Rosina Randafiarison

Rosina Randafiarison (born 29 December 1999) is a weightlifter from Madagascar. She is the silver medalist of 2023 World Championships and the first ever world medalist in any Olympic sport from Madagascar.

Career

Randafiarison took up weightlifting at the age of 15 in her home town of Majunga. Her father encouraged her to start training at a local gym. Later, she moved to Antananarivo for training.

Her snatch and total lifts at the 2019 African Championship were recognised as Junior Women's African Records.

The last opportunity for Madagascar to ensure the qualification of its weightlifters for the Tokyo Olympics was at the African Championship Zone 3 (South Zone for juniors) event in November 2019. Jean Alex Harinelina Randriamanarivo, the president of the Madagascan weightlifting federation (Fédération Malgache d'Haltérophilie, de musculation et culturisme), identified Randafiarison as a key part of the team. At the 2019 African Games, Randafiarison won the gold. She won a total of 16 continental and regional gold medals in 2019.

In September 2023, Randafiarison competed in the women's 45 kg at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championships. She won silver medals in the snatch and clean & jerk events, and total, becoming the first medalist for Madagascar in any Olympics discipline at the world championship level.

Randafiarison secured one of the top ten slots in her weight divisions based on the IWF Olympic Qualification Rankings, and qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics. In August 2024, she became the third woman to represent Madagascar in weightlifting at the Olympics, following Nathalia Rakotondramanana in 2012 and Elisa Vania Ravololoniaina in 2016, She set three African records in the snatch (80 kg), clean & jerk (100 kg), and total (180 kg), finishing in 10th place. She was a flagbearer for Madagascar at the 2024 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations at the start of the games and for the parade of flagbearers at the closing ceremony.

She is coached at the national level by Thomas d'Aquin Rakotoarison.

Achievements

Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & jerk (kg) Total Rank 1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank Summer Olympics 2024 Paris, France 49 kg 75 80 83 95 100 100 180 10 World Championships 2019 Pattaya, Thailand 45 kg 65 70 72 5 85 90 90 10 155 8 2022 Bogotá, Colombia 49 kg 71 75 75 29 91 91 91 — — — 2023 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 45 kg 70 75 77 93 100 100 170 IWF World Cup 2024 Phuket, Thailand 49 kg 75 75 77 21 95 100 100 18 172 16 African Games 2019 Rabat, Morocco 45 kg 65 70 73 80 85 85 155 African Championships 2016 Yaoundé, Cameroon 48 kg 55 59 62 70 75 75 5 137 4 2017 Vacoas, Mauritius 48 kg 55 60 60 70 75 80 130 2019 Cairo, Egypt 45 kg 60 68 70 80 85 85 150 2021 Nairobi, Kenya 45 kg 55 65 65 70 80 80 135 2024 Ismailia, Egypt 49 kg 70 74 78 90 95 100 169