Archive from 2012

London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to be opened by The Queen

The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) has confirmed that Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, will open the Paralympic Games in the Olympic Stadium on 29 August. With the role of The Queen in the Olympic Opening Ceremony on 27 July already established, Her Majesty, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, will now open both Games. 'Extraordinary pride' LOCOG Chair Seb Coe said: ‘The Paralympic Games will undoubtedly be a time of extraordinary pride for our nation, and it is fitting that Her Majesty will declare us underway.’ London 2012 will mark the first time The Queen has opened a Paralympic Games. In 1976, The Queen opened the Montreal Olympic Games and in 1956, The Duke of Edinburgh (on behalf of The Queen) opened the Melbourne Olympic Games. The 1984 Paralympic Games were officially opened by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. These Games were held in both Europe and North America, with the Opening Ceremony in Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire – the birthplace of the Paralympic Games. International Paralympic Committee President Sir Philip Craven said: ‘I am delighted that Her Majesty The Queen will be opening the Paralympic Games, further underlining the significance and status of these Games not just to the Commonwealth but to the whole

The Turkish Weightlifting Federation successfully started 2012

The first event in 2012 of the Turkish Weightlifting Federation the Youth InterClubs National Championships ended mid-February in the city of Konya, Turkey. 265 male and 80 female weightlifting club lifters joined the competitions held from 16-19 February. Mr Suat Kilic, Minister of Sport as well as the General Director of Sport, the Major of the City and representatives from the municipality attended the competitions and awarded medals and gifts to the winners. The Amateur Sports Clubs Federation of Konya selected the Federation President of the Year and Dr. Hasan Akkus, President of the Turkish Weightlifting Federation as well as Mr. Metin Sahin, President of the Turkish Taekwondo Federation were elected and won the title of President of the Year

My weightlifting family

Moment of the Year by Moira Lassen My most memorable moment of 2011 is not one single moment but rather a memorable reaction to a moment. I had just arrived back home in Ottawa and was recovering from jet lag after twenty-five hours of travel, a two week stint of meetings and acting as President of Jury at the Junior World Championships in Malaysia. I was typing my Jury President's report and the phone rang; it was my Mother to advise me of the devastating news that my Dad had just passed away. I was alone. I didn't understand what she was telling me as my mind still felt like it was at 30,000 feet and what little brain function I did have was focused on weightlifting reports, updates, and committee to-do lists. How could this be, two weeks earlier on the way to the Junior Worlds, I visited my parents in Victoria, BC and everything was fine. The rest of the day is still rather blurry in my memory, although I do know, later that day, after a five hour plane ride I found myself safely in the arms of my family at my parents home; sadly, with the patriarch of the family missing. Very early the next morning, as I sat alone, very sad and very jet lagged, while all others slept, my Blackberry started buzzing. Word was out that I had lost my Dad and I was receiving many heartfelt messages from around the country and all over the world. As I sat alone, that early morning, with tears welling in my eyes, I realized once again, I was safely tucked in the arms of my family; my weightlifting family. My Dad always delighted in the stories my daughter, Jeane and I shared of our weightlifting travels and he and my Mum attended many regional and national competitions including 1999 Pan Am Games and 2003 World Championships. Although, he never participated in the sport, soccer (football) was his game growing up in Scotland; he was a huge supporter of the sport of weightlifting. The sport has lost a very big fan! So my most memorable moment of 2011, although, very sad, felt very comforting with the arms of my weightlifting family around me. Moira

FISU Seminar on World University Championships – Brussels

10-11 February 2012 - Every odd year, in the year of its University World Championships, FISU headquarters organise a practical Seminar for their Technical Committee Chairs in charge of the sports, inviting at the same time the Organising Committees of the 2012 World University Championships. In addition to acquainting the CT Chairs and OCs with the FISU events, structures, World Championships procedures, issues of organisation, protocol, entries, etc. the Seminar offers an excellent networking opportunity for all parties involved. FISU CT Chair for Weightlifting, Mrs. Anikó Németh-Móra and Dr. Shimon Barak, President of the 2012 World University Weightlifting Championships (Eilat, Israel) took part in the Seminar held in Brussels, at the FISU

World Weightlifting’s latest edition is out!

In the 2011/4 edition readers can find a special Report on the ‘London Prepares’ Olympic Test Event as well as an overview of the President’s Cup held in Belgorod, Russia. The magazine features special interviews with Lifters of the Year 2011 and Pyrros Dimas, the “Face” of the IWF Say NO! To Doping” Campaign. You can subscribe to World Weightlifting by contacting the

The strongest Syrian’s medal dream

Ahed Joughili (27) is the most famous Syrian weightlifter, who competed in the 105 kg bodyweight category at the Olympics in 2008. Joughili’s first international success was winning a gold medal at the2006 Asian Games in Doha. He claimed both gold medals for the 105 kg snatch and clean and jerk at the 2009 Mediterranean Games in Pescara. Q: How can a boy become a weightlifter in Syria? A: It is not uncommon in Syria at all, as we have about 15 clubs in the country and relatively a great number of people find this sport interesting to practice. The problem comes from the fact of missing professional coaches and low capacity in administration comparing to developing number of men intend to join groups of weightlifters in Syria. I should say, besides football, wrestling and boxing, weightlifting’s popularity is growing. The village I was born, Hama, is one of the centers of this sport in Syria. Nowadays we have two hundred lifters to practice here day by day. Q: What is your personal story falling in love with barbells? A: I started my weightlifting trainings in 2000. I know at age of 16 it was a little bit late to start but I was really strong and the gap quickly disappeared. After ten months of training I was able to improve my clean and jerk result as 175 kg. Many said I was a talented guy and I believed in them. Five years later I had my first results on international podium as well. I won a silver medal (clean and jerk), bronze (snatch) at the Mediterranean Games. His coach Dimitar Stoikov (BUL) has been working in Syria since 2010. He had very famous lifters under his leadership, such as Sevdalin Marinov, Asen Zlatev for four, Milan Dobrev for two years. “We started to work together with Ahed 16 months ago” he said. “I think this guy is extremely strong and I am sure if he started his training sessions in one of the traditionally powerful countries of weightlifting, let me put in Russia or China, he already could have been an Olympic Champion. He has a very good body construction, physically strong and under professional training he has a lot of reserve to develop.” Q: What is your motivation for the London Olympics? A: First of all I must grab the chance to enter the Games. I suppose due to my rapid recent progress; my 12th position achieved in Beijing will not be difficult to surpass. In 2008 As I remember at that time I was very nervous and as a result I had only one successful attempt in snatch and one, namely the very last one, in clean and jerk. I wish those nerve-racking moments never return. Our minimum aim for London is to be ranked among the best six, but the final dream is a podium position occupied. Q: What support can you expect from your family? A: My father is close to 70 but still works as a farmer everyday. He wants me to stop training and help him with his job. He wants even to pay me more than I can earn as a lifter. We have a big family with ten children, six boys and four girls. I myself have two daughters. The first one is called Pescara to remember my first victory at the Mediterranean Games in Pescara in 2009. She was born at that time. Our other daughter is five months old. Lucky she was not born during the time of the London Games. Q: How did you respond to your father? Will you stop training if your dream, to win a medal, will come true? A: No I am not ready yet to stop weightlifting. I am still hungry for further