Jeon Hee-soo grabs 3 silver at World Junior Weightlifting Championships

Weightlifting prospect Jeon Hee-soo won three silver medals at the 2024 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Junior Championships. Jeon Hee-soo is the daughter of Jeon Sang-gyun, who became a hot topic after finally winning the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, having missed out on it by finishing fourth in the men’s weightlifting event at the 2012 London Olympics.

The 17-year-old earned silver in all three categories—lifting 102 kg in the snatch, 130 kg in the clean and jerk, and a total of 232 kg in the women’s 76 kg class. Ella Nicholson (18) of the U.S. secured gold in all three categories with a snatch of 113 kg, a clean and jerk of 131 kg, and a total of 244 kg. Unlike the Olympics, the IWF World Championships awards medals for snatch, clean and jerk, and total records separately.

According to the IWF, Jeon's 232 kg is the youth world record for the 76 kg weight class. The IWF classifies athletes aged 13 to 17 as youth. With this, Korea now has two youth world record holders. Park Hye-jeong (21), the silver medalist in the women’s superheavyweight (over 81 kg) class at the Paris Olympics, won three gold medals in the women’s over 81 kg class at the 2019 Asian Youth and Junior Weightlifting Championships in Pyongyang, North Korea, when she was 16, setting world records in each category.


Yun-Cheol Jeong trigger@donga.com