Results and information for the Women’s 55 kg category at the European Weightlifting Championships 2021 (postponed from 2020)
See our European Weightlifting Championships 2021 hub for details of other categories.
How the A Session Happened
Going into this session, there was more at stake than just medals. Three athletes are in a battle for the European continental slot in Olympic qualifying. Joanna Lochowska (Poland) currently sits in the slot with 2,843 Robi points but Kamila Konotop (Ukraine) and Jennifer Lombardo (Italy) are both not far behind.
Lombardo’s Olympic chances were almost certainly ended when we was forced to decline her final snatch and then withdraw from the competition after suffering an arm injury.
Although looking well below her best, Lochowska staked her claim with an 85-kilo snatch but was bettered by Konotop, who power snatched her 90 opener before hitting a confident 93 and then 95 to open up a lead. She looked capable of claiming the vacant European snatch record (the standard to beat is 98 kg).
Although she is not in Olympic contention, Izabella Yaylyan (Armenia) challenged Konotop for the snatch gold with a good lift at 90 and an attempt at 92.
The biggest drama of the snatches was for Nina Sterckx (Belgium). After missing her 87 kg opener twice, her coaches moved her up to 88 to buy some time (three other lifters took the same weight before her). Fortunately for her, she was much better on third attempt and probably left feeling she could have done more.
Sterckx continued her efforts on the clean and jerk, fighting hard for a 109 third attempt, which earned her a bronze medal in the total.
Svetlana Ershova improved to take silver on clean and jerk and the total.
Lochowska tried her best to maintain her hold on Olympic qualification but was unable to match her performances from previous periods, finishing with a 190 total. Konotop, on the other hand, breezed through her clean and jerks, power jerking 108, 111 and 113 to finish on a 208 total. This will improve her Robi points by over 100, landing her in the European continental slot. She looked like she could have done much more if required. While Lochowska has faded during qualification, Konotop seems to be peaking at the right time, hitting her best performance of the campaign (and her career) by far.
The only problem for Konotop might be Ukraine’s anti-doping record – due to failures, it can only send two female athletes to Tokyo. Anastasiia Lysenko +87) and Iryna Dekha (76) are ranked higher in their categories.
| Name | Nation | Entry | Snatch 1 | Snatch 2 | Snatch 3 | C&J 1 | C&J 2 | C&J 2 | best snatch | best c&J | total | |
| 1 | KONOTOP Kamila | UKR | 205 | 90 | 93 | 95 | 108 | 111 | 113 | 95 | 113 | 208 |
| 2 | ERSHOVA Svetlana | RUS | 205 | x85 | 85 | 88 | 105 | 110 | 112 | 88 | 112 | 200 |
| 3 | STERCKX Nina | BEL | 206 | x87 | x87 | 88 | 103 | x108 | 109 | 88 | 109 | 197 |
| 4 | YAYLYAN Izabella | ARM | 205 | 85 | 90 | x92 | 105 | x110 | x110 | 90 | 105 | 195 |
| 5 | VELI Evagjelia | ALB | 205 | 87 | x89 | 89 | 105 | x108 | x108 | 89 | 105 | 194 |
| 6 | KENTLI Sumeyye | TUR | 202 | 80 | x83 | 83 | 107 | 110 | x113 | 83 | 110 | 193 |
| 7 | LOCHOWSA Joanna | POL | 203 | 81 | x84 | 84 | 102 | 106 | x108 | 84 | 106 | 190 |
| 8 | OVSTHUS Sarah | NOR | 201 | x83 | 83 | x85 | 103 | x106 | x106 | 83 | 103 | 186 |
| 9 | LOMBARDO Jennifer | ITA | 202 | 85 | x88 | – | – | – | – | 85 | – | – |
Start list for A Session
For other sessions for this category, see the full start book.