Bogotá, Sep 1 (EFE).- Los medallists de oro Yenny Álvarez y Francisco Mosquera encabezan el team colombiano conformado por 20 deportistas that will compete in el 88 del Campeonato Mundial de Levantamiento de Pesas, that will be disputed del 4 al 17 de este mes en Saudi Arabia.

Álvarez won the World Cup held last year in Bogotá in the women’s category and in the 59 kilogram category, while Mosquera won the only men’s gold medal with his total of 67 kilograms.

The competitors will begin to climb the platform next Monday in Riyadh, a mandatory step for those seeking their place at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Weightlifters like Santiago Rodallegas, Miguel Suárez, Nathalia Llamosa, Andrés Caicedo, Jhon Serna, Rosalba Morales and Manuela Berrío, current world medalists in the discipline, are also looking to climb to the top step of the podium.

The competition system of the World Cup is different from that of the Olympic Games. On the one hand, there are 20 weight categories, compared to 10 Olympic; on the other hand, whereas in the Games the medalists are determined by the sum of the two exercises, in the World Cup the medals are distributed separately in the snatch, in the impulse and in the total.

At the World Cup held in Bogotá last year, China topped the medal table with 19 gold medals, followed by Thailand with 5; while Colombia was third with 3 gold records.

Now at Riad Mosquera, he will have a very tough test as he will have to defend his world title, 61 kilos, against Chen Lijun, Olympic champion at Tokyo 2020. His compatriot from the People’s Republic of China Li Fabin, also an Olympic gold medalist, will be looking for his third tracked world crown.

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Other lifters finding their way are China’s Jiang Huihua -49 kilos- who will defend her title against Tokyo 2020 champion Hou Zhihui, although India’s Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is also a strong medal contender.

Meanwhile, the Philippines’ first Olympic champion, Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Hidilyn Díaz, in 55 kilograms, dropped to 59 because her division is not on the Olympic schedule.

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And the 59 kilos stand out, in addition to the Colombian Yenny Álvarez; the Canadian and Olympic champion in this weight, Maude Charron; or the young Pei Xinyi, originally from China.

In the 81 kilo division, all eyes are on Neisi Dajomes. The Ecuadorian changed categories for Paris 2024 but remains one of the main favorites for gold.

Facing her in this new category will be the current champion, the Chinese Liang Xiaomei; or the gold and silver winners respectively in 76 kg last year in Bogotá, Sara Samir Ahmed (Egypt) and Mattie Rogers (USA).

Neisi’s sister, Angie Palacios Dajomes, is a favorite at 71kg after breaking the world record in the snatch last June at the Havana Grand Prix.

(c) EFE Agency