Turkmen weightlifters won 12 medals at the recently concluded World Youth (U17) and Junior (U20) Championships held in Lima, Peru. The competition featured 531 athletes (265 women and 266 men) from 77 countries, competing in ten men’s and ten women’s weight categories.
The Turkmen team was represented by 7 athletes (4 in the youth tournament and 3 girls in the junior tournament), five of whom brought home 2 gold, 7 silver, and 3 bronze medals.
The world junior champion was Anamjan Rustamova. This success was achieved by the first-year student of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports in the up to 87 kg weight category, where 12 female weightlifters competed for medals. In the first event, the snatch, she completed two attempts at 105 kg and 108 kg, showing the sixth-best result. However, in the clean and jerk, Anamjan successfully used all three attempts at 134 kg, 137 kg, and 141 kg, winning gold in this event.
In total, scoring 249 kg in the two-lift total, A. Rustamova stepped onto the highest podium position. Second place went to Mayrin Vanessa Hernandez Lizarraga (Mexico) with 244 kg (109 + 135), and third place was taken by Maria Gruzdova, competing under the flag of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), from Russia, with 242 kg (108 + 134).
Last year, at the World Junior Championships in Leon, Spain, Anamjan received only one bronze medal in the snatch. Now she has won two gold medals in the clean and jerk and total giving herself a wonderful gift for her 19th birthday celebrated on May 8.
She began weightlifting in the Gurbansoltan Eje etrap of Dashoguz velayat with her first coach Deripbay Kerimbaev. Currently, she is honing her skills in the capital under the guidance of the head coach of the Turkmen women’s national team, Meretguly Sakhetmyradov.
The other ten medals at the World Championships were won by our compatriots in the youth tournament (under 17). Three medals each were brought to the Turkmenistan team by Kakamyrat Annamyradov, an 11th-grade student of secondary school No. 34 in the Sakarchage etrap of Mary velayat; Didarbek Jumabayev, an 11th-grade student of the “Olimp” sports school; and Islam Akmyradov, an 11th-grade student of secondary school No. 35 in the city of Mary.
Kakamyrat Annamyradov, competing in the up to 73 kg category, won bronze in the snatch (130 kg) and two silvers-in the clean and jerk (160 kg) and total (290 kg), surpassing the bronze medalist Ernur Myrzakhmet (Kazakhstan) by 4 kg, who totaled 286 kg (131 + 155). The world champion in this category was Hussein Metwally Hamouda Abdelrahman (Egypt) with a total of 306 kg (141 + 165).
Didarbek Jumabayev earned three silver medals-in the snatch, clean and jerk, and total-in the up to 81 kg category, which featured 15 weightlifters. He totaled 305 kg (137 + 168), 8 kg more than bronze medalist Maksim Vasilonoks (Latvia) with 297 kg (136 + 161). The best result was by Sergey Kotelevskiy (Ukraine) with 314 kg (142 + 172).
Islam Akmyradov distinguished himself in the up to 96 kg category, contested by 7 weightlifters. He won silver in the snatch (141 kg), bronze in the clean and jerk (175 kg), and silver in the total (316 kg), beating the third-place finisher Parv Chaudhary (India) by 1 kg, who totaled 315 kg (140 + 175). The top spot in this weight class was taken three times by Grigor Gazaryan (Armenia) with 330 kg (145 + 185).
All three silver medalists-Kakamyrat Annamyradov, Didarbek Jumabayev, and Islam Akmyradov-are coached by the honored coach of Turkmenistan, Akhmet Saryev.
Another member of the Turkmenistan team, Ogulshat Amanova, a 10th-grade student of secondary school No. 104 in Buzmeyin etrap of Ashgabat, won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk (101 kg) in the up to 55 kg category, which had 16 participants. However, in the snatch, she placed sixth with 79 kg and finished fourth in the total (180 kg), two kilograms behind the bronze medalist Nicoleta Cojocaru (Moldova) with 182 kg (82 + 100). The world champion in this weight class was Jodi Peralta (Philippines) with 188 kg (84 + 104), ahead by 5 kg of second place I Tho (Vietnam) with 183 kg (80 + 103).
This was Ogulshat Amanova’s fourth appearance at the World Youth Championships. In 2022, debuting at age 12 in these competitions in Leon, Mexico, she placed 6th in the up to 45 kg category among 12 athletes and set three personal records-in the snatch (61 kg), clean and jerk (75 kg), and total (136 kg). In 2023, with a result of 156 kg, she became the world champion (U17) in the 45 kg category, and in 2024, she was vice-champion with a total of 168 kg in the 49 kg category.
This year, 15-year-old Ogulshat, coached by her father Gurbandurdy Amanov, debuted at the World Championships in the up to 55 kg category, improving her previous personal best by 12 kg.
Among other Turkmen athletes, Medine Amanova took 8th place with a total of 205 kg (91 + 114), and Gulyalek Kakamyradova placed 10th with 199 kg (91 + 108) among 25 participants in the junior tournament in the up to 64 kg category.
Last year, Turkmen weightlifters won 7 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze) at the World Youth Championships in Lima (Peru), and they won 4 medals (3 gold and 1 bronze) at the World Junior Championships in Leon (Spain).
