American Olivia Reeves achieved the best performance of her career by defeating all three world record holders in the women's 71kg category at the IWF World Cup in Phuket, Thailand.
In the final qualifying round for the 2024 Paris Games, Reeves completed all six lifts, posting career bests across the board with scores of 118-150-268. This put her at the top of the podium, ahead of the strongest lifters from China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
During the medal ceremony, the Stars and Stripes was hoisted above the national flags of China and the People's Republic of China. When asked when the last time something like this happened, Mike Gattone, USA Weightlifting's director of performance and coaching, said it was a matter of if, not when. “I don't remember that happening.” He said.
Olivia Reeves (USA)
Of these, China and PRK hold all but two of the current women's world records.
The 20-year-old Reeves finished second, improving his Olympic personal best ranking by a total of 6kg, but the athletes in first, third and fourth place were a combined 46kg lower than their bests. Reeves has gained a total of 23kg since qualifying began 16 months ago and is a legitimate gold medal favorite for Paris.
Ranking leader Liao Guifang of China holds the total world record, while Song Kuk-hyang of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea set the clean and jerk mark at the Asian Championships two months ago and is a snatch specialist from Ecuador. Angie Palacios remains the only non-Asian world record holder. Current women's world record.
Liao Guifang (China)
Liao was second with 115-149-264, Song was third with 115-146-261 and Palacios was sixth with 113-132-245. Only twice were all three of us able to lift successfully. The only athlete in the top 10 to improve his total was Tokyo 64kg bronze medalist Chen Wenhui (from Chinese Taipei), who finished fourth here with 105 wins, 141 losses, and 246.
Reeves, the youngest of the 11 players in Group A, said before the tournament: “My goal is to get as close to China as possible. I'll see what I can do there.”
After finishing 4kg ahead of Liao, she said: “It certainly went according to plan. I couldn't have asked for anything better, especially after the quick turnaround from the Bulgaria game (final qualifier in February).
“I can't believe I got 150 points. I'll have to watch it again.”
Reeves had finished behind Liao and Song at the Qatar Grand Prix in December. When asked how she went from third place to first place, she replied: “I lifted more weight, that's all. Nothing else has changed, I'm just more confident in my lifts.”
Besides Liao, Reeves, Palacios and Chen, others in the top 10 are Loredana Toma of Romania, Vanessa Sarno of the Philippines, Nema Saeed of Egypt, who weighed in without lifting here, and individual neutrals. Mari Levis Sánchez of Colombia. Siuzanna Varodzka from Belarus and Marie Fegh from France who will lift 76kg on Monday.
Both Sarno and Barodzka opted for promotion in Group B. The last 30 minutes of the tense session were heartbreaking. Four lifters each completed two attempts to qualify for Paris.This includes players starting for the first time in 20 years.th place. All eight attempts were no lifts.
Cuba's Jeniuska Mirabal made it to the final four for the first time despite two failures at 133 kg. If she had done that, she would have moved up ten places to 10th place.
South Korea's Mun Min Hee failed twice at 134kg after four good lifts, while Vietnam's Pham Thi Hong Thanh failed both times at 135kg.
Eigros Struddottir (ISL)
Eigró Sturdóttir is from Iceland. “I’m really happy and positive.” Despite missing out on the challenge at 134kg that would have qualified her. Sturrodóttir, a 22-year-old medical student, competed in all seven qualifying competitions, with two major goals: to become a doctor and compete in lifting at the Olympics. She improved from her first 94-119-213 to 106-130-236 at the end.
“I will continue to train, continue to compete and hopefully further solidify my ranking at the next Los Angeles qualifier.” she said.
“I'm planning to graduate in 2027, but after that I'll be out of school for a year and just training for the 2028 Olympics. I'm not done yet. I'm planning to be a doctor at the next Olympics. See you then.” Let’s go.”
There is still a possibility that Sturdóttir is in Paris. Iceland applied for universal place on her behalf. The International Olympic Committee's tripartite committee will review 32 applications and plans to send invitations to six athletes, three men and three women, in mid-June.
Nigeria's Joy Eze is another player who failed in his last attempt to break into the top 10. That happened the day before in Group C, where Eze recorded a total of 239kg, moving him up to 11th place.th place. Depending on the redistribution of France's host country slots, that may be enough to qualify.
Amanda Schott from Brazil is 12 years oldth I couldn't stand here because of my injury, but that doesn't mean there's no hope. If China chooses not to compete in this category in Paris (up to three women can be selected from the five who qualify), Schott could move up the rankings.
Podium in men's 96kg class
In the non-Olympic men's 96kg category, Won Jong-beom won by a wide margin. He declined his final challenge after fending off Egypt's Karim Abokara, who had rejected his last two challenges 170-219-389, 165-205-370. Canada's Braydon Kennedy took third place with a score of 165-193-358.
Written by Brian Oliver
Photo by: Giorgio Scala/Deep Blue Media