Phuket, Thailand, April 3, 2024: Li Fabin of China booked a place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with two gold medals and a world record at the International Weightlifting Federation World Cup in Phuket, Thailand on Tuesday, April 2.
Li, the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist, broke his own world record in the snatch with 146kg before adding 166kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 312kg in the men’s 61kg category. This total effort won Li his second gold medal, cementing his position at the top of the Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR).
Also booking an Olympic berth in the same weight class was John Ceniza from the Philippines who lifted a total of 300kg (132kg and 168kg) placing him well within the top-10 OQR cut-off at No. 6.
Ceniza, 26, will now join Rosegie Ramos as the second Filipino weightlifter at Paris 2024. Ramos won a quota place in the women’s 49kg on Monday, April 1.
“Train hard every day, forget your problems - that’s the way to prepare and that’s what I did. It’s my dream to be an Olympian, and to be the first man to win a weightlifting medal for the Philippines," Ceniza said, according to the IWF website.
China’s Li was competing with compatriot Shen Lijun, the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist in the men’s 67kg. But Shen failed all of his three attempts in the snatch and withdrew from the competition.
“It’s cruel,” Li said after the competition. “Shen had to lose a lot of weight to participate in the men’s 61kg competition. I know how hard it is. But I can’t afford to lose either and I have to try my best.”
The men’s 67kg weight class has been scrapped for Paris 2024. There will be 10 medal events in the weightlifting competition of Paris 2024, five men and five women.
The men’s weight classes are: 61kg; 73kg; 89kg; 102kg; +102kg. The women’s events are: 49kg; 59kg; 71kg; 81kg; +81kg.
In total 120 athletes competing in 10 categories will go for gold in Paris 2024. As the host country, France will be allocated four quotas – two for men and two for women. There will be 10 quota places for continental representation and six quotas for Universality places which will be decided by the IOC Tripartite Commission later this year.
The remaining 100 athletes – 50 men and 50 women – will earn quotas through the OQR based on the best total results (snatch, and clean and jerk).
The IWF World Cup in Phuket runs until April 11 and serves as a qualifying event for Paris 2024.
