On the island country of Fiji, Egypt was victorious at the 2019 Junior Weightlifting World Championships. The one-week event, belonging to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) and which was held from 1-8 June, saw Egyptian prodigies win three gold medals. Their performances and results proved their determination to follow in the footsteps of their seniors, the Olympic bronze medalists Mohamed Ihab and Sara Samir. Overall, 235 athletes participated: 105 women and 130 men from 41 countries. In the women's event, China topped the table tally with 12 medals, including 11 gold and one silver. It was followed by Kazakhstan with six gold medals and Vietnam with three gold and three silver. In the men's, Uzbekistan dominated the table with six gold while Egypt's Ali Ahmed Sayed Ashour bagged three gold medals in the 96kg category in the snatch, clean & jerk and the total. The 19-year-old thus led Egypt to a second place finish in the event. In third came Ireland with 15 medals -- two gold, four silver and nine bronze. In the women's category, Egypt finished in sixth place out of 33 nations, claiming two gold medals and one silver thanks to Rania Ezzat who won two gold medals in the snatch and total and a silver in the clean & jerk in the 76kg weight category. The tiny island of Fiji, on the Pacific, defied the skeptics. Despite not having prior experience in organising a weightlifting world championships, Fiji and the Local Organising Committee, under the leadership of Robin Mitchell, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees and Oceania National Olympic Committees, plus a member of the International Olympic Committee, delivered this Gold Level Olympic qualification event in a most professional manner. Emphasising the importance of the championship in the life of Fiji, President of Fiji Jioji Konusi Konrote attended the event and demonstrated the warmest possible hospitality to the weightlifting family. “Fiji is proud to host this important event and the Fijians are doing their best to make everybody feel at home. Never before have so many countries been represented at a sports event in Fiji,” Konrote, a former major-general, said. The event was included in the “Voices of the Athletes” Schools Program, which meant students from 12 Fiji schools had the chance to witness an event of this size. Weightlifting Fiji, under the leadership of Atma Maharaj, expects to spark further interest in weightlifting. “We want to be able to set up new high-performance centres in our country,” Maharaj said. “We want to be able to propel the sport even further.” The IWF chose the USA's Katherine Elizabeth and Opeloge Don of Samoa as the best lifters of the event. Elizabeth won the women's 71kg bodyweight category with a whopping 36kg advantage over the second place finisher, while Don excelled in the men's 89kg category, winning the first gold medal for Samoa in a junior world championships. The favourable results of the IWF's Anti-Doping programme, providing a level playing field for all, were clearly visible at this championship. Countries with no world gold medal now stepped forward in this department.
