León, Day 7: Refugee Jamali wins landmark medals – and Nishikawa thinks long-term after Japan gold
Yekta Jamali made her mark in her sport’s history today when she became the first member of the Weightlifting Refugee Team to win medals.
Jamali, who left Iran in 2022 and lives in Germany, finished third behind the Armenian Emma Poghosyan in the women’s 81kg on day seven of the World Junior Championships in León, Spain.
By halfway Jamali was sure of one medal, having finished second in snatch with three good lifts. She made all three in clean and jerk too for 104-127-231 and bronze on total.
Yekta Jamali (WRT)
That was 1kg more than her total at the Paris Olympic Games, where Jamali, 20, finished ninth.
“I have made six from six before, and I felt good all the way through,” said Jamali, who won a youth world title for Iran in 2021. She was away from the gym for five to six months after first arriving in Germany.
She said she had improved since Almir Velagic became her coach at the start of the year. Velagic was also a refugee, from the war in Bosnia in the 1990s, and became an Olympian for Germany. Jamali is hoping she, too, can gain German citizenship.
After the medal ceremony Jamali posed for a photograph with her medal in one hand and her phone, showing a photo of her family, in the other. “I am in touch with them but only online,” she said.
Emma Poghosyan (ARM)
Florian Sperl, the team co-ordinator, said, “Yekta can be very proud, and the IWF can also be very proud of its team. This is good for the sport and good for the promotion of weightlifting.
“I will make sure that the International Olympic Committee is aware of Yekta’s historic achievement.”
The IOC has supported the IWF in the project to create a Refugee Team (WRT), as has the Swedish equipment manufacturer Eleiko. The WRT first competed when two women lifted at last year’s senior World Championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Five team members – two originally from Cuba, two from Brazil, plus Jamali – are entered for this year’s World Championships in Bahrain in December.
Poghosyan won with the last lift of a tense session. She improved from fifth place in snatch, 4kg behind snatch winner Mairyn Hernandez from Mexico.
Three good clean and jerks took Poghosyan to 100-133-233. Hernandez, 19, was second on 104-128-232 and made the podium at a youth or junior World Championships for the fourth time.
Masashi Nishikawa (JPN)
Masashi Nishikawa took a big step on the path towards his long-term goal of winning an Olympic medal in 2032 when he won Japan’s first gold. Nishikawa improved from third place last year to the top of the podium at 96kg.
He broke the national record in snatch and would have taken the other two Japanese records as well if he had made his final attempt at 206kg, a weight he has made off blocks in training.
Nishikawa, who combines weightlifting with studying physical education at university. finished 171-195-366, slightly down on the 370kg total he made recently at the national championships.
Next up will be his first senior competition at the World Championships in Bahrain in December. Nishikawa is already thinking way beyond that.
“My long-term goal is to compete at the Olympic Games in 2028 in Los Angeles, and to win a medal in Brisbane in 2032.”
Ihnatsi Pauliukavets, a bronze medallist last year, finished second on 164-196-360. The Individual Neutral Athlete from Belarus continued an impressive run of success for the team in grey – one of the conditions of their entry as neutrals.
Ihnatsi Pauliukavets (AIN)
Since their return to international competition in June last year at the IWF Grand Prix in Cuba, the Belarus neutrals have appeared at eight events including the Olympic Games. They have been on the podium at all of them.
“We expected gold today, but if we get a win in the next two days we will be more than happy,” said team leader Aleh Loban, who won World Juniors medals in 2003 and 2005. Uladislau Sakovich has a good chance at 109kg, and Belarus also has contenders at 102kg and in the super-heavyweights.
“We always want to do better,” said Loban. “We work hard on analysing any mistakes in training. We support each other, and if we appear to be a unified team to those looking from the outside, we are very happy about that.”
Third place went to Sergio Munoz from Colombia, who made a career-best 157-198-355 despite dropping down from 102kg for the first time. Ertjan Kofsha from Albania, third in snatch, failed with his last two attempts and finished fifth, 3kg behind Munoz.
Eki Lizaso from the host nation won the biggest cheer of the Championships to date despite finishing 10th from the B Group. An audience boosted by a visit from local schools made a lot of noise when Lizaso made his final attempt at 181kg, and even more when he rewarded them with a backflip.
By Brian Oliver