IWF PRESS CONFERENCE – RECORDS ALREADY BROKEN Video with the IWF President
Dr. Tamas Ajan IWF President announced 715 lifters out of 101 countries will participate in Paris at the Olympic Qualification World Championships. 265 women from 65 countries will compete on stage at Disneyland for the 22nd edition for Women World Championships. In Antalya we had 203 lifters of 50 countries. The previous records are 231 athletes of 53 countries.
Among men there are 450 lifters to compete representing 92 nations. These numbers tower above previous records: 395 athletes of 79 countries (in Antalya there were 312 lifters from 63 countries).
Attila Adamfi IWF Competiton Director said the most popular categories are women 53 kg (51 participants), men 94 kg (63 participants). Out of the 15 Antalya World Champions there are 8 lifters to defend their titles.
Jean Paul Bulgaridhes President of the World Championships Organizing Committee and French Weightlifting Federation told it is the fifth time for France to host world championships (1937, 1946, 1950 Paris, 1981 Lille).
“The motto of our work is to approach excellence. We must prepare the best possible conditions for the lifters to fight for their Olympic participation as Paris WWC is the second main Qualification Event for the London Olympic Games. I hope they will enjoy the circumstances we guarantee at Disneyland. There was no sense orgaznizing this event in Bercy as weightlifting is not similar size like judo or tennis in France. We open the nine competiton-day World Championships on 4th November. We expect 1200 participants to enjoy this great event in our Dome of 1400 visitors’ capacity. “Originality and Magic” are the catchwords of the 2011 World Championships. This is the first time we organize a sport event at Disneyland. Their staff is very enthusiastic about the championship and as far as I think many other sport federations will follow us to cooperate with them” – he said.
Anikó Németh Móra, Director of IWF explained all the WWC facilities will be provided in one compact venue: the hotels for all participants, the competition venue, meetings and training hall are all within a small circle at the Disneyland Village. The 2011 WWC is easily accessible: 30 minutes from Paris by car (32 km) or by local train (RER). She announced the World Championships starts with IWF Meetings and Congress: 2-4 November 2011.
