Rebeka Ibrahima

Rebeka Salsabil Ibrahim (born Rebeka Koha; 19 May 1998) is a Latvian-born Qatari 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
Born (1998-05-19) 19 May 1998
Ventspils, Latvia
Height1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight58.70 kg (129 lb)
Sport
Country Latvia
 Qatar
SportWeightlifting
Event(s)–59 kg
Coached byEduards Andruškevičs
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
Medal record
Representing  Qatar
West Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place2022 Doha–59 kg
Representing  Latvia
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2017 Anaheim–58 kg
Bronze medal – third place2018 Ashgabat–59 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place2018 Bucharest–58 kg
Gold medal – first place2019 Batumi–59 kg
Silver medal – second place2017 Split–58 kg
Bronze medal – third place2016 Førde–53 kg
Youth Olympics
Bronze medal – third place2014 Nanjing–48 kg

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

In 2023 Rebeka returned to weightlifting representing Qatar and winning Qatar Cup and West Asian Championships.[3]

Career

She currently has junior world records in the clean & jerk and total in the 59 kg division.[4][5]

Olympics

In 2016, she competed at the Summer Olympics in the 53 kg division placing fourth overall.[6][7] She was named Latvian Rising Star of the Year in 2016 after her performance at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[8]

World Championships

In 2017, she competed at the World Weightlifting Championships winning the bronze medal in the snatch and total.[9][10][11]

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.[12]

European Championships

In 2016, she competed at the 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.[13][14]

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.[15][16]

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.[17]

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.[18]

Major results
Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Olympic Games
2016Brazil Rio de Janeiro, Brazil53 kg878790310310711041974
World Championships
2014Kazakhstan Almaty, Kazakhstan53 kg767880169294962517422
2015United States Houston, United States53 kg84868791011051071619210
2017United States Anaheim, United States58 kg94981013rd place, bronze medalist(s)11411812152223rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2018Turkmenistan Ashgabat, Turkmenistan59 kg981021033rd place, bronze medalist(s)11712112462273rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2019Thailand Pattaya, Thailand59 kg9295974112115118122158
European Championships
2016Norway Førde, Norway53 kg8790922nd place, silver medalist(s)1021051083rd place, bronze medalist(s)1983rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2017Croatia Split, Croatia58 kg9295971st place, gold medalist(s)1101141182nd place, silver medalist(s)2132nd place, silver medalist(s)
2018Romania Bucharest, Romania58 kg90951001st place, gold medalist(s)1101151201st place, gold medalist(s)2201st place, gold medalist(s)
2019Georgia (country) Batumi, Georgia59 kg971011041st place, gold medalist(s)1161201251st place, gold medalist(s)2211st place, gold medalist(s)
Junior World Weightlifting Championships
2017Japan Tokyo, Japan58 kg9396992nd place, silver medalist(s)1111171202nd place, silver medalist(s)2191st place, gold medalist(s)
2018Uzbekistan Tashkent, Uzbekistan58 kg95991031st place, gold medalist(s)1131171201st place, gold medalist(s)2191st place, gold medalist(s)
2014 Youth Olympics
2014China Nanjing, China48 kg717375386909431653rd place, bronze medalist(s)

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.[19] On August 5 she announced her retirement from sport.[20]

References
  1. PDF listing of 2018 Group A world championship entrants in 59 kg
  2. Medaļniece, rekordiste, skolniece Archived 2016-04-04 at the Wayback Machine Sporto.lv
  3. Goodbye Rebeka Koha, hello Rebeka Ibrahima - a happy return for weightlifting star
  4. "2018 World Championships 59kg results". International Weightlifting Federation. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  5. "Junior World Records Women". International Weightlifting Federation. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  6. Olympic.org. "53 kg Women". Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  7. "Weightlifter Koha places fourth at Rio Olympics". The Baltic Course. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  8. "Porziņģis un Ikauniece-Admidiņa atzīti par Latvijas gada sportistiem". Delfi. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  9. "Rio Olympic Bronze Medallist defeated the reigning Olympic Champion". International Weightlifting Federation. December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  10. "Rebeka Koha wins bronze at World Weightlifting Championships". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  11. "Rebeka Koha wins bronze at World Weightlifting Championships". The Baltic Course. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  12. "World Records: KUO four and CHEN one". International Weightlifting Federation. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  13. "Weightlifter wins silver at European Championships". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LETA. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  14. "Koha wins gold at European Junior Weightlifting Championship". The Baltic Course. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  15. Galkins, Gundars (29 March 2018). "Latvia's Koha lifts gold at European Weightlifting Championships". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  16. "Latvia's Koha triumphs at European Weightlifting Championships". The Baltic Course. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  17. "Latvia's Rebeka Koha becomes junior world champion in women's weightlifting". The Baltic Course. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  18. "The incredible one-woman show of KOHA". International Weightlifting Federation. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  19. "Latvia's champion weightlifter announces conversion to Islam". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  20. Glazunova, Ludmila (August 5, 2020). "Champion weightlifter Koha quits sports career". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
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