Weightlifting Is READY STEADY TOKYO!
The test event – also serving as a Silver Level Qualification event – for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games weightlifting competition begins this weekend at the Tokyo International Forum.
The training hall, situated in the basement of the building, features an elevated glass walkway for fans to watch their favourite athletes train prior to their moment on the Olympic stage.
The competitions will provide management and operational staff in Tokyo with invaluable experience at the same venue that will be used next year, helping ensure that the Tokyo 2020 events are of the very highest standards.
READY STEADY TOKYO – Weightlifting is the first test event to involve the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is organising the event alongside the Japan Weightlifting Association, together with the support of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF).
73 athletes from ten countries across three continents are confirmed entrants, with a Japan-China-Korea friendship tournament at the heart of the event. This approach to test events follows the guidelines established by the International Olympic Committee’s Agenda 2020, which encourages organising smaller international tournaments in order to provide an effective technical test, while also providing cost savings.
Taking place in the Tokyo International Forum, an established convention and art centre, the weightlifting competitions of Tokyo 2020 are also demonstrating how they can be hosted in an existing multipurpose venue, further easing pressures on organisers.
“The IWF is very proud to have weightlifting become the first sport to feature in the READY STEADY TOKYO series,” said IWF President Tamas Ajan. “The preparations for the Tokyo 2020 weightlifting competitions have given us every reason to expect that this will be an outstanding Olympic Games for our sport and its leading athletes.”
Olympic and World Champions, medallists and world record holders are among a star-studded field, which includes Hirome MIYAKE (JPN) and Xiaojun LYU (CHN). A particularly gripping contest is expected in the women’s +87KG category, featuring IWF World Champion and World Record holder Tatiana KASHIRINA (RUS), Snatch World Record holder Wenwen LI (CHN) and Rio 2016 Olympic Champion Suping MENG (CHN).
As weightlifters around the world aim to secure places at Tokyo 2020, they are part of an innovative and widely-praised Olympic Qualifying System that sees countries with a proven history of clean sport rewarded with the highest number of athlete quota places.
