Bahrain, Men’s preview: Karlos Nasar in top form as he seeks to add world title to Olympic gold

Karlos Nasar can round off his spectacularly successful year at the IWF World Championships in Bahrain by setting more world records and claiming the one major title that has eluded him at his preferred weight of 89kg. The Championships begin on Thursday and finish on December 15.

The highlight of 2024 for the Bulgarian star was winning 89kg gold at the Olympic Games in Paris, where he was the only weightlifter to break world records. He also won at the IWF World Cup in Thailand and claimed the European title in his home country.

Karlos Nasar (BUL)

Nasar has set 22 senior and junior world records at 89kg, eight of them in 2024. He is unbeaten for two years, during which he has won two continental titles, a Grand Prix, a World Cup and Olympic gold at his preferred weight – but not a world title. He bombed out in 2022 and was unfit to lift in Saudi Arabia last year because of an achilles injury.

In his last competition as a junior, 20-year-old Nasar is likely to be the star of the show again. He won those three gold medals this year by an aggregate of 29kg and has been lifting ever bigger numbers during preparations that included a training camp at altitude in Bulgaria.

Competing for Heinsheim in the German Bundesliga, Nasar made 180-220-400 weighing 92.2kg on November 9, then 185-230-415 weighing 93.9kg on November 23.  That 415kg total is only 1kg lower than the 96kg world record held by Sohrab Moradi from Iran – the longest-standing world record in the sport which was set more than six years ago.

Rizki Juniansyah (INA)

Rizki Juniansyah from Indonesia is the only other men’s winner from Paris in the start book. Super-heavyweight Lasha Talakhadze is taking a break, as are China’s five champions (two men and three women). China is sending a second-choice team.

Rizki lifts at 73kg, the weight at which he won in Paris, while his team-mate Rahmat Erwin goes at 81kg. Both men are in B Groups.

Rahmat, who holds clean and jerk world records at both weights, last competed at the IWF World Cup in April, where he was beaten by Rizki and knocked out of Paris. He lifted in the B Group at the past two World Championships, setting clean and jerk world records both times on his way to gold and silver on total at 73kg and 81kg respectively.

Luis Mosquera from Colombia, who won 67kg silver in Tokyo and was fifth in Paris, and the junior world champion Caden Cahoy from the United States are in the 73kg B Group with Rizki. All 10 athletes in the A session have an entry total between 340kg and 345kg.

Another Indonesian, Eko Yuli Irawan, first lifted at the senior World Championships in 2006 but he wants to prolong his career at the age of 35. Irawan, who bombed out in Paris while trying to win a fifth Olympic medal, will lift in Bahrain at 67kg. His younger team-mate Ricko Saputra is a medal contender at 61kg.

Ri Won Ju (PRK)

Asian athletes are expected to dominate the lighter weight categories once more, even though all 10 of China’s men will be competing internationally for the first time. Judging by their best performances in national competitions, Yang Yang at 55kg, Wei Haixian at 61kg and Zheng Xinhao at 67kg all look likely to challenge for medals.

PRK, which was ineligible to send a team to Paris, will be aiming to top the medals table yet again. There are seven world record holders in the PRK team, six women and one man, Ri Won Ju at 67kg.

There are strong challengers from PRK in all seven weight categories up to 89kg. Ro Kwang Ryol has the third highest entry total at 89kg, after Karlos Nasar and last year’s winner Mir Mostafa from Iran. Ro missed three attempts at the IWF World Cup in Thailand in April, finishing fourth behind the men who won the Paris medals – Nasar, Yeison Lopez from Colombia and Nino Pizzolato from Italy. Yeison and Pizzolato are both absent this time.

Ruslan Nurudinov (UZB)

Two other Olympic champions will lift in Bahrain. Ruslan Nurudinov, who won 105kg gold at Rio 2016 but did not compete in Tokyo or Paris, is bowing out of international competition aged 33. “I’m feeling my age, but I will try to finish with a medal in Bahrain,” he said earlier this year.

At 102kg the Tokyo champion Meso Hassona from Qatar will attempt to bounce back after the disappointment of a bombout in Paris.  

Kazakhstan has medal chances from a strong team that includes Nurgissa Adiletuly, who led the 102kg Olympic rankings for a while.

Adiletuly and team-mates Alexey Churkin and Artyom Antropov all tested positive for a banned substance after winning medals at the Asian Championships in Korea in May, 2023. They served reduced suspensions after it was shown that they had not intentionally taken the substance. Adiletuly lifts at 96kg in Bahrain, Churkin at 73kg and Antropov at 109kg. 

Gor MInasyan (BRN)

The host nation has a gold medal contender in the super-heavyweights. Gor Minasyan, who won Olympic bronze in August, will be up against the man who finished one place ahead of him in Paris, Varazdat Lalayan from Armenia.

The youngest man in the A group, the final session of the Championships, is 20-year-old Ali Ammar Yusur from Iraq. He needs a clean and jerk of 247kg or more to complete a sweep of junior world records, having set the snatch and total records when he finished sixth in Paris.

Seven nations field a maximum men’s team of 10 athletes – Armenia, China, Colombia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Korea and Mexico.

By Brian Oliver