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Alberto Miglietta succeeds Antonio Urso at the helm of the Italian Federation

Alberto Miglietta is the new President of the Italian Weightlifting Federation (FIPE), after the electoral assembly held this weekend in Rome (ITA). Mr Miglietta was chosen with 99.68% of favourable votes from the delegates and succeeds Antonio Urso in the leadership of the Italian national body. Mr Urso, also the IWF General Secretary, was at the helm of his country’s Federation since 2005 and had the opportunity to celebrate the successes of the Italian lifters during a show held on the evening preceding the elections. Alberto Miglietta, the new President of the Italian Weightlifting Federation “It is with great satisfaction that I take this task – to represent at the highest level the Italian weightlifting family. In the last months, I have extensively been in contact with this community and I could fine tune my priorities and my project to drive our federation into an even brighter future,” declared Mr Miglietta after his election. “The FIPE has immensely evolved in terms of technical results, but I want to reinforce the work in terms of grassroots and promotion,” also considered the new President. Antonio Urso, FIPE President from 2005 to 2024 Before stepping down from the presidency, Mr Urso was the protagonist of a concert, gathering many of his friends, not only from the sports movement, but also from his professional background in the national police. Notable was the presence of the two Italian IOC members in the ceremony: Giovanni Malagò, President of the Italian Olympic Committee, and Ivo Ferriani. From the IWF sphere, Antonio Conflitti, President of the European Weightlifting Federation and member of the IWF Executive Board, was also among the guests. Nino Pizzolato, bronze medallist at the recent Paris 2024 Olympic Games, joined the celebratory evening as well. Antonio Urso on the stage Himself also a musician (he is the author of the IWF anthem, approved at the beginning of the year), Mr Urso offered this illustrious audience a two-hour show, playing and performing songs that somehow illustrated his trajectory. “I came here to express my recognition, from the bottom of my heart, to a great man, and a leader who did a lot for the Italian sport and of course for Italian weightlifting. But I had no idea that I would also discover a real showman! This is unmatched in the history of our sports leaders! Thank you so much for this amazing performance!” confessed Mr Malagò. Giovanni Malagò, Antonio Urso and Ivo Ferriani, at the end of the two-hour show An emotive Antonio Urso reflected on those 20 years leading the sport in Italy: “In life, what has a beginning has also an end. This is the end of this chapter for me, but what a road it was! I leave the FIPE proud and happy, as I think I brought humanity to this Federation. We care about the athletes, their challenges, their career evolution…” “The most important thing in life is to meet other people and open new horizons and worlds with them. This is what we did for these 20 years. I met a lot of wonderful people and I am so happy to say that with all of them we built really nice projects!” concluded Mr Urso. Antonio Urso and Nino Pizzolato A nice tribute also came from Nino Pizzolato. “Everything we do in life, we must do it with the heart. Only like that can we win. Antonio Urso operated a true revolution in the sport, always working with a convincing team spirit. Alone, even if our sport is an individual one, we cannot succeed – that is the main heritage of the successful 20 years of Antonio Urso in the leadership of our Federation,” considered the Italian star. IWF Communications

One-year-to-go countdown to the 2025 IWF World Championships in Forde (NOR)

The Norwegian city of Forde, host of the 2025 IWF World Championships, will organise this Saturday (October 12), an exciting one-year-to-go event, featuring both local and international weightlifting stars. The lineup in the women’s field includes Norway’s historical Olympic gold medallist Solfrid Koanda competing with the Olympic gold and silver medallist Maude Charron from Canada, as well as Norwegian European champions Ine Andersson and Sol Anette Waaler. Olympic champion Solfrid Koanda “testing” the platform in Forde Among men, the competition is also fierce: it comprises the European U23 medallists Ragnar Holme from Norway and Roberto Gutu from Germany, but also Adrian Helleli and the young, talented local star Marius Alvolai Royseth. Olympic gold and silver medallist Maude Charron (CAN) with Stian Grimseth, President of the Norwegian Weightlifting Federation This event is a crucial step on the road to the IWF World Championships in October 2025. The lifters will compete in a round system and taking into consideration the Sinclair points system.  Solfrid Koanda (right) with the Mayor of Forde Jenny Folling (centre) and multiple medal winner at Europeans and Worlds in powerlifting Fredrik Myrvang (left) Great lifts, records on the line, and a thrilling atmosphere is expected in Forde, as athletes aim to qualify for the global stage. The lifters will also do different promotion activities for the region and the 2025 IWF World Championships. Follow the competition live from 5pm CET on: https://www.direktesport.no/sport/oevrig-sport/vektloefting/poeve-vm-i-vektloefting-2017644.html IWF Communications

Leon 2024: highest-ever rate of pre-competition tests on participating athletes!

The 2024 IWF World Junior Championships, held from September 19-27 in Leon (ESP), produced great performances on a sport level, but registered another very significant milestone: it was the IWF event with the highest proportion of athletes tested before its start. Out of the 327 lifters attending the competition, 280 (85.6%) underwent at least one out-of competition test in the six months preceding the beginning of the event. As a comparison, for the 2023 IWF World Junior Championships, staged in Guadalajara (MEX) last November, 30.1% of the participating athletes had been tested during the same period. These unprecedented numbers are mainly due to the new Categorisation Rule, in place since January 2024. Under these new regulations, proposed by the International Testing Agency (ITA) and supported by the IWF Anti-Doping Commission, the IWF’s Member Federations are categorised based on the doping risk to the sport and are required to fulfil specific anti-doping requirements.  Category 'A' and 'B' Member Federations are required to ensure all athletes competing in the IWF World Junior Championships, IWF World Senior Championships, and Olympic Games, known as "Selected Events" are tested and educated in line with IWF’s updated Anti-Doping Rules. This includes a minimum of out-of competition tests prior to these competitions. In detail, and before the start of the Spanish rendezvous in Leon, 147 (out of 171- 86%) male athletes were tested, and 133 (out of 156 – 85.3%) female lifters also underwent doping controls. “These very significant numbers show our full commitment, in close partnership with the ITA, to ensure the IWF events are fair and clean competitions. The new categorisation rule, enforced since the beginning of this year, is one more tool in this essential fight, as it represents an additional responsibility for our National Member Federations. It is clear that everyone is abiding by these rules – and this is even more important considering the young age of the athletes taking part ai the IWF World Junior Championships,” considered the IWF President Mohammed Jalood. IWF

2024 IWF Ordinary Congress: all info sent to National Federations

The IWF National Federations have received on 3 October 2024 all the necessary information concerning the IWF Ordinary Congress to be held in Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel in Manama, BRN on 4 December 2024. On the Invitation that was sent to our 194 Members, it was namely written: Due to exceptional circumstances, it is expected that some Member Federations (MFs) might be prevented from travelling to Bahrain. To ensure that all MFs – even the ones with no physical presence – receive an equal opportunity to participate in the Congress, IWF will provide a connection link in due time, to the MFs not able to join the Congress in person. Member Federations using such opportunity shall do so at their own risks and the IWF shall not be liable for any claim resulting from any possible technical failures which will be deemed as a consequence of the Member Federation’s own decision to attend the Congress online based on the relevant circumstances. Membership Fees or Other Amounts Due   MFs must make sure that any outstanding fees are paid in full. As per previous info on 25 January 2024, in accordance with Article 11.3 in combination with 9.1(a)(v) of the IWF Constitution, a Member Federation’s right to enter athletes in International Competitions will be automatically suspended if payment is not made in full. AgendaThe Agenda for the 2024 IWF Congress can be downloaded from here. MFs can download the documents relevant to item 4 on the Agenda regarding the Constitution amendments by clicking on the links below: Constitution Draft Comparison Table of Changes Member Federation Proposal Registration to the Congress  Registration to the 2024 IWF Congress can be made at the following link in the IWF E-entry system: mf.iwf.sport MFs must upload their official appointment letter, which can be downloaded in word format from here. IWF accepts only this document, which shall be filled in, signed and stamped by the respective Federation. No other document will be accepted by IWF The deadline to register in the E-entry System for the Congress and upload the official appointment letter is 29 November 2024. However, MFs are kindly requested to make their registration for the Congress ASAP and duly inform the Local Organising Committee at [email protected]  to complete their visa procedures in time ensuring their entry to Bahrain. Travel expenses and accommodation costs of Congress delegates shall be borne by the delegates. MFs must send their arrival-departure information and their hotel booking to the Local Organising Committee ([email protected] ) as soon as possible to ensure accommodation for their respective delegate. The Accommodation & Transportation Form can be downloaded from here. VisaThose coming from countries that require a Visa to enter Bahrain, please contact the Local Organising Committee ([email protected]) urgently by sending the Visa Application Form filled in, that can be downloaded from here. Contact details of the Local Organising Committee:Bahrain Weightlifting Federation / Local Organising CommitteeCommittee Building 21, Road 3501, Block 335 UM ALHUSSAM – Kingdom of BahrainPhone & WhatsApp: +973 3330 2392 & +973 3332 2977E-Mail: [email protected]  & [email protected]  

León Review: Rizki and Olivia Reeves did it last time, now the stars of 2024 World Juniors are ready to shine

Before the 2024 Championships ended in León, Spain last week, the last time a World Junior Championships was held in an Olympic year was in 2021 in Tashkent. Among the winners in the Uzbekistan capital were the Paris 2024 Olympic champions Rizki Juniansyah from Indonesia and Olivia Reeves from the United States. Few people outside their own country had heard of them at the time. Other future Olympians won junior world titles three years ago – Sergio Massidda from Italy, Muhammed Furkan Ozbek from Turkey, Garik Karapetyan from Armenia and Kamila Konotop from Ukraine all lifted in Paris, and Hristo Hristov from Bulgaria competed at the delayed 2020 Games in Tokyo a few months after becoming junior world champion. Shahzadbek Matyakubov (TKM) Among those who won silver or bronze in Tashkent were Mihaela Cambei from Romania, Nina Sterckx from Belgium and Yekta Jamali, then lifting for Iran and now a medal-winning member of the Weightlifting Refugee Team. They competed in Paris too, where Cambei won a silver medal. During the three years between winning in Tashkent and competing in Paris, those 2021 junior world champions trained harder, got stronger and improved their best competitive totals by huge amounts. The biggest female improver was Reeves, up 39kg, while Karapetyan did best of the men, up 46kg. The stars from León have four years rather than three before the next Olympics. While they may be “unknown” as of now, you may well hear much more about them in the coming years. Some of the best juniors did not win. Remarkably, the IWF’s “best lifter” rankings, based on Robi points, featured three silver medallists in the men’s top six. In the best competition of the Championships, the men’s 102kg, winner Shahzadbek Matyakubov from Turkmenistan and runner-up Matheus Pessanha from Brazil both broke world records. Shahzadbek, ranked best individual in León, will go for more world records at the senior World Championships in Bahrain in December. Kwon Dae Hee (KOR) Kwon Dae Hee from Korea, ranked second, was within 8kg of Karlos Nasar’s clean and jerk junior record when he made his final attempt at 200kg. That was at 81kg, and nobody in the 89kg or 96kg sessions matched it. Four men from the 81kg contest were ranked in the top nine. There was no doubt about the best individual female – 55kg junior world record breaker Chen Guan-Ling, who is also the senior world champion. Chen had four junior world records in outperforming her senior gold medal total by 14kg. Ingrid Segura (COL) The 64kg and 71kg champions, Ingrid Segura from Colombia and Charlotte Simoneau from Canada, were ranked second and third. United States filled positions four, five and six in the individual rankings – Ella Nicholson, Katie Estep and Miranda Ulrey – and topped the team medals table for the second straight year. Their top-rated male was Hampton Morris, who won a medal in Paris and holds a senior world record. American team-building for their “home" Olympics in 2028 is clearly going very well. Chen Guan-Ling (TPE) Even though China and North Korea, the world’s strongest weightlifting nations, did not send teams to Spain, the standard of lifting was very high. There was an exceptional performance at the concurrent Commonwealth Championships in Fiji, too. Femily Notte from the remote Pacific island of Nauru, who was second in this year’s World Youth Championships in Lima, Peru, swept the youth, junior and senior titles at 64kg with a 220kg total at the age of 15 years four months. That is better than the current European, African and Pan American youth records, and within 13kg of the world youth record set by Pei Xinyi from China when she was two and a half years older. By Brian

León, Day 9: Sarria widens medal spread with gold for Cuba – and Love claims Canada’s first world record in 70 years

The 2024 World Junior Championships ended with super-heavyweight victories for Cuba in the women and Korea in the men, and a first world record for Canada since the 1950s. Marifelix Sarria became Cuba’s first ever junior world champion when she made all six lifts for a wide-margin success. Sarria, 20 last month, improved her best total by 20kg in making 115-155-270. Cuba became the 14th team to win a title. Like last year, United States topped the final medals table, which once more included a wide spread of nations. Marifelix Sarria (CUB)  Of the 62 teams taking part in León, Spain – 60 nations plus the Individual Neutral Athletes from Belarus and the Weightlifting Refugee Team – 34 won at least one medal on the extended table featuring snatch, clean and jerk and total. The latest additions on the final day were Cuba, New Zealand and Poland. That means medals have been won by more than half of the competing teams at all four Youth and Junior World Championships in the past two years. “I can’t think of any other Olympic sport that can match that spread of medals,” said Craig Walker, president of the Canadian Federation who was among the medal presenters today. The same point was made by Simon Kent, president of the New Zealand Federation. “The sport is obviously cleaning up, and that favours us,” he said. “Things are changing.” Etta Love (CAN) Canada was on the podium for a second time this week when Etta Love finished second to Sarria. Love, the 17-year-old youth world champion, claimed the clean and jerk youth world record from the Olympic medallist Park Hyejeong when she made her final attempt on 146kg. Love was close to taking all three youth world records. She failed once, on 111kg when going for the snatch record, and finished 108-146-254. That was up 11kg on her winning Youths total in May, and was 1kg short of the youth record on total. “I’ll try again for the other two at the senior Worlds in Bahrain in December,” said Love, who had a lot of support in the audience from her parents, brothers, grandparents and a cousin who lives in Spain. Love has improved her best total by 44kg since her debut two and a half years ago and is aware that she will have to add another 50kg to be competitive in the seniors. “I love this sport, I feel a deep connection with it,” she said. “I know the numbers I need can be scary, but they’re scary and doable at the same time. “I’m confident I will continue to improve but I don’t know what my limit is, or how long I’ll have that connection with the bar. The barbell makes me feel alive. I want to go to the (2028) Olympics and continue for as long as that connection remains.” Canada’s last world record holder was Doug Hepburn in the old clean and press discipline in the early 1950s. Taiane Justino (BRA) Brazil had its second medallist in two days when Taiane Justino finished third on 110-141-241. Yairan Tysforod from Colombia won bronze in snatch on 110kg. In the men’s contest Jiyong Nam moved from fourth at halfway to top of the podium. The 19-year-old Korean came out after everybody else had finished in clean and jerk, needing 223kg for victory. He did it with a lift to spare, which he declined. Jiyong Nam (KOR) Robert Kurouski, the Individual Neutral Athlete from Belarus, made 170-212-382 in second place, and Ashot Movsisyan from Armenia was third on 158-208-366. Robert Kurouski (AIN) Szymon Ziolkowski from Poland and Numi Tepololo took silver and bronze in snatch on 170kg and 161kg. Tepololo, his country’s first male medallist at a World Championships in any age group, celebrated by performing the haka on the platform after the medal ceremony, as his team-mates joined in from the spectator area. Irakli Vekua from Georgia, twice a youth world champion, passed the 200kg mark for the first time in competition, aged 17. He made 157-201-358 in fifth place. Ashot Movsisyan (ARM) Ali Ammar Yusur will have been watching with interest in Iraq. The 20-year-old, who has snatched 200kg and totalled 427kg at the IWF World Cup in April, was hoping to be in Spain to win gold but instead he has stayed at home to train and put on weight in preparation for Bahrain. By Brian