Ten weightlifters will represent Turkmenistan at the 2026 World Championships in China.
This will be the second World Weightlifting Championships in the history of China (the country hosted its first tournament in 1995). The competition will be held at the Ningbo Olympic sports centre and will run until the 8th of November.
531 athletes (263 men and 268 women) from 99 countries are expected to compete for the awards. A total of 16 sets of medals will be awarded (8 each for men and women) in the combined event.
The current World Championships will be a historic milestone for world weightlifting, as the tournament is being held for the first time after major changes to the weight category system. Moreover, the world championship officially opens a new Olympic cycle: weightlifters will begin competing for important qualification points for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Turkmen weightlifters are represented by a balanced team. The following will compete for medals on the Chinese platform: in the women's team - Ogulshat Amanova (weight category up to 53 kg), Shabnam Kerimbayeva (up to 57 kg), Medine Amanova (up to 69 kg), Gulalek Kakamyradova (up to 77 kg) and Anamjan Rustamova (up to 86 kg), and in the men's team - Bektimur Reyimov and Didarbek Jumabayev (both - up to 79 kg), Gaygysyz Torayev (up to 85 kg), Rustem Annaberdiyev (up to 95 kg) and Shahzadbek Matyakubov (up to 110 kg).
The last time Turkmen weightlifters competed at the World Championships was in 2024 in Manama, Bahrain. Then Bunyad Rashidov won a small silver medal in the snatch in the 73 kg weight category, and Davranbek Hasanbayev became a bronze medallist in the snatch in the 102 kg weight category.
