2025 European Weightlifting Championships Results & Recap

Below are the Women's podium results and a brief recap of the finale in Group A. We'll update each category moments after the final barbell hits the floor.

Editor's Note: The notation below reads as "Athlete (Country): Total (Snatch / Clean & Jerk)."

45KG

1. Cansu Bektas (TUR): 166 (76/90)

2. Marta Garcia Rincon (ESP): 164 (77/87)

3. Gamze Altun (TUR): 161 (68/93)
   

Recap

The 2025 European Weightlifting Championships kicked off with record-breaking performances in the women’s 45KG category. However, a backroom miscommunication nearly cost Moldovan Ecaterina Grabucea her second snatch attempt, but she rushed onstage with under five seconds left and successfully lifted 62 kilograms.

Moldova’s Gabriela Danilov, also competing on her home turf, set a European Youth snatch record with 69 kilograms on her third attempt, finishing fourth in the snatch.

Spain’s Marta Garcia Rincon won the snatches with 77 kilos, setting a European U23 record as well. Veteran and 2024 World Champion Cansu Bektas of Turkey, described as “aggressive and confident” by commentators Seb Ostrowicz and Sergei Putsoff, placed a narrow second.

Tragedy struck Grabucea in the clean & jerks; after passing out on her second attempt causing a technical stop, she returned to make her final clean & jerk at 84 kilograms. The lift was ultimately overturned by the jury, prompting tears from Grabucea and jeers from the audience.

Danilov set a European Youth record in the total with her 81-kilogram second jerk, but missed her final attempt. Snatch leader Garcia Rincon almost bombed out, but collected her wits just in time to make her last jerk at 87 after following herself twice.

Teammates Bektas and Gamze Altun were the final two athletes in the field, both missed their clean & jerk openers. But Bektas’ lead in the snatch, 76 to 68, sealed the deal on her third European title.

49KG

1. Mihaela Cambei (ROU): 190 (85/105)

2. Lucia Gonzalez (ESP): 173 (77/96)

3. Radmila Zagorac (SRB): 169 (74/95)

Recap

The Women’s 49KG started fast as Oliwia Drzazga of Poland went three-for-three and was the first to finish her snatches with 67 kilograms. Radmila Zagorac of Serbia opened successfully with a one-kilo personal best in the snatch at 71.

Athletes were stonewalled at the 73-kilogram mark; Spain’s Sira Armengou Castell bombed, teammate Lucia Gonzalez followed and missed her opener at 74, and Turkey’s Duygu Alici clarked 74 on her second attempt and missed it on her third. Zagorac broke through, making 74 for her second snatch.

Greece's Maria Stratoudaki snatched 75 on her third attempt. Zagorac flopped on her third attempt at 76, while Borrego nearly walked off the platform saving her third at 77.

Romania’s two athletes, Adriana Pana and Mihaela Cambei, both surprised. Pana went two-for-three, finishing at 76, while session favorite Cambei missed her first two snatches and narrowly saved 85 kilos to close the snatch portion.

Bulgaria’s Ivana Petrova kicked off the clean & jerks with a comfortable 83 kilograms, but she would miss her subsequent two lifts at 86. Pana emerged for an effortless opener at 91; commentators called it “one of the easiest-looking jerks you’ll ever see.”

The stronger half of the field jockeyed each other between 92 and 95 kilos. Several backroom adjustments in a row brought out Drzazga’s after a brief delay, who smoked her second clean & jerk at 94 — as high as she’d go. “Everyone knows Mihaela is coming, so they’re posturing for silver,” Ostrowicz remarked of the dwindling field.

Pana lacked for leg strength on her second clean & jerk, then for overhead stability on her third, failing 95 kilograms both times, prohibiting her from podium contention in the total.

Cambei dropped her clean & jerk opener to 97, and was seen venting to her coaches between lifts. She made light work of 100 and 105 to finish the day, posting her lightest total since 2022.

55KG

1. Garance Rigaud (FRA): 205 (92/113)
2. Aleksandra Grigoryan (ARM): 202 (85/117)
3. Olha Ivzhenko (UKR): 201 (93/108)

Recap

Norway’s Sol Waaler bombed out early in the session at 81 kilograms, kicking off a five-miss streak between 81 and 84 kilograms that shuffled the backroom until Turkey’s Burcu Alici broke through with a good second attempt.

Four athletes clustered at the 85-kilogram mark for their openers, including reigning European Champion Aleksandra Grigoryan of Armenia, who, despite her 90% make rate for openers, missed her first lift.

Italy’s Ludovica Delia made light work of her 87-kilogram opener — Grigoryan followed, but missed at 90, putting her on the back foot heading into the clean & jerks. Delia showed a lot of passion setting up for her 92-kilogram third attempt, but backed off the bar and retreated from the stage , forfeiting a lift that, if successful, would have guaranteed her a medal.

Three athletes — Armenia’s Izabella Yaylyan, France’s Garance Rigaud, and snatch gold medalist at 93 kilograms Olha Ivzhenko — went three-for-three on the day.

A series of missed lifts and technical stops characterized the first half of the clean & jerks. Alici, on the ropes, narrowly made 100 kilograms to close her campaign after two misses. Waaler didn’t fare in the clean & jerks, making only one lift at 101.

Delia missed her opener at 110, then stormed off stage in anger after her second jerk at 111, frustrated at not being given the down signal quickly enough. Rigaud logged the session’s first six-for-six performance, putting Delia at risk.

Grigoryan took her first lift, 117, and comfortably power jerked it. This forced Delia to take the same weight to get back onto the podium — she caught the clean, but couldn’t stand it up. Delia finished fourth overall and bagged bronze in the clean & jerk.

Grigoryan took two attempts at 121 kilograms, a Junior world record, to move from silver to gold but missed it twice.

59KG

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64KG

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71KG

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76KG

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81KG

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87KG

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+87KG

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Elsewhere: 2025 Junior Pan-American Weightlifting Championships Results

Here are the Men's podium results and a brief recap of the finale in Group A. We'll update each category moments after the final barbell hits the floor.

Editor's Note: The notation below reads as "Athlete (Country): Total (Snatch / Clean & Jerk)."

55KG

1. Angel Rusev (BUL): 246 (105/141)

2. Danu Secrieru (MDA): 245 (110/135)

3. Ramini Shamilishvili (GEO): 243 (109/134)

Recap

The Men’s 55KG category boasted some of the most competitive lifting yet — save for Bulgaria’s Angel Rusev, all athletes entered with a total between 240 and 250 kilograms. Romania’s Narcis Papolti started the day with a good snatch at 100 kilos.

7 out of 10 athletes opened between 100 and 105 kilos. On his second attempt, Rusev received several “no lift” calls as he spun on the platform with 110 kilograms overhead. Afterward, Romania’s Marian Luca, Harun Algul of Turkey, and Moldova’s Danu Secrieru were among the athletes to make a streak of good lifts at the 110-kilogram mark.

Algul celebrated in tears after making his third snatch at 112; prior to this European Weightlifting Championships, he’d only managed 104 kilograms internationally. He walked away with gold after teammate Muammer Sahin missed 113.

The snatch portion closed with the bar having moved only 12 kilograms from start to finish. Deniz Danev of Bulgaria, along with Secrieru and Algul, went three-for-three.

Snatch leader Algul appeared early in the clean & jerks at 125. Luca’s miss at 127 marked the first miss of the session’s back half after seven good lifts in a row. Turkey’s Sahin withdrew and was credited only with his 120-kilogram opener.

The crowd applauded after Luca’s 132-kilogram third attempt prompted an extensive jury review, which was ultimately upheld as a good lift. Georgia’s Ramini Shamishvili had a truly extraordinary make at 134, nearly pausing in the bottom of his jerk dip and holding the bar overhead for almost five seconds before being given the down signal.

Rusev bagged his fifth European Weightlifting Championships win after the rest of the field had finished with his 141-kilogram opener. Secrieru, the only Youth athlete in the field, made the Senior podium, indicating a bright future for Moldova in this category.

61KG

1. Ivan Dimov (BUL): 289 (135/154)
2. Goderzi Berderlidze (GEO): 276 (123/153)
3. Garnik Cholakyan (ARM): 275 (124/151)

Recap

Ukraine’s Andrii Revko kicked off the Men’s 61-kilogram snatches with a pristine make at 113 kilograms. Serbia’s Stevan Vladisavljev was seen on stage with his AirPods in, missing his second attempt at 120; Moldova’s hometown Ion Badanev followed with a commanding lift, drawing cheers from the audience.

His teammate Daniel Lungu brought the house down by saving his 122-kilogram third attempt snatch after missing it twice in a row. Badanev made 123 on his final lift, pulling more applause.

Bulgaria’s Ivan Dimov told us he felt good heading into this competition, and he showed it with a successful opener at 128 kilograms; the heaviest opener of the session. He followed himself twice with 131 and 135, putting himself in a commanding position heading into the jerks.

Despite sliding his grip out a full hand-width, Lungu struggled on the clean & jerks, as did Georgia’s Goderdzi Berdelidze , who missed his second and third attempts at 126 kilograms. While Lungu, again, pulled himself back from the brink to make his final jerk.

Vladisavljev made the biggest jump of the day, 8 kilos, to 145 on his final attempt but was unsuccessful. The field then dwindled rapidly as most athletes closed out their days on stage, leaving Badanev, Berdelidze, and Armenia’s Garnik Cholakyan to contend with leader Dimov.

Dimov RSVP’d “yes” to the podium with an effortless-looking 150-kilogram opener. Georgia and Armenia traded blows until Badanev took back-to-back attempts at 152 and set the stadium on fire by making the lift on his third attempt.

On his second attempt at 154 kilograms, Dimov moved from fourth to first in the jerk and confirmed his European title.

67KG

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73KG

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81KG

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89KG

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96KG

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102KG

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109KG

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+109KG

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