Archive from 2012

ORIS homologation in London

Róbert Nagy, IWF Technology Director and Attila Ádámfi, IWF Competition Director paid an official visit to London in order to proceed to the homologation testing of the Olympic Results & Information Services (ORIS). The delegation met Matthew Curtain, LOCOG Weightlifting Manager and his Team from Organizing Committee as well as representatives of the IOC ORIS Team. Omega is the official timing - scoring results provider so their technology is compulsory to run weightlifting competition at London 2012. The IWF delegation and the ORIS team has successfully homologated the OMEGA system and so the technology is ready to welcome weightlifters in ExCeL during the Olympic

Oceania Championships – date modification

The 2012 Oceania Championships - Continental Olympic Qualification Event & Commonwealth Championships has been postponed due to collision of the Olympic Qualification dates. The new date for the competition to be held in Apia, Samoa is 4 - 9 June. Coordinated with the IOC, the Timelines of the Qualification System was amended accordingly. You can find the updated 2012 London Olympic Games Weightlifting Qualification System on the IWF

Moldova: a turbulent year and the promises of youth

Memorable Moment by Natalia Donets In 2011 the admirers of Moldovan weightlifting could see extraordinary achievements, visible progress and unexplainable traumas; although it would be hard to pick one moment to stand out above all others, it’s certain 2011 was remarkably unlike the other pre-Olympic qualification runs that Moldovan weightlifters have experienced to date. Hopes for the year were high after the European Championship in Kazan. Oleg Sirghi returned home with two gold medals in clean and jerk (56 kg), Anatolie Ciricu became the overall silver medalist (94 kg), while Ghenadie Dudoglo scooped a bronze in snatch (56 kg)… 2011 also gave another proof that Moldovan weightlifting has a promising new generation of athletes to support and encourage. The names of the likes of Cristina Iovu, Artiom Pipa, Iurie Dudoglo, Gheorghe Cernei and others are likely to be heard of for a long while yet. The European Junior and U-23 championship gave a full proof to that, when Moldovan weightlifters returned home from Bucharest with a record-breaking 15 medals: 8 gold, 6 silvers and one bronze. For the first time ever the Moldovan team occupied the second spot in the Championship rankings. The run-up to the junior’s was emotional. This year, just once have the young Moldovan weightlifters stopped a mere step away from the podium. Cristina Iovu, forerunner of Moldovan female weightlifting and a hopeful to reach the London Olympics, was the fourth at the U-20 World Championships. Iovu, Artem Pipa and Gheorghe Cernei became the fourth at the Shenzhen University Games… In dire training conditions, when the halls are out of order and there are not enough modern weights for every athlete, the progress of each athlete is an amazing effort in itself. The London Olympics are just around the corner, yet thus far Moldova does not have any secured weightlifting quotas. The performance of the Moldovan team at the Paris World Championship became a discouraging continuation for the winning series and a disappointment for the national Federation and the sporting community of Moldova. Four weightlifters were injured, no female quotas earned and the best result of the team was 8th place earned by Anatolie Ciricu. Four quotas earned at the 2010 World Championship were not confirmed, thus making this year’s Championship in Antalya decisive for the fate of Moldovan Olympic hopefuls. Hopefully, 2012 will be the year of correcting mistakes and shortcomings. Natalia Donets AIPS young

WADA CoachTrue Anti-Doping education program

CoachTrue is a computer-based, anti-doping learning tool aimed at sports coaches of elite and recreational athletes worldwide, and WADA has closely monitored its uptake since it was first introduced two years ago. WADA’s Education Department has contacted all stakeholders and provided feedback on the continuing success of its award-winning electronic CoachTrue program. National Anti-Doping Organizations, Regional Anti-Doping Organizations and International Federations – including the umbrella organizations – were given a report based on their respective sport, or an overall report for sports within their particular country. “We have been delighted with the success of CoachTrue to date, and our records show that 1,302 coaches have so far used the tool,” said WADA Director of Education and Program Development, Rob Koehler. “These coaches come from 141 countries and from 70 different sports, which goes to show how popular it has been across the world, and how it meets the needs of coaches from all sports. “WADA will continue to promote CoachTrue so that stakeholders continue to encourage their coaches to enroll. In the absence of face-to-face training programs, CoachTrue is the next best thing.” CoachTrue won awards from the International E-Learning Association and the International Academy of Visual Arts, and is based on five elements: pre-test, tutorials, scenario-based activities, ‘Who Wants to Play True’, and post test and certification. It covers a wide range of anti-doping activities and topics in order to cater to the various learning styles and demanding schedule of coaches. It also has separate platforms for elite-level coaches and coaches at the recreational level. Click here to access Coach

European Weightlifting Federation Elections

The IWF aims to continue its work in strong and close cooperation with its Continental Federations. European countries highly contributes to the success of weightlifting sport at international level; therefore the European Weightlifting Federation elections will undoubtedly be in the center of attention in the upcoming period. The EWF elections will be held in April in Antalya, Turkey and we wish to inform our stakeholders about the list of candidates downloadable from the following link: [download id="31516"]. The IWF would like to wish a lot of success to all candidates, and truly hope that with the elections, the shared interests and efforts of both the IWF and EWF will lead to strengthen the efficiency of cooperation and unity within the Weightlifting

IOC Activity Report on Anti-Doping

On 17 February, the IOC announced that new analyses carried out on the doping samples collected at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin to detect the presence of Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator (CERA) had come back negative. In addition, all tests carried out at the Winter YOG in Innsbruck were also negative. Over 300 urine and blood samples were analysed by WADA-accredited laboratory in Seibersdorf (Austria). The World Anti-Doping Agency recently launched a “Say NO! To Doping” video clip as the latest element in its awareness campaign. This campaign underlines the fundamental messages of sport: courage, respect, effort and to accept challenges. To date, 16 organisations throughout the world have accepted this campaign, including the UK Anti-Doping Agency and