IWF World Championships Review: Lasha Talakhadze Breaks 3 World Records

Georgian Super heavyweight lasha Talakhadze broke three world records at the IWF
World Championships in Thailand. Talakhadze was the star of the show as the best weightlifters on the planet convened in Pattaya last month, claiming three gold medals. The 26-year-old, who was previously World Champion in 2015, 2017 and 2018, blew away his competition in the +109kg men’s division on the last day of the tournament. A snatch of 220kg and a clean and jerk of 264kg earned him a total of 484kg for three new world records.

On the women’s side of the competition, Li Wenwen became holder of all three world records in the women’s +87kg division. Li already held the snatch record but added to it the clean and jerk with a 186kg lift and the best ever total performance of 332kg. Her compatriot Wang Zhouyu created one of the other top stories of the championships by coming away with three golds despite having jumped up two weight categories. Wang managed a snatch of 120kg and a clean and jerk of 158kg to card a total of 278kg.

There was also success for one of Britain’s top lifters Emily Muskett who won Bronze in the clean and jerk for the 79kg division, becoming the first GB medalist in 25 years. Muskett, a 29-year-old from Farnborough, lifted 126kg and finished fourth overall with a snatch of 100kg.
'It feels absolutely amazing' she told BBC Sport

'I've been working three jobs and just training when I can, which is hard to balance, but all the British lifters are in the same situation,' said Muskett, who moved to Australia for work last year.

'I just hope someone from UK Sport will take a look at us and help because there's so much potential here, particularly on the women's side of the sport'