Doha, 11 December 2023 - Qatar’s Olympic gold medalist Fares Ibrahim completed his rigorous training sessions on Sunday as he gears up for the much-anticipated 102 kg competition at the ongoing Qatar Cup IWF Grand Prix II in Doha on Tuesday.
Fares, Qatar’s first ever Olympic gold winner,has already secured his qualification for Paris 2024 Games.
This upcoming appearance at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be Fares’ third consecutive participation in the prestigious event, following his feats at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
Bulgaria’s Karlos May Nasar shattered two world records on his way to win the men’s 89kg category and clinch his country’s first gold medal at the Qatar Cup IWF Grand Prix II.
The 19-year-old rewrote the senior world record in clean and jerk with an astounding 223 kg lift, surpassing the previous record of 222 kg held by Chinese weightlifter Tian Tao. That lift also renewed his own junior world record which the Bulgarian set on April 20 in Yerevan, Armenia. In fact, Nasar has renewed his own record five times since June 2022. He also holds the junior world records for snatch and total in his weight category.
Nasar had lifts of 170, 223 and 393 to go three kilograms better than his closest rival Yeison Lopez Lopez of Colombia who recorded 180-210-390 to win the overall silver medal. Italy’s Antonio Pizzolato lifted 170-210-380 to win the bronze.
North Korea’s Ryol Kwang Ro won the silver in snatch, lifting 211 kg while Lopez Lopez came third with a 210kg mark.
In snatch, earlier, Lopez had topped the snatch rankings with his 180 kg lift, while Canadian Boady Robert Santavy came second with a 172. Keydomar Giovanni Sanchez of Venezuela was third lifting a kilogram less than Sanchez.
In the women’s 71 kg, North Korea’s Kuk Hyang Song won a trio of gold medals, topping all three categories with impressive lifts of 120-149-269. China’s Guifang Liao came second in 116-148-264. USA’s Olivia Reeves was overall third with 115-147-262. All the three finished in the same order in snatch, and clean and jerk.
