FILE PHOTO: Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Weightlifting - Women's 76kg - Group A - Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan - August 1, 2021. Neisi Dajomes of Ecuador in action. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido/File Photo
(Reuters) - Some of the biggest names in weightlifting will miss out on the Paris Games after changes to the qualifying process and the introduction of new categories left athletes battling with their team mates for the fewest spots at an Olympics since 1956.
In an effort to make the sport more competitive and keep it on the Olympic programme, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced major changes for Paris, reducing the number of competitors to 120 from the 196 lifters at Tokyo 2020.
Paris will see the lowest number of lifters compete since the 1956 Melbourne Games and have the fewest number of events (10) since 1996, before women's weightlifting was introduced in Sydney four years later.
Both men's and women's events will feature five weight categories and only 12 athletes per division.
Changes were also made to the ranking system to focus on athletes' scores in selected qualifying events.
This meant that the World Cup in Phuket, Thailand in March and April - the last stop before Paris - was the last throw of the dice for many athletes.
Some earned their spot with career-best results, including American Hampton Morris, who took the 61kg clean and jerk world record with a lift of 176kg.
Others who had been leading after previous qualifying rounds were knocked out at the last moment by team mates since only one athlete per National Olympic Committee is allowed in each category.
Indonesia's Erwin Rahmat, a Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist and two-time world champion, had been leading the men's 73kg category with a total of 363kg but was eliminated after 20-year-old compatriot Rizki Juniansyah set a world record total of 365kg.
The women's 59kg category saw another big upset, with 2020 Olympic champion Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippines losing out to team mate Elreen Ando.
Reducing the number of weight categories for Paris also meant that many athletes had to switch divisions. Ecuador was left with two strong contenders for the women's 81kg category in Neisi Dajomes and Tamara Salazar.
Salazar, the Tokyo silver medallist in the 87kg category, looked set to claim a place in Paris with her 265kg total in Havana last year before Dajomes, the Tokyo 76kg champion, lifted 269kg in Phuket to book her spot at the Olympics.
The changes adopted by the weightlifting federation have shaken up the sport but its future looks more assured and it has already been ratified for the LA 2028 programme.
The Paris 2024 weightlifting competition will take place at the South Paris Arena, part of the Paris Expo, from Aug. 7-11.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
