Olympic Hopefuls Crush Records In Almaty
By Andrea Signor
New faces and veteran athletes stood atop the podium in Almaty, Kazakhstan, as the 2014 International Weightlifting Federation World Championships concluded, Nov. 16.
Throughout the two-week long event, seven world records were set by male and female athletes, three of which were earned by Russia’s Tatiana Kashirina. The 23-year-old athlete, who competes in the 75+ kilogram weight class, crushed her previous record with a 155-kg snatch. She reclaimed the clean and jerk record with 193-kgs for the winning total -- and another world record -- of 348-kgs.
Russia’s Ruslan Albegov successfully defended his position on top of the podium in 105+ kg weight class for male athletes with a total of 462-kgs. He took first in the same weight class at the 2013 World Championships.
Two Kazakh athletes earned world records in front of a home crowd. Zulfiya Chinshanlo broke the record in the women’s 53-kg weight class with a 134-kg snatch. Crowd favorite Ilya Ilyin edged out fellow 105-kg athletes David Bedzhanyan of Russia and Ruslan Nurudinov of Uzbekistan with a record-setting 242-kg clean and jerk.
According to an event recap by IWF, Ilyin attributed the record and the win to his new vegetarian lifestyle.
“I feel lighter, freer, and I exercise more efficiently,” he told reporters. “I base my diet on my feelings. it helps and it works.”
IWF officials report that although other vegetarian athletes have made it to the world stage, none had ever won a world title.
North Korean athletes excelled throughout the competition, earning 12 gold medals for their country and setting their own record for the most medals won in a single weightlifting World Championships, according to IWF. China trailed the North Koreans by three gold medals.
Although no U.S. athletes earned a medal at the championships, the Americans had plenty of highlights throughout the competition. According to USA Weightlifting’s Twitterfeed, Colin Burns set a new American record with a 169-kg snatch. Burns, who competes in the 94-kg weight class, finished 15th overall with a personal record of 362-kgs.
"USA Weightlifting is extremely pleased with the performances of Team USA at the 2015 World Championships," said Carissa Gump, USA Weightlifting Director of Corporate Services. "As this was the first qualification event for the 2016 Olympic Games, it was a great opportunity for our athletes to test themselves among the world's elite weightlifters. As an organization, USA Weightlifting is excited to see the continued improvement of our athletes and look forward to seeing them on the platform at the 2015 IWF World Championships in Houston."
Team USA now turns its sites to the American Open in Washington, D.C., Dec. 12-15.