This is the ATG 2018 World Championships resource page.
For the first time athletes will compete in the newly established weight classes.
Previously banned nations like China, Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and co. are allowed to compete again. So this is the first “complete” world championships since 2015.
When: November 1st – 10th
Where: Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
News
Update 11.11.2018: Part 10 The Two Docters Podcast Saga – The Final Day!
Update 10.11.2018: Part 9 The Two Docters Podcast Saga
Update 09.11.2018: Part 8 of The Two Doctors Special Report from Worlds featuring a deep dive into Hookgrip’s approach to social media, filming in training halls etc.
Update 08.11.2018: The Two Doctors Podcast Worlds Special Part 7 featuring an interview Maged Salama (former Coach of Steiner)
Update 07.11.2018: The Two Doctors Podcast 2018 Worlds Edition Part 6 – New IWF Rule starting in 2019! You are not allowed to touch the barbell with your feet.
The Two Doctors Podcast 2018 Worlds Edition Part 5
Update 06.11.2018: The Two Doctors Podcast 2018 Worlds Edition Part 4
Update 04.11.2018: Part 3 of The Two Doctors Special Episode from worlds. Audio gets better after the first 5 minutes.
Update 02.11.2018: Now the news is out that Yeison Lopez tested positive (via).
Update 02.11.2018: Here is Special Episode #2 of the Doctors Podcast in live from Ashgabat.
Update 01.11.2018: I did an impromptu podcast episode with Dr. Boffa from THE Two Docters! If you can bare my sleep deprived mumblings, you can listen to 40 minutes of it :D. We talk about worlds and what we have experienced in Ashgabat so far.
Update 27.10.2018: Start List PDF
Update 27.10.2018:
- Check out the new World Standards released by the IWF, wiping the existing one. So we will probably see a bunch of new world records every day 😀
- In other news: I made it to Ashgabat! First day was just the usual running around, getting accreditation, sim card, figuring out where stuff is, trying to deal with wifi problem (internet is heavily censored!).
Useful Links
- Start List (PDF) Updated
- Results
- Official Website
- Live Stream
- All A sessions are covered by TV Broadcast only. In countries where rights have not been sold, live coverage will be provided by the Olympic Channel.All the other sessions will be broadcast live on here.
- Live Scoreboard
Announced Teams
China
61kg: Li Fabin, Qin Fulin
67kg: Chen Lijun, Huang Minhao
73kg: Shi Zhiyong, Feng Ludong
81kg: Lu Xiaojun, Li Dayin
96kg: Tian Tao
109kg: Yang Zhe
(via)
49kg: Hou Zhihui, Jiang Huihua
55kg: Zhang Wanqiong, Li Yajun
59kg: Chen Guiming
64kg: Deng Wei
71kg: Zhang Wangli
76kg: Wang Zhouyu
87kg: Ao Hui
+87kg: Meng Suping
Russia
Kazakhstan
55kg: Chontey67kg: Kharki
73kg: Rahimov
81kg: Kazov
89kg: Ulanov
96kg: Sybay
102kg: Ilyin
109kg: Zaichikov, Bersanov
+109kg: Saylau
(via)
55kg: Chinshanlo
59kg: Saduakassova
64kg: Sadykova, Goricheva
71kg: Likhacheva, Stolyarenko
76kg: Bykova
87kg: Meshitkhanova
+87kg: Aborneva, Muptilda
Armenia
81kg: Andranik Karapetyan, Georges Eghikyan89kg: Hakob Mkrtchyan
102kg: Arsen Martirosyan, Samvel Gasparyan
109kg: Simon Martirosyan
+109kg: Gor Minasyan, Ruben Alexanyan
(via)
55kg: Isabella Yaylyan
76kg: Liana Gurdjian
87kg: Tatevik Hakobyan
+87kg: Arpine Dalalyan
Iran
73kg: Hossein Soltani (r)
89kg: Aref Khakz, Mohammad Zarei
96kg: Sohrab Moradi, Reza Beiralvand
102kg: Ali Hashemi, Amir Jahvaghi, Rahmen Ourame (r)
109kg: Mohammad Reza Barari, Alireza Soleimani
+109kg: Homayoun Teymoori, Ali Davoodi
i’m so happy :))))
i still want to know how well the young american are going to perform, out of curiosity. this time it’ll be the real deal
No Boyanka and Liao Hui 🙁
How is Albegov on the list? I thought that he was suspended. The Russian team looks very weak anyway.
Andrei Aramnau is on the list??? Wow,interesting.
You can check his Instagram account for some training videos.
It’s so good to see so many lifters! I just realised how unnatural the 8 weight classes were for so many years. This is lovely- I can see athletes I thought were long retired.
81 seems VERY exciting. unbelievable talent pool in this one.
89 seems almost empty compared to 81.
and what happened to Nijat Rahimov with 77-> 73kg, did he not take his vitaminS ? (since KAZ is under scrutiny ???)
and Ilya Ilyin, with a total of 400, can he deliver ? he looked considerably weaker than his past self, can he pull 180-220 ?
I can’t believe how many of my favourite lifters will be competing together in the 81kg class!
Xiaojun (CHN)
Lopez (COL)
Mahmoud (EGY)
Getts (RUS)
Lang (GER)
Godelli (ALB)
Talk about stacked!
Lol. You dont count Ivan Markov?? Well then again, maybe he is not one of your favourite lifters ?
Markov hasn’t done anything in the last 4 years and his low entry reflects that. There’s a difference between “favorite” and “near the podium”.
Yes, and there is also a difference between “favorite” and “favourite lifter”. And he definitely is one of my favourite lifters. I think Daniel was talking exactly about that and not who is actually a favorite to medal 😉
Either way, exciting to see him there.
Markov’s entry total is adjusted upwards in the latest version, to 366 kg. That is only four kg under the top entry total of 370 kg, shared by five lifters. The A group lifters all fall between 361 kg and 370 kg in their entry totals. It is probably going to be a very tight race. I hope I can find the time to watch it, seems like the most interesting men’s session.
Where is Boyanka?
No Ismayilov of Turkey?
Yeah. My plan was to film him before worlds but he injured himself. So unfortunately that fell through.
Where is Apti Aukhadov, does he compete in the russian championship, I haven’t see him since the 2015 worlds and was once a big talent in the 85+ kg class, personally my favorite lifter
His ban ends 10.12.2018
“Fun” fact: everyone out of the re-tests with an extra 6 months got them because neither they nor their lawyer attended the IWF hearing.
https://tass.ru/sport/5678721
Well that is just plain unnecesarily and stupid on their part.
If I understood that article correctly all the caught lifters were told by the old federation governement (I assume this is the Russian weightlifting federation) there will be one representative defending their case. He then found out apparently his representative was not present at the hearing. He was planning to resume his career in may competing at russian meets.
Iran basically gave up on any medals except for 96kg: Sohrab Moradi.
Yeah
Ali Hashemi has also a little bit of chance
Hashimi has a legitimate shot at a medal. Even at gold, if Ilya wasn’t sandbagging at Kazakh nationals.
no rostami on the list ! is he injured ?
No
Hi is not injured
After failing in Asian game he was dropped from the list.
I think Ulanov is in 81 kg, not 89 kg. If that’s the case, both Ulanov and Rahimov dropped some weight. Will be interesting to see what they lift.
Start book is up.
https://www.iwf.net/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2018/10/Start_Book_Ashgabat.pdf
Kim Un Ju is BACK!!!! At last. After so many years and 87 kg instead of 75. Woww! I can’t wait.
Ilya Ilyin Withdraws from 2018 Weightlifting World Championships
https://barbend.com/ilya-ilyin-withdraws-2018-weightlifting-world-championships/
Sorry about the bad news.
US weightlifting fans: ESPN3 will show some of the categories live (starting Friday Nov 2nd). Notice it starts as early as 4:30 AM! Ashgabat is 10 hours head of Centeral Daylight time
Weightlifting
4:30 AM Men 61 B
espn3 7:30 AM Ladies 45 A
espn3 10:00 AM Men 55 A
http://www.espn.com/watch/schedule/?startDate=20181102&type=upcoming
Today’s comps were very much forgettable but my word! tomorrow’s 55 kg gonna be absolutely cracking!!!
Chinshanlo and Iovu are back, Srisurat and Li Yajun are also fighting for that gold – woww….
If you think that’ll be crackin’, just wait for the men’s 81!
And 73 🙂
Told ya 81 was gonna be nuts! 73 was no competition cus Rahimov wasn’t ready.
Li Daying is a great lifter! His 172 snatch miss cost him the gold but it was also the first snatch I’ve seen him miss in many comps; he must be nervous for his first World’s. His clean and jerk is going up up up too! 81’s a great category for him cus he was too tall for the 77. I’ve got lots of hope on this kid but it was the veteran who saved the day this time!
Any idea why Maligov isn’t competing for Russia?
ESP replay can be found on their site. I am placing 69Kg A here.
http://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=38637274-5d43-4c75-98db-f976ef7d0de6
Well, got to hand it to the man, Lu still on top after all these years. He and Li looked like they were enjoying themselves, setting world records and smiling as they went on with it. A shame for Ihab on the last clean and jerk, he almost had it. Impressive performance by Maurus also, interesting to see if he can get his snatch on par with the rest of them in the years to come. I am impressed by Markov, coming out after bombing in the snatch and giving it his all on the clean and jerk, despite failing there as well with higher and higher weights. He simply looked to lack the strength for the weights his team chose. It was a joy to watch the 81 kg.
great category, it’s a shame for Andranik Karapetyan though… i wished he succeeded his 171 opening, and we could have seen him in the c&j, may be still injured/some pain in his elbow ? i really hope his career is not over, because since the olympic he’s not doing very well. my hope was to see him perform at his previous lvl…that was not the case.
young Li daying is impressive, so explosive with his c&j, great hope for China’s future in this category (my favorite is still Lu but he’s not getting younger :p)
and last, i’m not sure Maurus will improve a lot in snatch, may be time will prove me wrong. also i thought he would have perform better in c&j, didnt he succeed with 205 in training or US competition ?
Lu is lifting on sheer will power now LOL. When he needed it, 202 didn’t look to hard; but when he didn’t need it, his 205 basically looked like my 205 haha. You wouldn’t imagine that someone who could do that with 202 would only get 205 an inch off the ground. But in the end, he and his team needed that 202 and they simply didn’t need 205; it was just to take a gold from his rising young team mate and Lu just didn’t want the lift badly enough to generate the power and drive to do it.
“I am impressed by Markov, coming out after bombing in the snatch and giving it his all on the clean and jerk, despite failing there as well with higher and higher weights. He simply looked to lack the strength for the weights his team chose. ”
I’m not sure what’s impressive about that, going 0 for 6 and raising weights despite lacking the power. This is what you consider doing if the strength is there but technical errors were made. Looks like impressively incompetent coaching to me.
I agree with you, the coaching didn’t seem that great. My point was Markov didn’t give up and clearly struggled to get the lifts, even in the clean and jerk, when he couldn’t even register a total. I’m impressed by him for making the effort. But as you mention, I don’t think the coaches and the team behind him did their best. I’m sorry if I was unclear in the previous post.
Well he likely had a hand in it. He probably said he could do more because he’s done more in training when he should have asked to start lighter and insisted on staying with the lighter weight because it wasn’t feeling light at all. Markov is a veteran athlete, not some young crazy guy. Usually, the athletes have a rush of adrenaline and are overly aggressive in declaring what they can do and it’s up to the coaches to keep a clear head and call for reasonable weights. In either case, they certainly discuss rather than act autonomously.
Li Dayin’s coach, on the other hand, was pretty conservative likely for good reason. Li is a youngster who was growing and doing quite well; bronzes in the snatch and total with a gold in the clean and jerk are acceptable with Lu Xiaojun there to make sure the overall gold stays with the team. If he called for weights a little higher (I personally think that 163+193 are too light openers and wasted attempts for this guy) and something went wrong, it could be mentally catastrophic for the young athlete’s mindset moving forward especially if he bombed his first international comp. That said, for the jerk I think he could have opened on 199, moved to 204, then attempted 206 for the WR and JWR. 204 looked easy enough. This is his last year as a junior so he won’t get another shot at putting the JWR as high as possible.
Tian Tao is in 96 and not 89? 11 kg up is a lot!
The 89 kg class was actually rather fun to watch, a tight race for the top spots despite the actual weights being a bit on the low end (lower than the 81 kg class actually). Okulov came through again, being double world champion now. I wonder if he can fit into one of the Olympic weight categories to 2020?
The 96 kg class was great, very nice to see Tian Tao putting up a real fight against Moradi. Both of them actually seemed to struggle for the heavier clean and jerks. There are two years to Tokyo, and Moradi is passing 30, with Tian Tao having just moved up from 85 kg to 96 kg. I think that in time for the next Olympics, Tian Tao will have gained more than Moradi. Time will tell. The Romanian was a joy to watch, so much enthusiasm.
I think they should have sent Li Dayin as an overweight 81 into the 89s to clean up those medals too. His current 372 would have been good for gold overall since he would have gotten it before Okulov but he was lifting conservatively and could have done more especially if he didn’t cut weight. But hey, that strategy could just as easily have backfired if Lu Xiaojun pulled a Zhan Xugang exit and Okulov vs Mendez went to ~385.
Beyond speechless and Tian Tao. I wsa hoping for 180+223. When they put the second attempt at 226, I thought it was a placeholder and they’d drop it. Not only did that not happen, he powered everything. My jaw was on the ground. Then, they put the third lift at 235 up to 236, I thought YuJie went insane. “Don’t injure him, you nutcase! Remember his elbow! This isn’t the Olympics; it’s his adjustment comp going into 96,” I was shouting at the screen! When he cleaned it with ease, I was floored again. I thought at least I’d see Tian Tao fight a hard clean finally. Didn’t happen. Jerk slightly off and lost from behind. Tian Tao almost beat Sohrab Moradi on his first entry into 96. And I was thinking he should have went to 89; better 3 golds at the Worlds than no chance at the Olympics! The longer you live the less you know!
Looks like we both enjoyed that fight. 🙂
Tian Tao’s last clean looked to me harder than usual for him though. He seemed to really fight there, but maybe it’s just that it normally looks so completely effortless for him in the clean phase…
Really? The stream provided was a little laggy for me so it looked totally smooth from what I saw LOL I’ll review the replay when it’s up.
Nuh uh, no way, no when, no how. The replay shows a fast and smooth clean. His face looked like he was working hard but the time under tension don’t care about your facial expression LOL. I thought his 217 clean in Rio looked pretty similar.
Agree. You d have hard time finding as easy and smooth looking clean even at 210 kg for most of the lifters. As much as some would probably like to finally see Tian Tao sweat at a clean (it d be interesting to see even for me) this was not gonna be the case here.
An interesting point to discuss; I was thinking when seeing all these easy almost effortless cleans, dont you think it d actually benefit him for the jerk if he had to work harder to clean the weight? Sort of mentally getting ready its not gonna be an easy task to jerk this weight.. just my thoughts.
To my eyes the pull looked a bit slower and he looked to be fighting more to keep the positions right. But as you say, he stood up fast. It just didn’t look as effortless as it usually does. But fast and smooth, more so than for any other lifter that day at the real heavy weights, I agree. It is going to be really exciting to see him move forward towards Tokyo.
Got news that Tian Tao weighed in at 94.44kg. He still needs time to fill out the class then cut weight. Then we’ll see what he can do.
I’m really amazed; most lifters cannot just move up weight classes and gain strength like that. I honestly thought this new restructuring would ruin Tian Tao’s career. But if Tian Tao can do what Ilya did (without the bust of course), that would just be phenomenal.
Speaking of Ilya, I thought he withdrew. His name is on the live scoreboard 10 minutes from the starting lift. What’s up with that?
How easy a lifter cleans a weight is not a indication of whether they will complete a jerk part. I have watched this sport for over 25years and this has been a repeated observation. Some people can life a weight like its not there and you expect them to put another 20kg on the bar and they never achieve even 2kg more. Some lifter fight and struggle with a weight likes its a 500kg weight but they defy logic and move the weight. I am not saying Tian Tao’s cant do more. Just letting those with less experience in this sport know that observations on east of clean is not a indication of future potential lifts. This competition with Moradi is going to be great next Olympic but I believe if not wrong Moradi will move up a weight class, even in this weight class he has ability for 200kg+ snatch and 240kg clean and jerk things which he has done at 96kg body weight but again lifts in training is not an indication on whether a lifter will accomplish these on stage but a better indication than speed of a lift.
Actually, how well a lifter cleans is an indicator of his lifting potential, but it is not a perfect indicator. It certainly doesn’t mean nothing. While what you say is true, it is more often the exception rather than the rule. Usually, lifters who have to fight a clean will fail a jerk more often than lifters who make a quick clean. This is undeniable. However, we need to take personal details into consideration.
For a lifter like Tian Tao, his strength is his clean and his weakness is his jerk, so if he struggled with the clean, there’s pretty much no chance he’ll make the jerk. So from this video, we can ascertain that if he cleaned it smoothly and missed the way he did, then he likely has the strength and potential to make this lift if he were luckier or more skilled. But if he struggled to even clean it, I would assume that he suddenly felt crazy and wanted to make an attempt that he was completely not prepared for by his training.
Deng Wei is opposite. Her clean is her weakness and her jerk is her strength so seeing her fight hard on a clean would not indicate for me that such a weight is out of her possibilities. Same with Li Dayin.
So although I cannot say for sure that Tian Tao will make this weight in the future, I can say that the ease with which he made this clean and the manner in which he missed his jerk shows me that the potential is there; he needs more skill and whatever he lacks in that, he needs to make up for it in luck. If he stood up with shaky legs with a 1 second pause in the middle of trying to rise, I would say he’s far off from seriously even attempting this weight.
You think Moradi is going to 109? Why? He’s quite stubby and thick; an extra 13kg is a lot of weight. Remember 102 is not an Olympic category.
If he wants this competition to count as one of the 6 needed in this olympic qualification cycle then he needs to weigh-in and thu obviously he will be on the scoreboard. Then he can withdraw without even stepping on the platform. But he definitely needs to weigh-in!
Nicolae Onica new favourite lifter! Love the intensity and spirit!
Watch 96 kg again in Russian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx0J6-AMPsc
Wow the judging was uber tough on the 109s. Ruslan bombed because of a little elbow wobble and Simon’s 197 really looked good to me. His arm wasn’t even bent; it was straight but just unlocked and re-locked for half a second. I’m happy for Yang Zhe’s perfect form gold medal but this isn’t gymnastics; the primary goal should be to lift weight, not to look textbook. Only when someone really did something that he should not have (like press a snatch from chin level) should there be a “no lift” for form violation. The rules really need to change. If they’re worried about athletes pressing their snatches, they can make the rule state that only when both arms were bent does it merit a “no lift.” As for the clean and jerk, why even worry? Who can press more than he can jerk? Such a guy deserves a good lift nonetheless.
I agree. They should abolish the press-out rule. Pressing is really about saving a lift gone a bit bad as I see it, it’s not a way to actually lift more weight. The competitions would be easier to understand and the sport more viewer friendly. Watching someone save a hard lift is usually what I get most excited about watching weightlifting. The perfect lifts sure are beautiful, but when someone has to put up a struggle, that’s even better. So let’s allow press-outs. 🙂
+87 watch it again in Turkish and Fin! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVw0QyWzw7k
One of the best comments on 87+ on YouTube: whatever77054
Ah, I understand why the Chinese coaches took 184. They wanted Kashirina to come out at 185 so Meng can make it at 188 and claim the victory. If they called for 185, they believe that Kashirina would make 186 and Meng would need 189 so they’re trying to lower the weight needed for Meng’s final attempt.
Also, some lifters lift better under pressure while others do better slightly more relaxed. Perhaps they thought Kashirina worked best under pressure (her best performance was what may fans call Bear Mode Kashirina in 2014 when she had no competition and won easily) so they wanted to take some pressure off of her by not being ahead of her when she was to take her final attempt. Pure speculation of course.
Haha, thanks, I wrote that. One mistake I made is that Bear Mode Kashirina example, as it points to the opposite of her working best under pressure and that should have lead the Chinese coaches to want to add pressure on her. Regardless, that’s just speculation. The main point is that they wanted Meng’s last attempt to be 188 rather than 189.
How soon before the Olympic categories are adopted for all competitions? Not soon enough. The 50% allocation of medals to men over 88kg resulted in the predictable dilution of quality. Gold, silver and bronze in the 89s were outlifted by the 81s and gold and silver in the 102s were similarly shaded by the 96s. This is not meant to happen. If the IWC is not highly embarassed by this latest stuff up then there is probably no hope for the sport.
Obviously the whole drug enforcement gig is just too hard why not go radical and drop it altogether? If lifters don’t care about the long term effects of drug abuse (like bodybuilders) then it is not up to the IWC to protect them
If you don’t check for PEDs then the sport cannot be in the Olympics. Its value will drop off severely and everything will turn into a circus. The Chinese, for one, will drop out altogether if the sport is non-Olympic. This is likely true for many other countries as is evident by the lackluster performance of the non-Olympic weight classes. as you’ve pointed out