IWF World Youth Weightlifting Championships 2024: Indian weightlifters secure four medals on Day 1, including one gold

In the women’s 40 kg category, Preetismita Bhoi created a new World Record, bettering the existing record of 75 kg by 1 kg at the IWF World Youth Weightlifting Championships in Lima, Peru on May 22, Wednesday.

The 15-year-old from Odisha went on to win the gold medal in the 40 kg category. She lifted 57 kg in a snatch for a total effort of 133 kg (57 kg + 76 kg).

Meanwhile, her fellow compatriot Jyoshna Sabar settled for the silver medal with a total effort of 125 kg (56 kg + 69 kg). Turkey’s Fatma Kolcak secured the bronze medal with a total lift of 120 kg (55 kg + 65 kg)

Notably, Preetismita trains at the Odisha Weightlifting HPC sub-center in Dhenkanal with Gopal Das being her mentor. On the other hand, Jyoshna trains at the HPC Bhubaneshwar under the mentorship of the CWG 2010 gold medallist Katulu Ravi Kumar, who is currently serving as General Secretary of the Odisha Weightlifting Association.

“Getting selected to represent the country in the Youth Championships is an achievement in itself. In the last two years, Odisha has dominated the U14 category,” said Ravi Kumar as quoted by Sportstar.

“We had targeted the World Championships this year, in preparation for Youth Olympics and Commonwealth games. We were working hard for this [breaking the world record] and [Preeti] showed a lot of dedication and sacrifice to reach the target,” Gopal Das stated.

Two more youth weightlifters bagged medals at the IWF World Youth Weightlifting Championships 2024

Moving forward to the men’s 49 kg event, Jharkhand’s Babulal Hembrom secured a total lift of 193 kg (86 kg + 107 kg) to settle for the bronze medal in the World Youth Weightlifting Championships.

Meanwhile, Payal, in the women’s 45 kg category, finished with the silver medal, accumulating a total lift of 147 kg (65 kg + 82 kg). Payal was behind Colombian Lawren Estrada with 151 kg (67 kg + 84 kg).

In total, India went on to win four medals on Day 1 of the ongoing IWF World Youth Weightlifting Championships. In the last year’s edition, Indian youth weightlifters managed to win one silver and four bronze medals in Albania.