Egyptian weightlifters grabbed three gold, five silver and two bronze medals at the 2015 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Youth World Championship in Lima, Peru. The participant countries in the 7-12 April event were Australia, Argentina, Algeria, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Egypt, Ecuador, Great Britain, Latvia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Poland, Russia, Romania, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, India, Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, the US and Ukraine. Altogether, 90 men and 99 women from 28 countries participated. The Egyptian team was composed of Aya Emad, 58kg, Israa Al-Sayed, 63kg, Sara Samir, 69kg, Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, 94kg, and Osama Mounir +94kg. In the women's 69kg bodyweight category, Samir won first place by collecting three gold medals in the snatch with a heave of 103kg lifted and in the clean and jerk with 133kg for a total number of 236 kilogrammes lifted, the highest score in the championship as she won the first gold medal for the African continent Samir has been the world champion for three consecutive years. She was world champion in the International Wrestling Federation (IWF) Youth World Championships at Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 2013. She booked a place for Egypt in the women's event in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG). She had taken first place with three gold medals in the snatch with a heave of 101kg lifted, in the clean and jerk with 120kg and a total of 221kg in the women's 63kg weight category. Again, she was chosen best player. She was also a gold medallist at the 2014 YOG in Nanjing, China. The 17-year-old made history by winning a gold medal in the women's 63kg weightlifting category on 21 August. She became the first Egyptian woman to win an individual gold medal in Olympic competitions. It was also the first Olympic medal for the Egyptian delegation in YOG. Samir also won three gold medals in the 2015 IWF Youth World championship this year. In the women's 63kg bodyweight category, Chinese Ting Huang snatched a gold medal with 99kg in the snatch and 120kg in the clean and jerk, for a total number of 219 kilogrammes lifted. Egyptian Al-Sayed came in second place with three silver medals in the snatch with 98kg and in the clean and jerk 111kg, a total of 209 kilogrammes lifted. In the women's 58kg bodyweight category, Emad finished in the seventh place with a total 178 kilogrammes. In the men's +94 kg bodyweight category, Mexican Josué Said Medina Andueza won the gold with 150kg in the snatch and 188kg in the clean and jerk, a total of 338kilogrammes lifted. Russian Murat Gabuev took silver with 150kg in the snatch and 179kg in the clean and jerk -- 329 kilogrammes lifted. Egyptian weightlifter Mounir won third place and the bronze medal in the snatch with 146kg lifted and a silver medal in 180kg in the clean and jerk, plus a bronze medal for the total number of 326 kilogrammes lifted. In the men's 94 kg bodyweight category, Algerian Ayman Touairi snatched a gold medal with a total score of 318. Chinese Taipei's Jhih Lo Hao won the silver with a 307kg lift. American Michael Howard Cohen took the bronze with a 301 lift. Egyptian weightlifter Abdel-Rahman finished in fourth place with 137kg in snatch and 163 in clean and jerk, the total number of 300 kilogrammes lifted. Abdel-Rahman won a silver medal in the snatch. President of the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation (EWF) Mahmoud Mahgoub told Al-Ahram Weekly, “The best result for the Egyptian weightlifters in the IWF Youth World championship was in 2013. We had eight men and three women who won four gold, two silver and three bronze. This year the number of medals is bigger and the participants are less.” Mahgoub added, “We are waiting for the Minister of Youth and Sports Khaled Abdel-Aziz to honour our weightlifters for their achievements.” On training the Egyptian team, Mahgoub said, “This is the first time our men weightlifters participate in this championship. They are still young. The aim is to gain more experience. We don't have enough financial support for junior teams. We hope in the coming period to be subsidised by the ministry.” The EWF is readying for the 11th African Games in Brazzaville, in the Republic of Congo, from 6-12 September, and the IWF World Cup for seniors in Houston, in the US, from 20-29 November. It is an Olympic qualifying event for the 2015 Rio Games.
