Bahrain, Day 9: Nurudinov makes stunning world record at 33 – and Ngake wins medal for GB in first outing since London 2012

Ruslan Nurudinov brought the crowd to their feet at the IWF World Championships in Bahrain when he became one of the oldest weightlifters ever to break a world record. Now Nurudinov, 33, is reconsidering his decision to retire from the sport.

The Uzbekistan hero, Olympic champion at 105kg in 2016, won the 109kg contest by 20kg after bettering his own clean and jerk record.

Ruslan Nurudinov (UZB)

On a good day for 30-somethings Madias Ngake, who had no results on the IWF database since she lifted for Cameroon at the London 2012 Olympic Games 4,507 days ago, was on the podium for Great Britain in the women’s 87kg.

Nurudinov, an Olympic champion for Uzbekistan in 2016, had already won with two attempts to spare. He lifted 230kg to warm up for the big one, 242kg to better his own clean and jerk world record set three and a half years ago.

“I’ve done 240 but I’ve never made 242 in training since then,” said Nurudinov, who has a big decision to make.

At his last competition in February, Nurudinov declined his final attempt after struggling to 382kg to win his fifth Asian title in his home country. He was flat out with ice packs on his back before the medal ceremony. 

 “That was painful, my body has had enough,” he said at the time, vowing to retire in Bahrain. “I’m 32, I have a back injury and I’m feeling my age. I will continue until the World Championships and try to finish with a medal.”

He did more than that. Nurudinov improved that February total by 42kg on 182-242-424, then stayed on the platform for a while to celebrate while the spectators roared their approval.

Lu Xiaojun set a world record aged 35 this century. Vasiliy Alekseyev did it at 35 in the 1970s, and the American Norbert Schemansky at 37 in the 1960s. Might Nurudinov stay around a while longer and try to match them?

“I really don’t know, I can’t say now but it’s possible I will continue,” he said. “My preparation for this competition was the best for three years. No injuries, very good training.”

Dadash Dadashbayli (AZE)

Dadash Dadashbayli from Azerbaijan put in a huge effort after missing his first two snatches to finish second on 183-221-404. He declined his final attempt and settled for second place.

Mehdi Karami from Iran made one of the best saves of the Championships to take snatch bronze. He was out of position, unbalanced and close to the edge of the platform but he recovered and finished with a career-best 183-217-400.

Salwan Jasim’s 220kg in the B Group won clean and jerk bronze, putting Iraq on the World Championships medals table for the second year running.  Nurudinov’s team-mate Sharofiddin Amriddinov won snatch gold before dropping to fifth on total.

The unluckiest man on the day was Garik Karapetyan from Armenia. After finishing fourth at the Paris Olympics, where he missed his last two attempts, Karapetyan was expected to be Nurudinov’s closest challenger.

He opened on 183kg, missed the next one and was out of the competition after failing to make 188kg on his third attempt. Karapetyan fell hard on his elbow and had to retire, although he made it for the medal ceremony to collect snatch silver, with his left elbow strapped up.

There was an impressive international debut in the B Group by Kolbi Ferguson, a former college football player from the United States. Ferguson, 23, made only two good lifts but showed huge strength in making 170-211-381. That was the target he had to hit to secure funding as a full-time athlete.

Ferguson took up the sport in 2022. “There was a lot of preparation and warming up, and I thought weightlifting was boring at first. I’m used to hitting people, brutal sport. This is way more demanding of mental as well as physical strength.

“But my coach believed in me back then and here I am – now I can train full-time. I haven’t been able to do that before, I’ve been in school or had to take a few jobs. I’m going to have some fun.”

Wu Yan (CHN)

China won the women’s event by a wide margin. Wu Yan was hugely impressive on her international debut with a six-from-six 122-150-272. Eileen Cikamatana from Australia made only two good lifts in second place on 113-144-257.

Kim Yong Ju completed PRK’s 100 per cent record in third on 112-144-256. PRK won a medal in every category in which they had an entry.

Madias Ngake (GBR)

Ngake, 32, dropped to eighth on total after failing with two clean and jerks on 114-130-244. She made 10kg more when second to Cikamatana for England at the Commonwealth Championships in July, which was not an IWF-sanctioned competition.

Ngake won African youth, junior and senior titles for Cameroon before finishing sixth at 75kg at London 2012. She was promoted to third four years later when the top three finishers were disqualified for doping.

Eileen Cikamatana (AUS)

“I didn’t find out about that until 2020 and I don’t have my Olympic medal – it must be at the Cameroon federation,” said Ngake, an office cleaner in Leeds who stayed in Britain to start a new life.

She gave up weightlifting, but when she got her passport four years ago she returned to the sport after watching some lifts on YouTube. This was her first competition for Great Britain.

By Brian Oliver

Photos by DBM/Deepbluemedia