Svitlana Samuliak, a Ukrainian athlete, won three gold medals at the World Junior Championships in Mexico's Guadalajara Weightlifting Forum, the International Weightlifting Federation said on Nov. 18.
Samuliak, 20, won the gold medal in the women's weightlifting 59 kilograms category, making six from six in her 98-116-214, ahead of Jessica Palacios, 17, from Ecuador on 92-115-207 and the Japanese debutant Sei Higa on 90-106-196.
In the sum of dueling – 214 kilograms, Samuliak became the absolute junior world champion under 20.
Samuliak, twice a European junior champion, started her career in 2017, at the age of 14.
Russia’s war against Ukraine forced Samuliak to train at a small gym in the Carpathian Mountains near the border with Slovakia.
“There is much more equipment and better facilities in Kyiv, but it is too dangerous there,” she said.
“Our soldiers are fighting at the front. For me, (sports) is my front, the place where I can show the world that Ukraine is strong.”
Rachel Amran
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