Iran’s lifter Yousefi bags three world junior golds, shatters records

The final day of the Junior World Weightlifting Championships was all Iran’s Alireza Yousefi dominating the men’s super-heavyweight contests.

En route to a clean sweep of the +109kg golds in Heraklion, Greece, the 18-year-old prodigy bettered the world junior clean & jerk record, established by himself in last December’s IWF World Championships, by one kilogram.

Yousefi began his campaign with a 166kg snatch lift before overcoming 177kg in his third attempt to clinch his first gold.

Uzbekistan’s Mirkhosil Mirzabaev took the silver – one kilogram short of the Iranian – with Bohdan Taranenko of Ukraine taking the bronze – a similar top three in the total standing.

A first lift of 215kg was enough for Yousefi to secure the clean & jerk gold but it was not the end of the campaign for the Iranian, who raised the 239kg above his head in the third attempt for a new world record.

Atajan Dayiyev of Turkmenistan took the C&J bronze.

An overall tally of 416kg sealed the total gold for the Iranian – 28kg more than silver winner Mirzabaev.

Yousefi’s triumph came after his compatriot Yekta Jamali had won a snatch gold with a best lift of 100kg in the women’s 87kg contests.

A low-key participation by Iran, which included only two weightlifters, saw the country settle for an 11th-spot finish in the medal table, while Turkey was crowned the champion, followed by Indonesia and Uzbekistan.