 337kg
- Silver – Lyudong Feng (CHN) 333kg
- Bronze – Jong Ju Pak (PRK) 330kg
Two members of Team China finished with the overall gold and silver medals, however, that was not without suspense.
Earlier in the day, Lyudong Fend competed in the B session due to a lower entry total. He finished with a surprisingly high total of 333kg between both lifts. In the prime time A session later that evening, two athletes would need to attempt senior level world records in the clean & Jerk to stay competitive with that total. After the snatch portion of the contest, Feng won the gold medal out of the B session with his successful 153kg lift. Turkey’s Daniyar Ismayilov won silver and 2018 World Champion Lijun Chen won bronze.
In the Clean & Jerk, Ismayilov fell behind early on and out of contention for winning a medal in the total. Ergashev had a fantastic showing with his 7 Junior World records and ended up winning the bronze medal. The battle for medals in total and medals in the Clean & Jerk came down to the need of setting a new World record.
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China’s Chen was successful on the second to last attempt of the session and set a new World Record with 187kg. Then, moments later, North Korea’s Jong Ju Pak reset the clean & Jerk world record with 188kg. Zhang successfully retained his World Championship based on a stronger performance in the snatch. While Feng won Silver in the total with a spectacular performance in the B session, and Pak settled for the Bronze overall.
Team USA saw their first two male athletes in action for the -67kg competition. The 2010 World University Champion Alex Lee finished in 23rd place overall in the world with a 295kg total and he successfully went six for six on the day. Former Junior Pan American bronze medal winner Jordan Wissinger finished in 27th place with a 283kg total.
Women’s 55KG overall medalists:
- Gold – Qiuyan Liao (CHN) 227kg
- Silver – Wanquiong Zhang (CHN) 222kg
- Bronze – Hidilyn Diaz (PHL) 214kg
Medals were also awarded in the women’s 55kg category, where China’s Qiuyan Liao won her first World Championship. She put an exclamation on the day with a new World Record in the Clean & Jerk with 129kg. The overall silver went to her teammate Wanquiong Zhang, who improved on her bronze medal from the 2018 World Championships. The Bronze medal was won by Three-time Olympian and 2016 Olympic Silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippines.
Team USA was well represented by 2019 Pan American Champion Jordan Delacruz, who totaled 200KG and finished in 9th place overall in the world.
Team USA continues their competition tomorrow, Saturday September 21st, where three athletes will be competing. Hunter Elam and Jessica lucero will compete in the 59KG B session at midnight (CST) and 6-Time Junior and Youth World Champion CJ Cummings will compete at 8:25 AM (CST) in the 73KG A session.
Feature image from @iwfnet Instagram page.
