Phuket, Thailand, April 5, 2024: Indonesian lifter Rizki Juniansyah set a new world record for the men’s 73kg category at the International Weightlifting Federation World Cup on Thursday, April 4, to book his berth at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 20-year-old Juniansyah lifted 164kg in the snatch and 201kg in the clean and jerk for a total of 365kg, beating the previous world record of 364kg set by China’s Shi Zhiyong at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Juniansyah’s stunning effort resulted in Indonesian teammate Rahmat Erwin, one of the strongest favourites for Olympic gold, being knocked out of Paris 2024. It was a big upset as Erwin had led the Olympic Qualification Ranking (OQR) since December 2022.
Nations are limited to one athlete per weight category in Paris 2024.
“I can’t believe it, I don’t know what to think,” said Juniansyah. “I had appendix surgery about six months ago and I didn’t start properly training until January. I can’t take it all in. It’s crazy. I’m so proud.”
Juniansyah broke the world record on total when he lifted 201kg with his fifth attempt. He missed at 203kg but had gone ahead of Erwin with his aggregate 365kg, a 12kg improvement on his best effort at the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan in February.
Erwin, who was third in snatch, had to lift 206kg in the clean and jerk to stay in contention for the Paris Olympics, but finished on 160-195-355, and well behind Juniansyah.
China’s Shi, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, won the gold in the snatch by lifting 165kg but he managed only 191kg in the clean and jerk, finishing with a total of 356kg to win the silver medal.
Other Asian lifters who cemented the place in the top-10 in the OQR were Masanori Miyamoto from Japan, Thailand's Weeraphon Wichuma and Bak Joohyo from Korea.
