Some of the physically strongest people in the world gathered in Forde, Norway, for the International Weightlifting Federation’s 2025 world championships from October 2nd through the 11th.

Eight weight divisions for the men, eight for the women, from the smallest in the women’s 48-kilogram (105 pounds) group to the handful of men’s super heavyweight lifters that weighed in at over 158 kilos (350 pounds), more than 475 athletes representing more than 85 nations competed for medals in the snatch, the clean & jerk, and total (snatch + clean & jerk) categories.

Muslim weightlifters and those representing Muslim-majority nations undoubtedly made their presence felt.

Iran, Bahrain, and Egypt took home six medals apiece, including one gold medal for Iran. (North Korea led all nations by far with 23 total medals, including 17 golds. Colombia had the second-most total medals with 12, and six different countries — including Muslim-majority Uzbekistan — tied for the second-most gold medals with three.) Indonesia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan won five medals apiece. And we’ll give a shout-out to the three medals won by Nigeria, which is not technically a Muslim-majority country but according to the Pew Research Center is between 47 and 49 percent Muslim.

While they didn’t lead the medal count, Iran actually tallied the most points in the men’s overall team ranking, outscoring North Korea 387-354. (Think of it like the team scoring at a track meet, which puts an emphasis on depth across the competition.) Indonesia came in fifth in the men’s team ranking.

The very first lift of the competition was made by Zahra Al-Hashmi (United Arab Emirates) in the women’s 53kg division. She was one of two women, along with Amal Al-Shareefi (Kuwait), to compete in the opening session wearing sports hijab apparel.

Weightlifting’s most prominent hijabi, Sara Ahmed (Egypt), claimed three silver medals in the women’s 77kg division. Ahmed has seemingly been around forever, but she’s still just 27 years old. She made her Olympic debut at the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil, when she was still in high school. She won a bronze medal in Rio, and silver at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. (At the Olympics, medals are only given for the total category; there are not separate medals for snatch and clean & jerk.) Ahmed also won world championship golds in 2022 and 2023.

Ingrid Segura (Bahrain) won three medals in the women’s 69kg division: silver for the clean & jerk, and bronze for snatch and total.

On the men’s side, Akbar Djuraev (Uzbekistan) was arguably the most dominant performer of the entire event. The 26-year-old, a two-time Olympic medalist, swept all three gold medals in the 110kg division in Forde while setting new world records in the snatch (196 kilos / 432 pounds) and total (428 kilos / 943 pounds).

Muhammed Furkan Ozbek (Turkey) won the snatch and total golds, along with the clean & jerk silver, in the 65kg division. Alireza Moeini and Ali Aalipour of Iran took the top two spots in the 94kg division snatch, with Moeini winning the total silver. Gor Minasyan (Bahrain) swept the silver medals in the 110+kg division, a.k.a. super heavyweight.

In the men’s 79kg division, Abdelrahman Younes (Egypt) walked away with silver in the snatch and bronze in the total, but he probably should’ve had at least one gold medal. On two different lifts, Younes appeared to break the snatch world record (167 kilos / 368 pounds), and both times the board of judges ruled “no lift” due to elbow movements that were barely perceptible at most. The announcers on the broadcast and seemingly everyone in the crowd disagreed. In that same division, Rizki Juniansyah (Indonesia) took gold in the clean & jerk and the total, along with bronze in the snatch.

Other Muslim-majority nations that sent athletes to Norway included Albania, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Malaysia, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia.

The 2026 IWF World Championships will be held in China, as part of the lead-up to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.