TEHRAN - Mirmostafa Javadi, Iranian silver medalist of the 2021 World Weightlifting Championship, expressed satisfaction with his performance in the competitions.

The Iranian weightlifter lifted 163kg in snatch in the 81kg weight class and 204kg in clean and jerk and claimed the silver with a total of 367kg in the event held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan last week.

“The level of the tournament was so high, especially in the 81kg and +109 kg because some world-class weightlifters competed in these weights. In these categories, the competitions were very close and anyone could miss the chance to win a medal with one mistake,” said the Iranian lifter in an exclusive interview with Tehran Times.

The 21-year-old weightlifter was one of the stars of the whole tournament despite not winning the gold medal.

“Maybe it's because I did six successful lifts without any foul," said Javadi, who successfully lifted 155, 159, and 163 kg in snatch and became third in this section. “The competition was so close that the world record was broken twice,” he added.

Then in clean and jerk, he again successfully lifted 193, 198, and 204 kg.

Iran rounded off a decent campaign at the Weightlifting World Championships with 548 points, finishing second behind the Russian Weightlifting Federation (581 points) in the men's ranking.

With eight medals, Iran finished 10th in the medal table, which included the women's contests.

“I'm satisfied with my performance in my first world championship. However, considering the whole team's performance, I can say that some of my teammates were a little bit unlucky and couldn't show their best at the right moment. Moreover, some of them faced injuries that hindered them from showing their abilities.

“In the men's +109 kg, Alireza Yousefi was great and broke the world youth record. He was unlucky because his last move was strictly declared foul by the judges and received red lights,” added Javadi.

Speaking about his future ambitions, he said: “My short-term goal is to be well-prepared for the 2022 Asian Games and to win a medal in that tournament. An as a long-term plan, I think about 2024 and even 2028 Olympic Games and to break the world record and hold it for a long time,” concluded the young weightlifter.