See our World Weightlifting Championships 2019 Hub for full details of all categories.
This A group started quietly enough but soon became dramatic and even a bit controversial.
First we saw the return of Ilya Illyn to the world stage with some safe snatches at 165 and 168 and then a miss at 171.
Towards the end of the snatches, there was a delay when a scoreboard error led to some considerable confusion. The technical officials ended up having to examine the paper athlete cards to work out how to reset things. Even then, there seemed some doubt about whether Kianoush Rostami (IRI), who was waiting to take his opener, should take 179 or 180. He ended up taking missing 180 and was clearly not happy. He then missed it again, getting it overhead but dropping it behind during the recovery. It looked like the confusion had affected him.
Meanwhile, Tian Tao came out for this third attempt, at 180, after having missed 175 twice. He made the lift convincingly, leaving everyone to wonder what the problem was with the lighter weight.
Rostami came out for this third and final snatch attempt. He missed 180 one more time, bombing out of the competition. He seemed injured and then, to add to the drama, he appeared at the front of the stage, addressing the referees, jury and audience with a complaint about what had happened prior to his opening lift.
Unaffected by the drama around him Anton Pliesnoi (GEO) went 3/3 with 172, 177 and 181 to take the snatch gold while Jhonatan Rivas (COL) missed an attempt at 182 but picked up the bronze.
Anton Pliesnoi (GEO) completed a 6/6 performance with 203, 209 and 213 to set a 394 total for Fares Elbakh (QAT) and Tian Tao (CHN) to chase.
Seyedayoob Mousavijarahi (IRI) couldn’t challenge for the total medals but did hit a 214 clean and jerk to guarantee a medal there.
Elbakh was the first of the big two to make a move, hitting 217 to take the lead on clean and jerk and total. Tian Tao went one kilo better to 218, enough to pull ahead on clean and jerks but still just behind on tota.
The Quatar lifter upped the ante with 224, forcing Tian to load four reds on the bar and attempt 225. He missed, giving Elbakh the opportunity to burn the Chinese lifter’s clock, leaving him just a minute’s rest before his third attempt. However, Tian moved up, bringing Elbakh out for 230. He missed the lift, leaving Tian with an attempt at 230 to win clean and jerk and total golds. Tian is no stranger to needing to make big lifts under pressure so of course, he nailed the final clean and jerk of the session to win.
Medals
| Snatch | Clean and Jerk | Total | |
| Gold | Anton Pliesnoi (GEO) – 181 | Tian Tao (CHN) – 230 | Tian Tao (CHN) – 410 |
| Silver | Tian Tao (CHN) – 180 | Fares Elbakh (QAT) – 224 | Fares Elbakh (QAT) – 402 |
| Bronze | Jhonatan Rivas (COL) – 179 | Seyedayoob Mousavijarahi (IRI) – 214 | Anton Pliesnoi (GEO) – 394 |
A Group Results
| Name | Nation | Sn 1 | Sn 2 | Sn 3 | C+J 1 | C+J 2 | C+J 3 | Total | |
| 1 | TIAN Tao | CHN | x175 | x175 | 180 | 218 | x225 | 230 | 410 |
| 2 | ELBAKH Fares Ibrahim E. H. | QAT | 174 | 178 | x181 | 217 | 224 | x230 | 402 |
| 3 | PLIESNOI Anton | GEO | 172 | 177 | 181 | 203 | 209 | 213 | 394 |
| 4 | RIVAS MOSQUERA Jhonatan | COL | 175 | 179 | x182 | 206 | x212 | 212 | 391 |
| 5 | MOUSAVIJARAHI Seyedayoob | IRI | x167 | 168 | x173 | x205 | 206 | 214 | 382 |
| 6 | SANTAVY Boady Robert | CAN | 170 | x175 | x175 | x203 | 203 | 210 | 380 |
| 7 | KHUGAEV Khetag | RUS | x165 | 165 | 170 | 201 | 206 | x212 | 376 |
| 8 | RASULBEKOV Bekdoolot | KGZ | 165 | 170 | x176 | 197 | x203 | x203 | 367 |
| 9 | ILYIN Ilya | KAZ | 165 | 168 | x171 | 195 | x200 | x200 | 363 |
| 10 | ARAT Ibrahim | TUR | 160 | x165 | x165 | 200 | x205 | x206 | 360 |
| 11 | ROSTAMI Kianoush | IRI | x180 | x180 | x180 | — | — | — | — |
A Group Start List
| NAME | NATION | ENTRY |
| TIAN Tao | CHN | 400 |
| ELBAKH Fares Ibrahim E. H. | QAT | 395 |
| RIVAS MOSQUERA Jhonatan | COL | 395 |
| MOUSAVIJARAHI Seyedayoob | IRI | 392 |
| ROSTAMI Kianoush | IRI | 390 |
| PLIESNOI Anton | GEO | 385 |
| SANTAVY Boady Robert | CAN | 384 |
| RASULBEKOV Bekdoolot | KGZ | 382 |
| KHUGAEV Khetag | RUS | 382 |
| ARAT Ibrahim | TUR | 380 |
| ILYIN Ilya | KAZ | 380 |