Rebeka Koha

Rebeka Koha (born 19 May 1998) is a retired Latvian weightlifter, two time Junior World Champion and two time European Champion competing in the 58 kg division until 2018 and 59 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federation reorganized the categories.[1]

Rebeka Koha

Personal information
Nationality	Latvia
Ethnicity	Latvian
Born	(1998-05-19) 19 May 1998 Ventspils, Latvia
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight	58.70 kg (129 lb)
Sport
Country	Latvia
Sport	Weightlifting
Event(s)	–59 kg
Coached by	Eduards Andruškevičs
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	Snatch: 103 kg (2018) Clean & Jerk: 124 kg (2018) Total: 227 kg (2018)
Medal record Representing  Latvia World Championships 2017 Anaheim –58 kg 2018 Ashgabat –59 kg European Championships 2018 Bucharest –58 kg 2019 Batumi –59 kg 2017 Split –58 kg 2016 Førde –53 kg Youth Olympics 2014 Nanjing –48 kg

She was coached by Eduards Andruškevičs, who has also been coaching Olympic medalist Viktors Ščerbatihs and Artūrs Plēsnieks.[2]

Career

She currently has junior world records in the clean & jerk and total in the 59 kg division.[3][4]

Olympics

In 2016 she competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 53 kg division placing fourth overall.[5][6] She was named Latvian Rising Star of the Year in 2016 after her performance at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[7]

World Championships

In 2017 she competed at the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships winning the bronze medal in the snatch and total.[8][9][10]

In 2018 the IWF restructured the weight classes, and Koha competed in the newly created 59 kg division. She followed up her bronze medal performance in 2017 with stronger performance at the 2018 World Weightlifting Championships winning another bronze medal in the snatch and total and setting junior world records in the snatch, clean & jerk, and total.[11]

European Championships

In 2016 she competed at the 2016 European Weightlifting Championships winning a bronze medal in the total in the 53 kg category. The following year she competed at the 2017 European Weightlifting Championships winning a gold medal in the snatch, and silver medals in the clean & jerk and total in the 58 kg category.[12][13]

At the 2018 European Weightlifting Championships, Koha swept gold in all lifts (snatch, clean & jerk, and the total) and became European Champion in the 58 kg division.[14][15]

Other Competitions

She competed at the 2017 Junior World Weightlifting Championships, winning silver medals in the snatch and clean & jerk, but a gold medal in the total, becoming Junior World Champion in the 58 kg division.[16]

In 2018, coming off her Junior World Championships gold medal, she defended her title as the Junior World Champion by winning gold medals in all lifts at the 2018 Junior World Weightlifting Championships.[17]

Major results

Year	Venue	Weight	Snatch (kg)				Clean & Jerk (kg)				Total	Rank
			1	2	3	Rank	1	2	3	Rank
Olympic Games
2016	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	53 kg	87	87	90	3	103	107	110	4	197	4
World Championships
2014	Almaty, Kazakhstan	53 kg	76	78	80	16	92	94	96	25	174	22
2015	Houston, United States	53 kg	84	86	87	9	101	105	107	16	192	10
2017	Anaheim, United States	58 kg	94	98	101		114	118	121	5	222
2018	Ashgabat, Turkmenistan	59 kg	98	102	103		117	121	124	6	227
2019	Pattaya, Thailand	59 kg	92	95	97	4	112	115	118	12	215	8
European Championships
2016	Førde, Norway	53 kg	87	90	92		102	105	108		198
2017	Split, Croatia	58 kg	92	95	97		110	114	118		213
2018	Bucharest, Romania	58 kg	90	95	100		110	115	120		220
2019	Batumi, Georgia	59 kg	97	101	104		116	120	125		221
Junior World Weightlifting Championships
2017	Tokyo, Japan	58 kg	93	96	99		111	117	120		219
2018	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	58 kg	95	99	103		113	117	120		219
2014 Youth Olympics
2014	Nanjing, China	48 kg	71	73	75	3	86	90	94	3	165

Private life

In spring of 2020 Koha became engaged with the Qatari discus thrower Moaaz Mohamed Ibrahim and on July 26 announced via her Instagram account she had converted to Islam.[18] On August 5 she announced her retirement from sport.[19]

References

1. PDF listing of 2018 Group A world championship entrants in 59 kg
2. Medaļniece, rekordiste, skolniece Sporto.lv
3. "2018 World Championships 59kg results". International Weightlifting Federation. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
4. "Junior World Records Women". International Weightlifting Federation. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
5. Olympic.org. "53 kg Women". Retrieved 8 December 2018.
6. "Weightlifter Koha places fourth at Rio Olympics". The Baltic Course. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
7. "Porziņģis un Ikauniece-Admidiņa atzīti par Latvijas gada sportistiem". Delfi. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
8. "Rio Olympic Bronze Medallist defeated the reigning Olympic Champion". International Weightlifting Federation. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
9. "Rebeka Koha wins bronze at World Weightlifting Championships". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
10. "Rebeka Koha wins bronze at World Weightlifting Championships". The Baltic Course. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
11. "World Records: KUO four and CHEN one". International Weightlifting Federation. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
12. "Weightlifter wins silver at European Championships". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
13. "Koha wins gold at European Junior Weightlifting Championship". The Baltic Course. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
14. Galkins, Gundars (29 March 2018). "Latvia's Koha lifts gold at European Weightlifting Championships". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
15. "Latvia's Koha triumphs at European Weightlifting Championships". The Baltic Course. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
16. "Latvia's Rebeka Koha becomes junior world champion in women's weightlifting". The Baltic Course. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
17. "The incredible one-woman show of KOHA". International Weightlifting Federation. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
18. "Latvia's champion weightlifter announces conversion to Islam". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
19. Glazunova, Ludmila (August 5, 2020). "Champion weightlifter Koha quits sports career". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved August 5, 2020.

External links

• Rebeka Koha at the International Weightlifting Federation
• Rebeka Koha at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)