IWF Weightlifting World Cup – Men’s 89 kg Recap

It was expected that the Men’s 89-kg weight category would become the most emotional one since it gathered the maximum number of top lifters.

Just imagine: since 2022 seven World Records have been set by such famous athletes as Antonino Pizzolato, Karlos Nasar, Li Dayin, and Tian Tao.

Moreover, other serious athletes were performing today, namely Marin Robu, Keydomar Vallenilla, and Yeison Lopez.

It’s supposed to be a hot and mind-blowing performance. So, stay with us and observe the most serious lifters creating a history of this weight class. 

Athletes’ Presentation 

Today we were spectating eleven weightlifters who presented a mind-blowing performance with their weights increasing with each lift.

Let’s recall the brightest weightlifters who were competing today:

NASAR Karlos May, a Bulgarian weightlifter who is one of the youngest world record holders ever. He’s a two-time gold and two-time silver medalist at the European Championships. By the way, it’s more than likely that the Paris Olympics will be his first participation in the Olympic Games.

PIZZOLATO Antonino from Italy is a three-time gold medalist and silver medalist at the European Champs. He has already competed in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in the 81-kg weight division and won the  bronze medal.

LI Dayin from China, is the current three-world record holder, namely in the Snatch – junior world record – in the 81 kg category, as well as snatch and total senior world record in the 89 kg division. He’s a three-time gold medalist at the Asian Games, and multiple-time gold, silver, and bronze medalist at the Worlds.

His teammate, TIAN Tao is a silver medalist at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, gold and silver medalist at the World Championships. He’s a powerful Olympian, World Champion, Asian Champion and Asian Games Champion who is supposed to be among the top of the category.

Columbian LOPEZ LOPEZ Yeison, known as Goku, is a silver medalist at Grand Prix II in Doha, where he performed with the result of 180-210-390, making a great return to weightlifting.

Snatch results 

The performance in the Snatch exercise started from 160 kg.

• 10: VALLENILLA SANCHEZ Keydomar – 165  kg
• 9: ROBU Marin – 165 kg
• 8: YU Dongju – 166 kg
• 7: BELLEMARRE Alex – 167 kg
• 6: Petrovich Sergey – 167 kg
• 5: PIZZOLATO Antonino – 170 kg
• 4: TIAN Tao – 171 kg

On this contest day, 33 % of all attempts were successful. Three athletes bombed out, and only one lifter did all three attempts successfully.

Top 3 leaders’ results

Now let’s analyze the Top 3 lifters’ performance:

• 🥉: LI Dayin – 173 kg
• 🥈: NASAR Karlos May – 181 kg
• 🥇: LOPEZ LOPEZ Yeison – 182 kg

The bronze medal moved to LI Dayin from China: he snatched 173 kg from the first attempt. Then he ordered 5 kilos more, 178 kg, but failed to lift the weights. The final attempt of the same 178 kg also resulted in no lift.

Bulgarian Karlos Nasar was second today: he did 170 kg on the first lift, then lifted 176 kg, and the final attempt of 181 kg also resulted successfully. 

The Snatch exercise leader became Colombian LOPEZ Yeison. He lifted 175 kg at the first attempt, then increased the weight by 6 kilos, namely 181 kg, but he didn’t manage to lift. Finally, he made a lift of 182 kg that resulted in a new World Record.

Despite Lopez bettered Nasar’s record, the Bulgarian athlete still established the new junior world record in Snatch.

Clean & Jerk results 

The contest in the Clean & Jerk discipline started with a weight of 196 kg.

• 10: MEZINSKIS Armands – 195 kg
• 9: DAMRON Nathan Charles – 196 kg
• 8: Petrovich Sergey – 196 kg
• 7: Saez Vera Olfides – 200 kg
• 6: Hsieh Meng-E – 200 kg
• 5: YU Dongju – 209 kg
• 4: LI Dayin – 210 kg

On this contest day, 28 % of all attempts were successful. Just imagine: five athletes refused to lift in this exercise, while the rest of lifters had one or two failed attempts.

Top 3 leaders’ results

Let’s describe the performance of the Top 3 lifters:

• 🥉: PIZZOLATO Antonino – 210 kg
• 🥈: LOPEZ LOPEZ Yeison – 210 kg
• 🥇: NASAR Karlos May – 215 kg

The third place moved to Italian Nino Pizzolato: the first attempt to lift 210 kg finished with no lift, the second lift of the same weight of 210 kg was successful. The third attempt of 215 kg also finished with no lift.

LOPEZ Yeison from Colombia became second in the Clean & Jerk exercise. The first attempt of 205 kg was good, then he lifted 5 kilos more on the second attempt, namely 210 kg, which resulted in success. The third lift of 215 kg resulted in red lights.

Karlos Nasar from Bulgaria showed the following results: the first attempt to lift 215 kg was successful, the second one of 224 kg resulted with no-lift, and the last lift of the same weight also wasn’t successful.

Total results

• 1 🥇NASAR Karlos May  – 396 kg 
• 2 🥈LOPEZ LOPEZ Yeison – 392 kg
• 3 🥉LI Dayin -383 kg 
• 4  PIZZOLATO Antonino – 380  kg 
• 5  YU Dongju  – 375  kg 
• 6  Petrovich Sergey – 363 kg
• 7  BELLEMARRE Alex – 362  kg

Let’s rename our Top 3 athletes who deserved being on the winning podium:

LI Dayin from China managed to clinch bronze in this tough competition with a total of 383 kg.

The second place went to the Columbian lifter Yeison Lopez who did 392 kg overall, leaving his Chinese contender by 9 kilos behind.

Karlos Nasar from Bulgaria proved his supremacy once again despite such a tense competition. Due to 4 kilos gap ahead the second place and his total of 396 kg, he secured the gold medal in the category. 

The final results 

Indeed, we witnessed a legendary competition of the great European, Asian, and Latin American powerhouses who were trying to outshine and did their best lifts to get the quota for the Olympics.

We can name this competition day as the day of red lights: both Snatch and Clean & Jerk exercises were full of failed attempts, with five athletes totally refused from today’s performance.

Keep watching our video overviews on our channels to see the performances of heavyweights who are targeted to become closer to new Olympic standards. 

Keep up-to-date with our Media team and remember our motto – warm body cold mind!