IOC gives eligibility to lifters changing citizenship
The IOC has given its approval to two ex-Cameroon weightlifters, Daniel Koum Koum and Simplice Ribouem to participate for their new country, Australia – if selected to the Olympic team. Both lifters stayed in Australia after the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
Another lifter whose new NOC adherence has been approved by the International Olympic Committe, however, enters the Beijing Games with medal hopes. This is Matthias Steiner, who took part in the 2004 Athens Games as an Austrian, but has since turned a German citizen. Representing Germany, he has already won the Good Luck Beijing Olympic Test Event and the snatch event at the 2008 European Championships.
