Ashley Earns Silver at Nationals

Photograph: Ashley Kolomoisky preparing to lift

Article credit: The Australian Jewish News, by Shane Desiatnik

Three talented Jewish weightlifters from Victoria demonstrated remarkable achievements at the 2023 AWF Australian Junior (U20) and U23 Championships held in Townsville last weekend.

Among them, 16-year-old Ashley Kolomoisky, the youngest competitor in the female under 59kg bodyweight category, secured a silver medal. During the competition, she set a personal best and a Victorian age record with a 68kg snatch and an 84kg clean & jerk, achieving a total score of 152.

Training at the Melbourne West Barbell Club, Kolomoisky expressed her delight with the outcome. Further adding to her accomplishments, she has been selected for the Australian team competing at the 2023 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Delhi this July. She has already begun raising funds for the trip.

In the female under 71kg division, Layla Bloom, the 2022 Maccabi Australia Junior Sportswoman of the Year, set Victorian youth and junior records with a 72kg snatch and a personal best 101kg clean & jerk, totaling a score of 173. The 18-year-old, who represented Australia at the 2022 youth (U17) worlds and the Maccabiah Games, finished fifth overall out of 14 competitors in Townsville and third in the junior (U20) category. A member of the Phoenix Weightlifting Club, Bloom has her sights set on qualifying for the 2023 U20 Weightlifting World Championships.

At his first U23 nationals, 22-year-old Elliot Bolaffi, who transitioned from CrossFit to weightlifting in early 2022, achieved a personal best 100kg snatch and a 125kg clean & jerk, resulting in a total score of 225. Competing in the men’s under 89kg division, the Hawthorn Weightlifting Club athlete placed equal ninth out of 13 participants, several of whom were current state champions.

To support Kolomoisky’s fundraising efforts, visit her page at gofund.me/80bd6993