12-Year-Old Emily Ibanez Was Two Kilograms Away from Breaking Spanish Senior Record

Over the course of the last few days, a ton of age-group and senior national championships have happened throughout Europe. However, there are only several performances that managed to stand out among the rest – a sister and brother, aged 12 and 17, who almost wrote history. 

A 12-year-old Almost Broke the Senior Record

Without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most memorable performances was delivered by 12-year-old Emily Ibanez, who became the youngest-ever medalist in an IWF competition this year. Emily is set to turn 13 next week but managed to finish just 2 kg away from breaking the Spanish senior clean&jerk record when she lifted 110 kg in the under-17 national championships in Gijon. 

Ibanez had five successful attempts and moved up a category from 59 kg to 64 kg, as she weighed 60.2 kg. She finished the competition with 82 kg in the snatch, 110 kg in the C&J, and a total of 192 kg – the most out of any of the 110 female lifters competing in Gijon, and that’s including the super-heavyweights! 

Emily had one failed attempt on the 84 kg snatch, as she managed to beat the under-15 youth and junior records a total of 17 times with her five attempts. With that said, Emily was not the only successful athlete in her family – her brother Brayan was the best male on points, even though he didn’t manage to finish the competition strongly due to wrist issues. Nevertheless, he managed to lift 130 kg on the snatch and 151 kg on the C&J for a total of 291 kg, which was a sweep of all national under-17 records for the 81 kg category. 

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