There are three continental championships this April in the world of weightlifting. The European Weightlifting Championships (April 6th-13th), the Asian Weightlifting Championships (April 18th-28th), and the Pan-American Championships will all act as the last opportunities that athletes will have to secure a mandatory total in the first of three six month Olympic qualifying periods.
- Period 1 – November ’18 – April ’19
- Period 2 – May ’19 – October ’19
- Period 3 – November ’19 – April ’20
Due to the new Olympic qualification system it is now compulsory that athletes secure a total in each of the six month periods. Olympic selection is made from the best total from each of these qualifying periods plus the next best total. If an athlete therefor fails to total in one of these three qualifying periods then their score of zero will be counted and qualification for Tokyo 2020 will not be possible. Check out our complete Tokyo 2020 Qualifying Guide.
Due to the continental championships being last chance competitions we are likely to see two types of athlete and two types of competition strategy emerge based on the lifter’s success/game play over the prior six months.
Over the next few weeks we will publish articles on the men and women from each of these three continents who fit into each of the two groups, gaming their performances and explaining what they need to do and why. These articles will be linked below.
The Two Types Of Athlete
The first group will consist of those who have already successfully made a competitive total at one of the previous Olympic qualifiers. This group will be particularly exciting to watch as the athletes will very little to lose. They will have already solidified a total and so the 2019 Europeans will act as a chance to attempt something even bigger, making riskier than normal jumps and attempting all-time records and world records. The best example of someone in this position would be Lasha Talakhadze – someone who already has 1,278 Robi points from the World Championships, more than enough to qualify for the Olympics if he is able to continue at that level of performance over the quad, and so he has a chance to see what he can really do here. A bomb-out or missed lifts will not effect his chances at Olympic qualification.
The second group will consist of those who have not yet secured a total in this qualifying period. To qualify athletes must compete 6 times, totaling at least 4 of those times, with at least one total in each qualifying period. If an athlete fails to get a total in during this qualification period they will be unable to qualify. Athletes who have not yet totaled will be under the most pressure here. They cannot risk bombing out or their Olympic dreams will be over. Therefore we are likely to see safe openers and cautious jumps in a bid to lay down a reasonable total upon which they can build over the following qualifying periods.
What makes these competitions even more exciting? They are gold tier events, meaning that athletes’ Robi points will go through a 1.1 times multiplier, giving them a 10% Robi bonus.
April 2019 will be an incredible month for weightlifting. We are bound to witness world records, bomb-outs, clutch attempts at qualification, and plenty of drama.
You will be able to stay up to date with it all, including live updates on all A sessions here at Weightlifting House.