Rejepbay Rejepov from Turkmenistan became the world vice-champion in weightlifting, having won one gold and two silver medals at the world championship in Bogota (Colombia). The 30-year-old Honored Master of Sports achieved this success in the weight category up to 81 kg, in which 29 athletes from 23 countries competed for awards.
In the snatch, Rejepbay lifted 164 kg on the first attempt, which secured him a silver medal in this exercise. In the next two approaches, the bar weighing 168 and 169 kg did not submit. As a result, after the first exercise, our compatriot was second, losing 7 kg to the world record holder in the snatch, vice-champion of the world in 219 and bronze medalist of the 2018 World Championship Li Daing (China) and 2 kg ahead of the silver medalist of the Asian Games-2018 Kim Wu Zhe (The Republic of Korea).
In the clean and jerk, R. Rejepov effectively used the first two approaches - 195 kg and 202 kg, winning gold in this exercise. In the final approach, in order to get ahead of the Chinese weightlifter in the biathlon, he went on to storm the world record, ordering a weight of 209 kg on the bar - 1 kg more than the previous achievement of the 18-year-old 2021 world champion Carlos Nasar (Bulgaria). Rejepbay took the record weight on his chest, but could not push him.
As a result, in the biathlon with a result of 366 kg (164 + 202), R. Rejepov became the second, ahead of the Korean weightlifter Kim Wu Jae, who took third place, by 9 kg and losing 6 kg to the 2022 world champion Chinese Li Dain.
Rejepbay five years ago already became the silver medalist of the World Championship in Anaheim, USA, only in the weight up to 77 kg. He has gold of the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in 2017, two medals of the Asian Championship (silver and bronze), as well as participation in the Tokyo Olympics. By the way, at the Olympics in Japan, he could claim a medal, but his third attempt in the clean and jerk (198 kg) was not counted by the judges. This time Rejepov repeated his Tokyo result (164 kg) in the snatch.
«The final second place is an excellent result both for the athlete himself and for the entire national team of Turkmenistan«, the website of the International Olympic Committee comments on the results of R. Rejepov’s performance at the 2022 World Championship qualifying for the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, which brought together 537 athletes (267 men and 270 women) from 93 countries.
On the Colombian platform, Rejepbay Rejepov showed the best result in his career, exceeding by 3 kg his two national records in the clean and jerk and the combined total, which now amount to 202 and 366 kg, respectively. It is noteworthy that the record of Turkmenistan in the snatch (166 kg), which was set at the 2018 World Championships in Ashgabat, also belongs to Rejepbay.
At the same time, few people know what physical and mental strength it cost R. Rejepov to return to the platform after the meniscus surgery on May 18 this year. He began training for the 2022 World Cup on July 2 under the guidance of his personal coach, Honored Coach of Turkmenistan Artur Emiryan. Rejepbay was preparing for the world championship in Ashgabat without leaving for training camps. The athlete had a high goal - to climb the podium of the 2022 World Cup - and an experienced mentor next to him. And this led to success.
This is not the first great success of Artur Emiryan's pupils at major international competitions. Last year, under the guidance of this specialist, weightlifter Polina Guryeva won the first Olympic medal in the history of independent Turkmenistan at the Olympics in Tokyo. She was awarded the silver dignity in the weight category up to 59 kg, in which representatives of 14 countries competed for medals.
