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The 2025 European Junior & U23 Weightlifting Championships have wrapped in Durres, Albania. Running from Oct. 28 to Nov. 4, this competition featured some of the brightest talents in Europe—athletes who we’ll likely see at the World Champs and Olympic Games in coming years.
These are some of the performances that stood out to us:
- Aleksandra Grigoryan (ARM) hit a massive personal best total of 214 (91/123) to win the W58, 9 kilograms above silver medalist Maria Munoz (ESP).
- Polina Pavlovich (AIN) finished third in the Junior W63s, open to competitors up to age 12. Pavlovich is 15.
- Martyna Dolega (POL), daughter of famed Polish weightlifter Marcin Dolega, won the W69s with 220 (102/118).
- Janette Ylisoini (FIN) overcame a serious elbow injury from last year’s event to win the overall title in W77 with 244 (109/135).
- Dan Betca (MDA) added 9 kilograms to his total from Euro Youths in July, finishing third in the M65s with 278 (124/154). Betca is 16.
- Mihaela Cambei (ROU) won the U23 53s with 205 (95/110), setting a personal record in the snatch by one kilo.
- Giulia Miserendino (ITA) returned to competition after a hip injury last year, finishing third in the W69 U23s. The silver and gold medalists both totaled just 1KG above her.
- Iryna Dombrovska (UKR) won the W77 U23 silver medal thanks to a +7 lead in the snatch; she jerked 122, 9 under best from Worlds three weeks prior.
- Sergio Massidda (ITA) returned to competition to win the U23 M65s with 299 (134/165).
- Yusuf Genc (TUR) won the U23 M71s handily with 340 (150/190), just 3 below his heroic Worlds total.
- Garik Karapetyan (ARM) won the U23 M110s with 397 (182/215), his lowest total since last February.
Weightlifting Championships: What's Left in 2025?
The big ‘25 may be winding down, but our sport still has a few exciting events coming up. Eight international competitions remain on the IWF calendar between the conclusion of Durres '25 and the end of the year.
Those weightlifting championships are:
- 6th Islamic Solidarity Games: Nov. 8 - 12, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Pan-American Youth Championships: Nov. 10 - 15, San Luis Potosi, Mexico
- 20th Bolivarian Games: Nov. 23 - 26, Lima, Peru
- 6th Intl. Fajr Cup: Nov. 26 - 30, Tehran, Iran
- Balkan Championships: Nov. 28 - Dec. 2, Durres, Albania
- Central American & Caribbean Championships: Dec. 7 - 12, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- 4th African Youth Games: Dec. 11 - 16, Luanda, Angola
- 33rd Southeast Asian Games: Dec. 13 - 17, Chonburi, Thailand
WLHOUSE won’t be boots-on-the-ground at any of these competitions, but we’ll do our best to get ahold of noteworthy results. Also, the IWF has yet to publicly announce the qualification structure for the next Olympics. As such, none of these events will count toward LA2028.
The big one: While not recognized as an IWF event, the 15th National Games of China are considered an “in-house Olympics” for weightlifting’s most dominant team. The Games start Nov. 9.
