Surprise in the style of Rahmat at the Weightlifting Branch
Despite competing in Group B, in which all were unseeded, Rahmat Erwin Abdullah, won a bronze medal with a total lift of 342 kilograms, beaten only by two senior lifters from Group A.
By
ADRIAN FAJRIANSYAH
·4 minutes read
TOKYO, WEDNESDAY — The young Indonesian 73 kilogram-class lifter, Rahmat Erwin Abdullah, 20, made a surprise at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, at the Tokyo International Forum, Wednesday (28/7/2021). Despite competing in Group B, in which all were unseeded, the lifter from Makassar, South Sulawesi, won a bronze medal with a total lift of 342 kilograms, beaten only by two senior lifters from Group A. Rahmat\'s surprise showed the success of the regeneration of the Indonesian weightlifters.
“Rahmat\'s achievement is spectacular. It is rare for a lifter in Group B to win a medal, except for a North Korean lifter, Om Yunchol, who won 56 kg gold at the 2012 London Olympics,” said Hadi Wihardja, the head of achievement development for the executive board of the Indonesian Weightlifting Association, Wednesday.
In the Group B match, Rahmat made a snatch of 152 kg and a clean and jerk of 190 kg on the third opportunity. “Previously, when he was about to take the clean and jerk class, Rahmat\'s hamstring muscle was nearly injured. The coaching team and Rahmat\'s father, Erwin Abdullah, hastily sprayed painkillers and massaged him. Luckily, despite failing in the second batch, Rahmat succeeded in the third clean and jerk which was very decisive,” said head coach Dirdja Wihardja.
This achievement could only be surpassed by the Chinese lifter, Shi Zhiyong, 27, who won gold with a total weight of 364 kg when competing in Group A, two hours later. Zhiyong broke the Olympic snatch record with 166 kg, the Olympic clean and jerk record with 198 kg, and the world record with 364 kg. The silver medal was won by Venezuelan lifter, Julio Ruben Mayora Pernia, with a total lift of 346 kg (snatch 156 kg, clean and jerk 190 kg).
The key to Rahmat\'s success was none other than being able to achieve a clean and jerk of 190 kg. The lift was difficult to surpass by the lifters in Group A, except for Zhiyong.
Bright future
Rahmat\'s success enabled the Indonesian weightlifting team to collect one silver and two bronze in this Olympics. Previously, the female lifter, Windy Cantika Aisah, 19, won bronze in the 49 kg class on Saturday (24/7), and senior lifter, Eko Yuli Irawan, won silver in the 61 kg class, Sunday (25/7).
Rahmat and Cantika are the result of the youth development program carried out by PB PABSI National Training Center since 2017. They began seeing success at the 2019 Philippine SEA Games. At that time, Rahmat won the 73 kg gold medal and Cantika won the women\'s 49 kg gold.
AFP/VINCENZO PINTO
Indonesia\'s Windy Cantika Aisah reacts as she competes in the women\'s 49kg weightlifting competition during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo International Forum in Tokyo on July 24, 2021.
The two golds were two of the four golds won by the Indonesian weightlifting team. Two other golds were won by senior lifters, namely Eko at 61 kg and Deni at 67 kg.
"At that time, Rahmat and Cantika did not expect to win gold because they were still very young and it was their first multi-branch event," said Dirdja.
Besides Rahmat and Cantika, PB PABSI also has four other promising young lifters. In the 73 kg class, apart from Rahmat, there is Rizki Juniansyah who broke three junior world records at the same time at the 2021 Junior World Championships in Tashkent. The 18-year-old lifter broke the snatch record with 155 kg, clean and jerk 194 kg and a total lift of 349 kg.
Besides that, there is Muhammad Faathir who is still 18 years old in the 61 kg class and holds the youth world record with a total lift of 273 kg. The record was set at the 2020 Asian Youth and Junior Championships.
For women, there is a 55 kg lifter, Juliana Klarisa, who is 19 years old and a 64 kg lifter, Restu Anggi, who is 18 years old. The six young lifters also still have several potential substitutes.
