Cairo 2025: Rookie & Next Gen stars ready to lift history

The historic Cairo 2025 World Para Powerlifting Championships are now just three days away, and anticipation is building fast. The Rookie & Next Gen event will open the action on 9 and 10 October, followed by the Elite World Championships from 10 to 18 October.

The 11th edition of the World Championships marks a major milestone — the first time the event will take place in Africa, and the first to host the Rookie & Next Gen competition across two full days.

Record numbers and global representation

The competition begins on Thursday, 9 October, at 09:30am (local time), with eight bodyweight categories kicking off the event. The second day promises to be even busier, starting at 09:00am, and featuring 11 different categories.

Compared to the Dubai 2023 Rookie & Next Gen World Championships, Cairo 2025 will witness a remarkable 107 per cent increase in athlete participation. The number has soared from 58 competitors in 2023 to 120 this year — a clear sign of the sport’s rapid growth.

In total, 36 female athletes and 84 male athletes will take to the stage in Cairo, all chasing medals and international recognition.

Uzbekistan leads the entries with 26 athletes, followed by Egypt with 21, while Armenia and Iran share third place with eight athletes each. Uzbekistan also boasts the highest number of both male and female competitors (15 and 11 respectively), while Egypt matches the Asian powerhouse in male representation with 15 lifters.

Presenting Uzbekistan! 🇺🇿✨

The Asian powerhouse arrives in Cairo with 22 athletes, led by Kudratoy Toshpulatova, silver medallist at the last World Champs in Dubai. 💪🥈

How many medals will Uzbekistan take home from the Cairo? 🏆🤔#Cairo2025 #ParaPowerlifting @paralympics pic.twitter.com/qKJMtGQeds

— Para Powerlifting (@Powerlifting) October 2, 2025

Future stars to watch

Cairo will also be a stage for the next generation of Para powerlifting talent, with several promising athletes set to make their mark between 9 and 10 October.

Among them, Kerly Lascano of Ecuador will compete in the women’s up to 41kg category on 9 October, while Rukhshona Uktamova of Uzbekistan will take part a day later in the women’s up to 67kg class.

Both athletes made their Paralympic debuts at the Paris 2024 Games, where Uktamova impressed with a fifth-place finish in the women’s up to 61kg category, lifting 114kg. The Uzbek talent is also the reigning Rookie champion from Dubai, while Lascano claimed silver in the Next Gen event behind Brazil’s Lara Aparecida de Lima.

The now 22-year-old Brazilian was the only Rookie or Next Gen athlete to capture a medal in the Elite competition at Dubai 2023, earning bronze in the women’s up to 41kg category.

Historic summer for Brazil! 🇧🇷

Here’s a stat for you: Brazil had won just two Paralympic medals in Para Powerlifting before Paris 2024. A year ago, they claimed four medals in just five days! 📊🔥#Paris2024 #ParaPowerlifting @Paralympics pic.twitter.com/Kuf2T0BVGd

— Para Powerlifting (@Powerlifting) September 8, 2025

Both Lascano and Uktamova will be looking to follow in her footsteps, with Uktamova bringing valuable experience from Dubai, where she finished 12th in the women’s up to 55kg category.
Live results from all the Cairo 2025 action will be available on the link. 

All categories will also be live streamed via the Paralympic Games YouTube channel and World Para Powerlifting Facebook page.