Athlete of the Week – Weightlifter Luis Lauret Rodriguez

Romanian weightlifters have made a strong comeback in the international rankings.

Florin Orban, 14.10.2025, 13:45

After the European Championships in April, in Chisinau, where the Romanian athletes won 11 medals, confirmation came from the World Championships in Førde, in Norway, which ended last week. The first three medals were won right from the start of the competition, by Mihaela Cambei. The competition ended with another medal for Romania – silver obtained by the athlete of Cuban origin Luis Lauret Rodriguez, in the 110 kilogram category, snatch style. For this performance, Radio Romania International designated the weightlifter of Olimpia Bucharest as the Athlete of the Week.

In the snatch competition in Førde, Luis Lauret Rodriguez missed a first attempt at 188 kilograms, but then succeeded in lifting. In the clean and jerk, he tried to lift 213, 215 and 217 kilograms, but missed each time and did not appear in the rankings or in the overall standings. Luis Manuel Lauret Rodriguez was born in Cuba on January 20, 1997. He recorded his first significant international results when he was only 19, at the 2016 Pan American Championships, which took place in Cartagena, Colombia. He competed in the 105 kilogram category and came out seventh overall, with a result of 340 kilograms. At the next edition of the Games, in 2017, in Miami, United States, Luis moved up to the +105 kg category and managed to lift 205 kg in the clean and jerk, where he ranked third. At the 2018 Pan American Games, held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, at +105 kg, Luis won bronze, in both styles and in the total. At the World Championships in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, he competed at +109 kg and ranked 13th in the snatch. A year later, in Guatemala City, he won his first Pan American title, in the +109 kg snatch. He came out second in the clean and jerk and in the total. He obtained Romanian citizenship in November last year, and in April he brought the first medals for Romania, from the European Championships in Chisinau – bronze in the snatch and in the total, within the limits of the 109 kilogram category.