Weightlifting

Lại Gia Thành brought home three gold medals from the 2023 IWF World Weightlifting Championships' men's 55kg class on September 5 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photo of IWF

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese athletes dominated the 2023 IWF World Weightlifting Championships' men's 55kg class on September 5 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Southeast Asian Games champion Lại Gia Thành took three golds in the snatch event with a lift of 123kg, clean and jerk 146kg and total of 269kg.

The 25-year-old from Bắc Ninh Province ended his five-year wait to become the world No 1 lifter in his class since his debut in 2018. He failed at the world championships in 2018, 2019 and 2022. Last year, the 2018 junior world champion took his gold in the snatch event but he could not lift any barbell a single time in the clean and jerk.

Thành has now won seven of his past 10 competitions but failed to make a total in the other three.

His teammates Ngô Sơn Đỉnh came second with three silvers with 117kg in snatch, 144kg in clean and jerk and 261kg in total. Last year, Sơn took a bronze in the snatch, and a silver in the total.

Thada Somboon-uan of Thailand was third, lifting 116kg, 143kd and 259kg, respectively.

Despite medals, Thành and Đỉnh will not earn points for the Paris Olympics as their weight category has been dropped from the quadrennial Games. Other cuts include men's 67kg, women's 45kg, 49kg and 64kg.

Earlier, Phạm Đình Thi competed in the women's 49kg but did not enter top three.

Việt Nam, who have not yet earned an Olympic place in weightlifting, still have four other competitors in Riyadh.

Former world champion Trịnh Văn Vinh will be back in this competition in the men's 61kg for the first time after his four-year ban because of doping.

It is his second international tournament since the ban ended earlier this year.

Vinh won a gold in the snatch event in the 2017 championship with a lift of 136kg which was equal to a result of Chinese He Yueji who won silver last year and 1kg less than gold medallist Li Fabin, also from China.

His junior teammate Nguyễn Trần Anh Tuấn will also compete in this class. He won a gold and two silvers from the Asian Weightlifting Championship last October in Manama, Bahrain.

Young lifter Quàng Thị Tâm will be Việt Nam's representative in the women's 59kg. Tâm is one of the national weightlifting talents after the teenager won one gold, one silver and one bronze from the Manama competition.

Another medal candidate is Phạm Thị Hồng Thanh in the women's 71kg pool.

Phạm Thị Hồng Thanh is tipped to have a good result in her new weight class of 71kg. Photo ithethao.vn

The SEA Games record holder won three golds from the 2022 Asian championship in the women's 64kg. Due to her class being dropped from the Paris event, Thanh jumped to the new weight of 71kg.

She has made remarkable progress in her recent training and is tipped to have good results in this continental tournament.

The championship will run till September 17 and is one of two mandatory qualifying events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Athletes must appear in Riyadh if they are to be in line to earn one of the 10 quota spots in each of the 10 Olympic weight classes via the IWF Olympic Qualification Ranking.

There are a total of 20 weight classes, 10 per gender, being contested in Riyadh. Separate medals are awarded for the snatch, clean and jerk, and total weight.

After the world championship, lifters will take part in the 2024 IWF World Cup from April 2-11 in Phuket, Thailand. VNS