The IWF World Cup in phu*ket, Thailand showcased the best weightlifters in the world from 31 March to 11 April.
It was the last qualifying competition for Paris 2024 with a maximum of one athlete per National Olympic Committee in each of the 10 weight classes. NOCs are also limited to three lifters per gender.
The main route to Paris is via a top-10 ranking in each of the 10 Olympic classes, achieved by posting the highest total weight in a qualifying competition.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was the most sucessful nation in Thailand, winning eight titles.
However, since the Asian country failed to attend the mandatory Olympic qualifier at last year’s World Championships in Riyadh, none of its athletes are eligible to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
World records have tumbled, with total WRs broken in several Olympic weight classes.
Read on to find out more about the highlights of the competition and the implications on the qualification process.
- Hampton Morris breaks world record at IWF World Cup Thailand
- How to qualify for weightlifting at Paris 2024
Men's 61kg - Li Fabin a class apart
Reigning Olympic champion Li Fabin was well clear of his rivals, setting a new snatch world record of 146kg in the process.
But there was also history for USA’s Hampton Morris in the clean and jerk as he lifted 176kg to become the first American to set a senior weightlifting world record for 55 years.
Despite suffering from a knee injury, Indonesia's Olympic silver medallist Eko Yuli Irawan was second in the snatch after lifting 133kg with his first and only attempt. He then failed at 162kg in the clean and jerk, but his place at a fifth Olympic Games was sealed when teammate Ricko Saputra bombed out in the snatch.
Tokyo 67kg gold medallist Chen Lijun, the only man who could stop Li booking his place in Paris, also failed to make a successful lift in the snatch.
Li finished with a total of 312kg ahead of Morris who went second in the Paris rankings with a new personal best total of 303kg.
DPR Korea's Pak Myong-jin was third with John Ceniza of the Philippines cementing his spot in the Paris top 10 with 300kg in fourth.
Vietnam's Trinh Van Vinh moved ahead of Ivan Dimov into ninth in the Paris rankings with 294kg in sixth, and the Bulgarian just about stayed in the top 10 after only weighing in following knee surgery last week.
Morea Baru of Papua New Guinea claimed the continental berth with 281kg.
Men's 73kg - Rizki Juniansyah produces shock for the ages
Before the IWF World Cup got underway, Indonesia's Rahmat Erwin Abdullah led the Paris 2024 rankings at 73kg and was seen as a gold medal favourite.
But he will almost certainly not be going to the French capital now after teammate Rizki Juniansyah lifted a world record total in phu*ket.
Juniansyah gave notice that he was on course for something special with 164kg in the snatch, just 1kg behind double Olympic champion Shi Zhiyong.
Abdullah was successful at 160kg but failed on his third lift at 162kg to leave himself staring at a shock exit.
In a dramatic clean and jerk competition, Shi opened up successfully at 191kg before Juniansyah lifted 192kg. Abdullah lifted 195kg for starters but Shi failed at both 195kg and 196kg.
Republic of Korea's Bak Joo-hyo was also successful at 195kg but failed at 199kg as just the two Indonesians remained.
And it was Juniansyah who broke the contest open with 201kg on his second lift for a new total world record of 365kg, 12kg more than his previous personal best at February's Asian Championships in Uzbekistan. He then failed at 203kg with Abdullah needing 206kg to move ahead and keep his Olympic hopes alive.
Abdullah was close with his first attempt, but not with his second as 20-year-old Juniansyah - who took silver behind his teammate at the 2022 World Championships - celebrated his triumph.
He told IWF afterwards, "I can’t believe it, I don’t know what to think. I had appendix surgery about six months ago and I didn’t start training properly until 1st January."
Shi was second with a total of 355kg, 1kg ahead of Abdullah, to move up to second in the Paris rankings.
Venezuela's Olympic silver medallist Julio Mayora did what he needed to make Paris. His total of 339kg moved him up from 12th to eighth in the rankings, pushing injured Spaniard David Sanchez out of the top 10.
Italy's Tokyo 67kg bronze medallist Mirko Zanni, who started the day in 11th place, went three and out in the snatch to end his Olympic hopes.
Men's 89kg - Karlos Nasar lays down marker, has 400kg total in his sights
Karlos Nasar continues to rewrite the record books with the 19-year-old looking close to unstoppable.
The Bulgarian was already all but assured of his place in Paris, but underlined his position as gold-medal favourite in Thailand.
Trailing Yeison Lopez by 1kg after the snatch, with both men breaking the previous world record, Nasar's superiority in the clean and jerk made him the one to beat.
And so it proved with Lopez and Italy's Tokyo 2020 81kg bronze medallist Antonino Pizzolato both failing at 215kg, a weight the teenager lifted at the first attempt to equal Li Dayin's total world record of 396kg.
Li then failed at 216kg meaning the floor was all Nasar's.
Instead of merely taking Li's world record - the Chinese still holding it having lifted that total weight first at last year's Asian Championships - or becoming the lightest man in the modern era to total 400kg, Nasar went big.
He attempted to break his own clean and jerk world record of 223kg, set at December's IWF Grand Prix in Doha, with 224kg.
But he failed both times, leaving the 400kg mark as a real possibility for Paris.
Lopez was second with 392kg with Li third on 383kg.
Yu Dongju of Republic of Korea was another success story on the day, moving up from 17th to 10th in the rankings with 375kg.
The 2021 world champion achieved it with his final attempt of the competition, clean and jerking 209kg at the second time of asking, to displace neutral athlete Petr Asayonak - who had gone three and out in the snatch - from the top 10. It means the Korean is set for his second Games after competing at Rio 2016.
Men's 102kg - Liu Huanhua breaks two world records
Liu Huanhua of the People's Republic of China put in an impressive performance in the men's 102kg weight class, beating the world record in clean & jerk (232 kg) and total (413 kg). The result gives Liu a big lead in the rankings for Paris 2024.
20-year-old Armenian Garik Karapetyan was second with 401 kg, while Yauheni Tsikhantsou finished third with 400 kg.
Wes Kitts of the United States qualified with the continental slot, as the other results went his way. The American struggled with a hip injury and therefore did not lift, but luckily for him Colombian Jhonatan Rivas failed to overtake Kitts in the rankings.
After 483 days out of competition, Lesman Paredes of Bahrain returned to the men's 102 kg, finishing in fourth place on 398 kg, which was an improvement by 1 kg of his personal best.
Davranbek Hasanbayev of Turkmenistan took a big jump up the rankings after winning gold in snatch. He ended fith in the competition on 392 kg, improving his best total by 19 kg.
Men's +109kg - Varazdat Lalayan strikes gold
Armenia's Varazdat Lalayan claimed the final event of the Wold Cup in Thailand and improved his best total score to 463 kg.
Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Ali Davoudi from the Islamic Republic of Iran took second place, lifting seven kilos less than Lalayan.
Ayat Sharifikelarijani, also from the Islamic Republic of Iran, claimed bronze with 447 kg.
Two-time Olympic champion and rankings leader Lasha Talakhadze had a knee injury and withdrew from the event.
The Georgian, who holds the all-time world records in the snatch (225kg), the clean and jerk (267 kg), and the total (492 kg), chose to focus on his recovery ahead of the Games instead.
Olympic silver medallist from Rio, Gor Minasyan, who is ranked second, also withdrew, as well as several others ranked in the top ten did.
The New Zealander David Liti claimed the continental slot.
In Paris, the heaviest weight class for the men will be the +102kg class.
Women's 49kg - Hou Zhihui set for Paris repeat despite defeat
DPR Korea’s Ri-Song-gum dominated the women’s 49kg and improved on her world record mark set at last year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou.
And despite a fine challenge from China’s reigning Olympic champion Hou Zhihui, Ri cemented her position as the best in her weight class.
With just one athlete per NOC per weight class making Paris, Hou was involved in a personal duel with teammate Jiang Huihua who led the Paris rankings on 216kg going into this final event.
Hou set a new world record in the snatch with 97kg on her second attempt after Jiang had only managed 94kg.
Ri matched that 97kg on her final attempt, but Hou was unsuccessful with her final try at 99kg.
In the clean and jerk, Hou lifted 113kg on her first attempt with Jiang successful at 114kg. But both then failed at 120kg.
No such issues for Ri as she lifted 120kg to set a new total world record of 217kg, 1kg higher than she achieved in Hangzhou.
Hou was then successful with her final attempt of the competition at 120kg to post her biggest ever total. And this would be enough to book her place in Paris with former world record holder Jiang failing at 123kg.
All eyes were then on Ri who lifted 124kg to take her world record total to 221kg. She then had her first failure of the competition at 126kg in attempting to break her own clean and jerk WR of 125kg.
Japan’s Suzuki Rira was fourth with a total of 197kg leaving her sixth in the Paris rankings. Home lifter Surodchana Khambao – safely third in the rankings - was only fifth but Venezuela’s Katherin Echandia’s total of 193kg in sixth place moved her up two spots in the rankings to eighth position.
Fang Wan-ling was the big mover as her 192kg in seventh place saw her go ninth in the Paris rankings and push Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines – who had started the day in ninth place - out of the top 10. The lifter from Chinese Taipei, who finished fourth at Tokyo 2020, is now set for her second Olympic appearance.
Rosina Randafiarison of Madagascar will also go to the Games as her 172kg total was enough to take the quota spot for an athlete from a continent without a top-10 qualifier, beating Papua New Guinea’s Dika Toua by 1kg. Toua could still go if she is awarded a Universality Place.
European champion Mihaela Cambei, fifth in the Paris rankings, competed in the 55kg class where she finished second behind DPR Korea’s Kang Hyon-gyong who set world records for the clean and jerk and total.
Women's 59kg - Luo Shifang dominates as Elreen Ando stuns Hidilyn Diaz
Luo Shifang showed she is the woman to beat in Paris after breaking her own total world record in phu*ket.
Luo was second in the snatch behind DPR Korea’s Kim Il-gyong with the latter lifting 108kg first.
But Kim could only manage 132kg in the clean and jerk with Luo lifting 133kg on her first attempt to take victory. And after one failure at 140kg, Luo was successful with her final lift to add 1kg to her total of 247kg set at December's IWF Grand Prix in Doha.
Canada’s 64kg Olympic champion Maude Charron held on for third in what she told IWF was “the single best session I have ever lifted in”, with Luo’s Chinese teammate Pei Xinyi unable to pass her due to two failures at 134kg in the clean and jerk.
Reigning 59kg Olympic champion Kuo Hsing-chun was only fifth as she watched Luo take her world record.
Elreen Ando of the Philippines caused a sensation as she took seventh place with a total of 228kg.
That saw her overtake Hidilyn Diaz – who had started the day eighth in the Paris rankings – as the top Filipino lifter to deny the Tokyo 2020 55kg gold medallist a fifth Olympic appearance.
Dora Tchakounte will almost certainly represent France in Paris as she went ninth in the rankings with 224kg, pushing USA’s Taylor Wilkins – who went three and out in the snatch – down into 11th spot.
Mattie Sasser of the Marshall Islands took the continental berth with 216kg.
Women's 71kg - Olivia Reeves of the United States claims gold defeating three world record holders
USA's Olivia Reeves looks like a gold medal contender for Paris 2024 after achieving a new personal best of 268 kg.
The 20-year-old American took the top step of the podium ahead of Liao Guifang from the People's Republic of China. Liao holds world record on total and is leading the rankings.
Song Kuk Hyang of DPR Korea claimed bronze and is still the world record holder in clean & jerk, a record she set at the Asian Championships.
In December at the Qatar Grand Prix, both Liao and Song finished ahead of Reeves.
Iceland's Eyglo Sturludottir failed to qualify through the rankings after missing attempts in clean & jerk at 134 kg.
However, the medical student can still go to Paris if she earns a universality place.
Nigeria's Joy Eze missed her final attempt that would have sent her into the top 10 on the rankings. Depending on France's reallocation, Eze might still has a chance to go to Paris.
Brazil's Amanda Schott, who was injured, is 12th in the rankings, but PR China can only select three women from the five that have qualified, so Schott is not wihtout hope.
Women's 81kg - Olympic champion Neisi Dajomes takes title in style
The Tokyo 2020 76kg Olympic champion, Neisi Dajomes, ended on 269 kg in the women's 81kg weight class, which was enough to secure her the win.
She could even decline her last attemp after making five good lifts, and the Ecudorian now sits in second place on the rankings.
Liang Xiaomei of the People's Repulbic of China is first in the rankings, but it was her compatriot Wang Zhouyu, the 87kg Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, who secured the silver medal in Thailand.
Third-ranked Sara Samir pulled out already after the weigh-in. Australia's Eileen Cikamatana lifted 263 kg, a new best total that awarded her a third place in the competition.
Norway's Solfrid Koanda, who is ranked fourth, competed in the 87kg weight class, where she took a convincing victory.
Women's +87kg: Tokyo 2020 champion Li Wenwen makes successful return
Olympic champion in 87kg+, Li Wenwen of PR China, dominated her competition, securing the gold medal with a 29 kg lead over second place.
Li took her total to 325 kg and has the biggest lead in the rankings across all Paris 2024 weight categories. She has suffered from an elbow injury since the World Championships, but is clearly back in her best shape.
The Republic of Korea occupied the bottom podium spots with world champion Park Hyejeong and Son Younghee.
20-year-old Park was competing despite losing her mother just a week ago.
Athletes ranked 11th and 12th on the rankings can most likely still earn a place for Paris, as the five continental federations are represented in the top 10, meaning the continental slot will be reallocated. Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Crismery Santana and Nurul Akmal are the athletes placed right outside the top 10.
In Paris, the heaviest weight class for the women will be the +81kg class.
