Carioca makes history and wins a Brazilian's 1st medal at the Worlds
The Brazilian Laura Amaro made history this Tuesday (14) when she won the first medal from a weightlifter in the country in a World Weightlifting Championship. The 21-year-old from Rio de Janeiro was runner-up in the drag race, where the athlete raises the bar to above the head at once, without supporting it on the body. The competition is held in Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
Laura, who competes in the 76 kg category, raised the bar with 108 kg on the third and final attempt, only behind Russian Iana Sotieva, who lifted four more. American Martha Ann Rogers, who had 107 kilos as the best mark, completed the podium in the sprint.
“Reading a story is very cool, but this feeling of writing, knowing that the name will be marked, knowing that I will open doors for other Brazilians to dominate the world, is priceless for me. I'm the first woman to win a medal at the Worlds, it's very representative. This work started in Brazil with my trainer Saul [Carlos Aveiro], my nutritionist Dani, my physiotherapist Vitor. I am really happy. Brazil will no longer participate. We are going to come here to provide work and make history more and more”, celebrated Laura, according to a publication on the website of the Brazilian Confederation of Weight Lifting (CBLP).
Unlike the Olympic competition, which only takes into account the sum of the results of the snatch and the throw (when the hitter raises the bar at shoulder height, then raises it above his head and waits for the referees' signal to release it), in World Cup events have separate awards. On the pitch, Laura was fourth, with 132 kilograms handled, two less than bronze medalist Suhyeon Kim of South Korea.
With 240 kilos lifted in all, the Brazilian was also in fourth place overall, just two kilos behind Sotieva, who took bronze. The carioca also established the best mark for an athlete in the country, three kilos above the one achieved by Jaqueline Ferreira and Monique Araújo in 2015.
“It was sensational. We narrowly lost other medals, it was a fantastic battle. Laura surpassed herself in an absurd way, showing that I was right when I said that she would come to fight for a medal, which puts Brazil together with all the world powers. When the medal table appears, the name of the country will be written there. That's what matters today. It's showing the evolution that our work had and we hope that we can improve even more”, highlighted the coach of the national team, Dragos Stanica, also to CBLP.
Laura's silver was the third Brazilian medal in a weightlifting World Championship. In 2018, Fernando Reis inherited two bronzes (starter and general) after Uzbek Rustam Djangabaev, who had finished both disputes in third place, was caught in doping and had the result annulled. Currently, Fernando himself is suspended for doping, caught in a test carried out in May, which cost him his participation in the Tokyo Olympics (Japan).
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
