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

1. Andreea Cotruta (ROU): 208 (94/114)
2. Nina Sterckx (BEL): 207 (94/113)
3. Rebeka Koha (LAT): 206 (94/113)

Recap

Ten straight made lifts kicked off the Women’s 59-kilogram snatches on a high note. Latvia’s Rebeka Ibrahima , formerly Koha, returned to the international stage after a long hiatus to make all three of her snatches at 88, 91, and 93 with her iconic technique.

Italy’s Greta Di Riso missed her third snatch at 91 kilograms after making her first two. Finnish athlete Saara Retulainen exited the stage in heartbreak after bombing in the snatch at 92 kilograms.

Final opener and two-time Olympian Nina Sterckx of Belgium followed with a wobbly make at 94 — enough for gold and her first international lift since bombing out in the snatch in Paris last summer. Sterckx missed her second and third lifts.

Three athletes, Maria Kardara of Greece, Andreea Cotruta of Romania, and independent Katsiaryna Yakushava , all clarked one of their snatches on stage in quick succession.

France’s Maelyn Michel was on the ropes with two missed jerks at 106 but got it together on her last lift and was carried off stage by her coach with happy tears in her eyes. Kardara found her footing after some hesitation in the first half, making all three of her clean & jerks look comfortable.

Cotruta, Sterckx, and Ibrahima shuffled each other in the backroom until Sterckx eventually appeared for first crack at 113; a tough clean and an undeniable jerk. Plenty of yelling characterized Di Riso’s final attempt at the same weight, but she couldn’t drive the bar high enough with her push jerk.

Ibrahima became the only athlete to go six-for-six with 105, 108, and 113 on her clean & jerks.

After bombing out in the snatch, Retulainen did a "miracle" and drew raucous applause making her final jerk at 115 after missing the first two; walking away with a gold medal after a one-for-six day.

Sterckx and Cotruta, separated by a kilogram in the total, went head to head to close out the session. After Sterckx missed 117 on her second lift, the competition ground to a halt due to unknown backroom complications.

After some delay, Sterckx declared 120 to buy time and force Cotruta out, who walked 118 off the edge of the platform.

Cotruta still being one kilo up in the total called Sterckx's bluff by bumping up to 120, forcing Sterckx out — she missed.

Having won the European Weightlifting Championships, Cotruta tried her own 120 and missed. She walked off stage livid.

64KG

1. Sarah Davies (GBR): 223 (96/127)
2. Aysel Ozkan (TUR): 222 (100/122)
3. Svitlana Moskvina (UKR): 221 (100/121)

Recap

Midway through the snatches, competition officials stopped the session to overturn a three-white-light, 95-kilogram snatch by Bulgaria’s Galya Shatova — drawing boos from the Bulgarians in the crowd. She lost her third attempt at 97 in front.

Team Italy’s Martina Chiacchio missed two snatches. Italian coaches bid the officials to change their ruling for her 99-kilogram third attempt, but there was undeniable movement in her elbow and shoulder.

Turkey and Ukraine took the final two attempts for gold; Aysel Ozkan and Svitlana Moskvina both missed — they took gold and silver, respectfully with 100 each, while independent Group B athlete Dziyana Maiseyevich snuck bronze with 99.

Czech Patricia Jezkova went running offstage and leapt into her coach’s arms to celebrate her final clean & jerk at 113. Chiacchio missed all three of her jerks, finishing with one good lift out of six.

Sarah Davies of Great Britain came back from behind on her second clean & jerk at 125 to get into bronze after placing sixth in the snatches, and then 127 on the last lift of the session — she made it, becoming European Champion for the first time in her career after 28 international appearances and 11 years on stage.

71KG

1. To be announced
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76KG

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81KG

1. To be announced
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87KG

1. To be announced
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+87KG

1. To be announced
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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

1. Kaan Kahriman (TUR): 316 (146/170)
2. Isa Rustamov (AZE): 308 (138/170)
3. Ferdi Hardal (TUR): 305 (140/165)

Recap

Moldova’s Gabriel Danilov started day three of the European Weightlifting Championships with a snatch make at 114 kilograms, kicking off a seven-lift streak not broken until Danilov’s third attempt at 123.

The three leaders emerged as the field dwindled. Turkey’s Ferdi Hardal smashed his 137-kilogram opener; Azerbaijan’s Isa Rustamov wobbled, but made 138; leading entrant Kaan Kahriman of Turkey bumped his opener to 142; Hardal managed 140, but Rustamov missed 141.

Kahriman rocked back hard on his opener at 142 kilograms, but saved the lift. Hardal nearly had the same weight, but howled and marched off stage clutching his elbow — Rustamov tried it too and missed it in front. Kahriman made 146, then missed 151 on his final attempt.

Dimitris Minasidis of Cyprus debuted an Aukhadov-inspired squat jerk during the second half of the competition, drawing “ooh”s from commentators Seb Ostrowicz and Sergei Putsoff. Bulgaria’s Zdravko Pelovski logged the first six-for-six day, finishing with a 282-kilogram total.

The snatch leaders also appeared last in the clean & jerks, along with Georgia’s Gurami Giorbelidze who missed 166 and appeared to have injured himself as the barbell fell on his upper back. After squeezing the clock as long as possible, he returned to try again, but missed.

Kahriman made his first two jerks at 165 and 170, but missed 173. The last lift belonged to Rustamov, who leapt to 179 from 170 to steal the gold from Kahriman; he cleaned it, but failed to recover.

73KG

1. Yusuf Genc (TUR): 348 (154/194)
2. Gor Sahakyan (ARM): 338 (153/185)
3. Roberto Gutu (GER): 335 (155/180)

Recap

Too few athletes signed up to merit additional sessions in the Men’s 73s, so the event began with a large spread in opening attempts ranging from 100 to about 150 kilograms. Spain’s David Sanchez Lopez, recovering from injury, opened conservatively at 132 and clarked his third snatch at 140 kilograms.

Turkey’s Muhammed Furkan Ozbek appeared before teammate Yusuf Genc to open at 147, but missed 147 twice, and then bombed out at 148. Genc, by contrast, 147, 151, and a new international best at 154 look easy.

Germany’s Roberto Gutu and Armenia’s Gor Sahakyan snuck past Genc to round out the snatch medals; Sahakyan attempted a 10-kilogram international best at 156, but missed, leaving Gutu with the final attempt at 157 for gold — he clarked it, and would do the same on his final clean & jerk.

Albania’s Arberi Gerciz awed the crowd with gutsy lifts, including a deep and grindy squat jerk at 172 kilograms. Romania’s Tiberiu Donose maxed out his walking lunge to save his 178-kilogram final attempt.

Despite bombing in the snatch, Ozbek appeared in the second half to jerk 186, 192, and tried 195. He walked away with silver in the clean & jerk. Genc, at 194, set multiple European records . He tried 195, but clarked it.

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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