Armenia's Varazdat Lalayan Becomes the Winner of the World Weightlifting Cup in Phuket

Varazdat Lalayan's confident victory concluded the World Weightlifting Cup held in Phuket, Thailand. The European Champion in the super heavyweight category (+109kg) achieved a total result of 463kg (210+253) in the two-exercise event. The 24-year-old weightlifter also claimed victory in the snatch and push exercises, securing small gold medals. Lalayan executed successful lifts in each exercise, outperforming Ali Davoudi of Iran by 9kg in a head-to-head battle for the top spot.

Another Armenian representative in this weight category, Simon Martirosyan, who is this year's vice-champion of Europe, secured 4th place with a total result of 440 kg (195+245) in the combined event. Martirosyan, a two-time vice-champion of the Olympic Games and two-time world and European champion, ranked 5th in the snatch exercise and achieved the 4th-best result in the push. However, he successfully executed only the first attempt in both exercises.

Although two-time Olympic champion, seven-time world, and European champion Lasha Talakhadze participated in the competition, he did not compete. The Georgian weightlifter skipped the European Championship held in Sofia, Bulgaria in February of this year, where Varazdat Lalayan clinched the champion title and Simon Martirosyan secured the runner-up position.

In the 102 kg weight category, Garik Karapetyan previously won a silver medal, while Samvel Gasparyan withdrew from the competition after the snatch exercise. Andranik Karapetyan (89 kg) also failed to register a lift in the snatch exercise. All five Armenian weightlifters who participated in the World Cup earned points towards Olympic ranking.

The World Cup serves as the final ranking tournament in weightlifting for the 33rd Summer Olympic Games scheduled to be held in Paris. The top ten weightlifters in each weight category from the ranking tournaments secure qualification for Paris 2024. The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) will announce the qualified weightlifters at the end of May.