The lifter formerly known as Rebeka Koha made a winning return as Rebeka Ibrahima just over three years after her last appearance and more than two years after she announced her retirement from the sport.

"It’s good to be back," said Ibrahima, 24, who was one lift away from winning an Olympic medal for Latvia in 2016.

The two-time junior world champion and a double senior European winner is now lifting at her old weight of 59 kilograms for Qatar. 

She totalled less than she made as a youth but still claimed first place with four good lifts, making 80-95-175 in the Qatar Cup and West Asian Championships in Doha.

That was 52kg lower than her career best total of 227kg, and 44kg below her final winning effort as Rebeka Koha in 2019 - also at the Qatar Cup.

It would have placed Ibrahima 40th in the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships in Bogotá earlier this month, where the Colombian Yenny Alvarez made 59kg more in beating the Olympic champions Kuo Hsing-Chun and Maude Charron.

But everything is relative: 175kg was not a disappointment for Ibrahima and her coach Eduard Andruskevics given that she had been retired from the sport for more than two years before returning to training less than four months ago.

She had also changed her nationality and religion, and given birth to her first child seven months ago.

Her baby daughter, Naila, has been with her during training and is one of the reasons why Ibrahima went back on her decision to retire.

"I’m really happy," said Ibrahima after her comeback performance - and she looked it.

"If I wasn’t happy I wouldn’t even want to come back.

"This is just the start, there is so much hard work to do."

Her life changed when, as Rebeka Koha, she met Moaaz Mohamed Ibrahim, a Qatari international discus thrower who also won a junior world title.

She married, converted to Islam, moved to Qatar, became a mother and gave up on social media, where she had a large global following.

"No Instagram, no Facebook, I hid myself away," she said.

"It’s too much talk… social media can turn bad.

"I cover myself now, for modesty, because that’s what Muslim women do.

"My religion is very important to me.

"Without social media it’s easier for me, no headache, no comments, nothing, it’s better like that.

"The biggest reason I am back is because I want to be - it's not like someone pushed me to go and train.

"The main things that help me are my desire, and of course the support from my husband which has a big impact."

Her family in Latvia have also been supportive, she said.

"I even think deep down inside they were thinking 'what if she comes back?'

"My father was always happy when I was training, lifting weights.

"My mother will always be happy as long as I am happy, no matter what I do. 

"She will always support me."

Ibrahima, who picked up a $3,000 (£2,485/€2,807) prize for her Qatar Cup win, is ready now for a long haul.

She was entered into the international testing pool and will be able to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games if she can get close to her old form.

Her next competition, if all goes to plan, will be an Olympic qualifier, the Asian Championships in Jinju, South Korea in May.

Ibrahima did not watch the IWF World Championships on television, so she missed one of the best weightlifting sessions in recent memory when Alvarez won with her final lift, but the winning total of 234kg did not surprise her.

"I checked the results, but I competed for so long I knew what to expect, what I’ve got to be ready for, what I need to do.

"It’s just hard work - more time and hard work, and it’s possible.

"I’ve been training three and a half months, inshallah all will be okay.

"My husband is working hard at training camps for next season too, preparing for his next competition.

"He is strong, and that is good for me.

"We are like a family team, we support each other and push each other. 

"It’s a benefit, both training at same time."

Although she lives in Doha, Ibrahima will spend most of her time outside the country at training camps "as it always was, always somewhere else".

She trained in Latvia over the past month so she could be with Andruskevics, and is planning to spend several weeks in Turkey for the next training camp, with Estonia another possibility.

Andruskevics, now back in Latvia after coaching the Saudi Arabia national team, is also impressed with the training facilities in Georgia and Uzbekistan, and mentioned Germany too.

"Could I return without Eduard? It would be much, much harder," Ibrahima said.

"He has so much experience, I’ve been working with him for what, ten years? I know how he works, what he will plan, I feel comfortable with him, I know we can reach the results we need."

If training in Germany happened, might she compete in the Bundesliga, as other Latvians do?

"I don’t know about that - maybe if there's a big gap between important competitions but I can’t tell you now, we will see what happens, whether we need some extra competition."

Wherever she trains, Naila will be there.

"There’s really no other option - my family’s working, I have to have her with me.

"For the competition period if it’s maybe a week, I can make that work, find someone to look after my daughter but for a three or four-week training camp I have to take her with me.

"She’s a very good training companion for me, we’re always together, supporting each other.

"My coach can tell you, he’ seen us - it’s not a big problem taking her to training."

Just as an athlete dropped a heavily loaded barbell in the warm-up room, Ibrahima said, "She’s used to all the noises."

Making the weight has not been a struggle for Ibrahima, who weighed in at 58.38kg, only 27g lighter than for her 2019 appearance in Doha.

"This 59 category is best for me, the one where I feel comfortable, and where I know the results I need are achievable - but it will be very difficult."

Is there a plan to improve her total by 10kg by such and such a date, and so on?

"I never talk about that, we just work step by step, gradually put on more weight.

"The first thing is to get up to my old results…getting there is already starting to be challenging but for now I’m just working my way up."

Ibrahima had trouble with her knees before she decided to retire - she made the announcement soon after the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games - and said, "Knees and back - this is a forever thing for me.

"I can do some special exercising, do some treatment or something but it will be a struggle.

"What we do is we lift more than a human really should lift, so it will hurt.

"What is the key? Maybe to have a good warm-up, which I didn’t always do, always be stretched and ready, don’t skip a few weights to get up to the high one immediately.

"Don’t be crazy, be careful."