The 2026 EWF European Championships ended with a proper finish. The women’s +86 kg came down to a single kilo, while the men’s +110 kg closed with a performance that left no doubt at all. On the last day in Batumi, Emily Campbell of Great Britain took gold in the women’s +86, and Varazdat Lalayan of Armenia claimed the final men’s title of the competition.
After the snatch, Campbell was third on 117 kg, behind Solfrid Koanda of Norway on 119 kg and Georgia’s Anastasiia Hotfrid on 118 kg. That set up a real fight in the clean & jerk, and Campbell delivered when it mattered most. Her 159 kg lift was the best of the category and pushed her to 276 kg total, enough for gold by just one kilo. Koanda finished with 275 kg for silver, while Hotfrid gave the home crowd a final podium moment with bronze on 262 kg.
It was also a session with record marks. Tuana Suren of Türkiye set new European Junior records with 145 kg in clean & jerk and 256 kg in total.
The final men’s gold of the championships went to Lalayan Varazdat. The Armenian led the +110 kg category after the snatch with 210 kg, already clear of Daniil Vagaitsev on 192 kg and Timur Naniev on 191 kg representing Individual Neutral Athletes. Once the clean & jerk began, he stayed firmly in control. Lalayan made 241 kg and finished on 451 kg total, the biggest result of the closing day and a fitting way to end the championships.
Behind him, Vagaitsev took silver with 425 kg, while Naniev secured bronze on 418 kg. Georgia’s Bakari Turmanidze finished fourth on 406 kg, the same total as Ukraine’s Vladyslav Prylypko, who managed to win bronze in c&j.
Top 6 women’s teams
- UKR — 463
- TUR — 442
- ARM — 424
- ROU — 415
- GBR — 350
- ITA — 311
Top 6 men’s teams
- ARM — 567
- BUL — 540
- TUR — 539
- ROU — 408
- GEO — 359
- MDA — 340
The best lifter awards went to Belgium’s Nina Sterckx and Türkiye’s Muhammed Furkan Ozbek, who finished the championships as the best female and best male lifters respectively on Robi points.
Women’s medal standing
- GBR — 4 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze
- UKR — 3 gold, 2 silver, 6 bronze
- ARM — 3 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze
- ITA — 3 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze
- BEL — 2 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze
- FIN — 2 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze
- ROU — 1 gold, 3 silver, 0 bronze
- NOR — 1 gold, 2 silver, 0 bronze
- GER — 1 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze
- FRA — 1 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze
- TUR — 0 gold, 1 silver, 4 bronze
- GEO — 0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
- BUL — 0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
- ESP — 0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze
Men’s medal standing
- ARM — 6 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze
- BUL — 6 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze
- TUR — 4 gold, 2 silver, 5 bronze
- GEO — 2 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze
- MDA — 2 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze
- ROU — 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
- ALB — 1 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze
- FRA — 0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
- BIH — 0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze
- AZE — 0 gold, 1 silver, 0 bronze
- ITA — 0 gold, 0 silver, 2 bronze
- UKR — 0 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze
Photos @Hiroki Nishioka – Easy Sport