DOHA: Qatari weightlifter Wissal Yakhlef delivered a standout performance on the sixth day of competition at the three combined championships in Doha, securing an extraordinary nine gold medals in the over 86 kg category. The events include the 10th Qatar International Weightlifting Cup 2025, the Arab Championships for youth, junior and senior categories, and the West Asian Championships for the same age groups, all organized by the Qatar Weightlifting Federation and concluding on Friday.
Yakhlef dominated across all three competitions, winning three gold medals at each event. She lifted 116 kg in the snatch, 161 kg in the clean and jerk, and posted an impressive total of 277 kg, underlining her superiority in the heavyweight division.
At the Qatar International Cup, the Qatari lifter finished ahead of Thailand’s Supachanen Khamheng, who claimed three silver medals, and South Korea’s Lee Hyun, who took bronze in all three lifts. Yakhlef was equally commanding at the Arab Championships, where she outperformed Algeria’s Amina Mamoun Yahya and Egypt’s Shams Mohamed Ahmed to complete another clean sweep of gold medals.
Her dominance continued at the West Asian Championships, where Yakhlef once again claimed three golds. The highlight came in the clean and jerk, as she lifted 161 kg to break her own previous record of 160 kg.
Expressing her delight after the competition, Yakhlef described the achievement as a major milestone in her career, particularly given the strong field featuring lifters from South Korea, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. She credited her success to the strong backing of the Qatar Weightlifting Federation, led by HE Mohammed bin Yousef Al Mana, First Vice President of the Qatar Olympic Committee.
Yakhlef added that she remains focused on further development and aims to achieve even greater success in future competitions, continuing to raise the Qatari flag on the international stage. She also noted that this triumph follows a series of recent successes, including her medal-winning performances for Qatar at the Islamic Solidarity Games Riyadh 2025.
