The South American country is showing its strength at the world championships having already compiled two golds and 11 total medals with two more days remaining in the competition.
Colombia currently sits in sixth place on the medal table at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships that began on September 4 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The team has been led by Nathalia Llamosa who won both her gold medals in the women’s 64kg division, placing first in the snatch, third in the clean and jerk and first in the overall total lift.
Joining Llamosa on the medal table for Colombia in the women’s events are Rohelys Galvis with three silvers in the 55kg division followed by teammate Rosalba Morales with the bronze in the clean and jerk in the same division; Julieth Rodriguez with a silver in the 64kg snatch event; and Hellen Escobar with two silvers and a bronze in the 76kg division.
Lima 2019 Champion Francisco Mosquera is the only male from Colombia to reach the podium so far, earning a silver in the men’s 67kg clean and jerk event.
The United States is the only other country from the Americas to have won a gold medal so far at the championships, with Hampton Morris topping the podium in the men’s 61kg clean and jerk competition. Hampton leads Team USA that currently sits 12th in the medal standings with one gold and six total medals.
Ecuador is currently ranked 16th in the medal standings and is led by Lima 2019 bronze medalist Angie Palacios with two silvers and a bronze in the 71kg division, Bella Paredes with two bronzes in the 76kg division and Lima 2019 champion Neisi Dajomes with a bronze in the women’s 81kg snatch event.
Keydomar Vallenilla represents Venezuela’s sole medalist at the event so far having won three bronze medals in the men’s 89kg weight class. Mexico is the final country to have medaled up to this point, with Irene Borrego winning two bronze medals in the women’s 55kg competition.
Only two weight classes in the men’s and women’s competitions are left on the schedule, with the men’s 109kg and +109kg and women’s 87kg and +87kg divisions to be contested over the next two days.
Stars of the Americas to watch in the final days of competition include Fernando Reis of Brazil in the men’s +109kg division, Maria Fernanda Valdes of Chile in the women’s 87kg and Team USA’s Sarah Robles in the women’s +87kg, with all three athletes as the defending continental champions at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.
The 2023 World Weightlifting Championships will conclude on September 17.
