Lidia Valentin of Spain, who has won gold, silver and bronze medals at
the Olympic Games, is moving up to a new weight in an attempt to
qualify for Tokyo 2020.
Sunday, 18 April 2021
The women s 64 kilograms contest at the Pan American Weightlifting Championships, which start in the Dominican Republic tomorrow, highlights the improved performance of the United States and Canada throughout Olympic qualifying.
It also emphasises that the biggest losers at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are likely to be Colombia.
When qualifying was team-based for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the US sent a team of four and Canada two, while Colombia had nine, the second largest contingent behind China.
This time around the US is hoping for a maximum eight, while Canada is looking solid for four places according to Craig Walker, President of the Canadian Weightlifting Federation - and maybe more.
Hidilyn Diaz bids to claim Olympic berth in Asian weightlifting
HIDILYN Diaz hopes to end her more than a year long wait by Sunday.
The 30-year-old Filipina guns for her rightful place in the Tokyo Olympics when she competes in the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Diaz need not achieve a podium finish in the final Olympic qualifier for the sport as merely showing up would be enough for the Rio De Janeiro silver Olympic medal winner to complete the required five-tournament rule for her to qualify for Tokyo.
But the warrior in her still compels Diaz to go all out and seek a strong finish in the women’s 55 kg competition that serves as her final tournament prior to the Olympiad.
Thursday, 8 April 2021
Iryna Dekha of Ukraine took advantage of the absence of Lidia Valentin to win gold at the European Weightlifting Championships in Moscow and effectively confirm her place as Europe’s top qualifier in the women’s 76 kilograms for Tokyo 2020.
Valentin had a serious bout of gastroenteritis at the weekend and had to go to hospital rather than fly to Moscow.
It was a controversial success for Dekha, as the Russian teenager Iana Sotieva thought she had won by making her final clean and jerk of 137kg.
Sotieva, 18, the European youth champion, screamed and jumped with delight after hearing the buzzer but her effort was judged a no lift , presumably for a press out.