Havana, April 3 (JIT) -- Cuba's Arley Calderon said goodbye to the Phuket 2024 Weightlifting World Cup in Thailand without increasing his biathlon.
The Pinar del Río native, representative in the 61 kg division, completed the first attempt of the snatch with 122 "kilos", but then failed twice with 127 on the bar.
In the rebound exercise, he validated his first load with 163 kg, but the weights of 168 and 172 kg proved elusive. These scores gave him a biathlon of 285 kg, valid for ninth place in the division.
Arley arrived in Thailand in 11th place in the Olympic qualification ranking, with an accumulated 291 kilograms. In order to climb positions and be among the first ones, he had to achieve in Phuket a biathlon of 293 kg.
Camilo Ramirez, coach of the men's national team of our country, told JIT that after this performance the options of his pupil are uncertain. "There remains the possibility that some country with a qualified weightlifter decides not to take a representative in the 61 kg. Then Arley could qualify for a spot in the top 10.
The 61 kg ended with the Chinese Fabin Li, Olympic champion, as gold medalist in the snatch with 146 kg, a new world record. The silver medal was won by Eko Yuli Irawan, from Indonesia, with 133 kg; and the bronze medal was won by Vietnamese Tran Anh Tuan Nguyen with 132 kg.
In the rebound, the medal table was conformed with the American Hampton Miller Morris at the top. He reached 303 kg and became the first American weightlifter to set a world record in 55 years. Thailand's Teerapong Silachai (171 kg) and Myong Jin Pak (170 kg), from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, followed him in the awards stand.
China's Li won the total with an accumulated 312 kg. The silver medal went to Morris with 303 kg and the bronze medal to Korea's Pak with 301 kg.
The most outstanding among the women was in the 55 kg, as Korean Kang Hyon Gyong (103, 131 and 234 kg) broke the world records in the rebound and total.
According to the tournament schedule, the 73 kg (m) and 59 kg (f) divisions will be contested on Wednesday, so there will be no Cuban representation on the platform.
