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Ceremony to remember Imre Földi

Legendary Hungarian weightlifter, Imre Földi's new tombstone was revealed in the Tatabanya graveyard, Hungary, in presence of local dignities this Wednesday. Mr Földi was the most successful Hungarian weightlifter of all times, and the first weightlifter in the world to participate in five Olympic Games (1960-1976), winning silver medals in 1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico before finally arriving at the peak of his career at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games where he became the Olympic champion. He had several World and European Championship titles and set 35 world records Mr Földi was introduced in the IWF Hall of Fame in 1993 and also became one of Hungary’s exclusive society of only 10 Sportsmen of the Nation. He was also successful as a coach of his daughter, Csilla Földi who collected 16 European Championships gold medals. At the ceremony dedicated to his memory, Krisztian Kulcsar, President of the Hungarian Olympic Committee held a speech and wished good luck to young Hungarian weightlifters to follow the footsteps of the legend and to qualify for Tokyo 2020. His daughter and family were remembering him together with athletes and officials from the Hungarian sports scene and members of the IWF Secretariat.

Korea to host University Worlds – Technical visit to Gangjin

FISU Technical Committee Chair for Weightlifting Anikó Németh-Móra and FISU Director-General Paulo Ferreira made a visit to Gangjin, Korea, the city to host the next World University Weightlifting Championships in 2020. A small city but well equipped with sports facilities, Gangjin, a traditional domestic tourist destination in the South of the country wishes to elevate itself to a higher rank and is eager to achieve international fame through the organisation of this important world competition. They are fully committed to the task and will receive great professional and technical assistance from the Korean Weightlifting Federation. The 6th FISU WUC in Gangjin, Korea, will run 20-24 October 2020. FISU has already opened the online

Family members of Paul Anderson visited Moscow⁩

Last weekend, on August 24, 2019, the Russian Weightlifting Federation, together with the Regional Moscow Weightlifting Federation, organized an excursion to Gorky Park for members of Paul Anderson's family (Glenda Anderson, Paul’s widow and Stephen Leonard, now Glenda's husband. Paula Anderson Schaefer, Paul’s daughter, and her husband Edward Schaefer). Guests from the USA met with eyewitnesses of that match meeting of the USSR-USA of 1955. The meeting was held in a warm and family atmosphere. There were two grandsons of one of the most medaled Russian weightlifters ever who told that their grandfather told them many times over that Paul was his idol and had motivated him to strive to be the best weightlifter he could be. He became a world and Olympic champion. This athlete was Alexei Medvedev, who was Paul's rival that night in 1955. Today it brought tears to Paula’s and Glenda’s eyes to see this sight and imagine that night so long ago. Glenda was then interviewed and asked questions by the large group of members, over 20 + support staff. The group of members were fascinating men of all ages. Members of Paul Anderson's family expressed such words about the meeting: "Absolutely fascinating and extremely warm and kind! They were retired lifters, coaches, administrators of the Russian team. Again, this is THE sport in Russia. It was a magnificent day all around. They feted us like royalty. It was hard to leave them. We are so thankful for Randy Strossen connecting us to them. He brought about the celebration which we enjoyed today". During the meeting, everyone supported the idea of holding a USA-Russia match meeting again, but now in the

Olympic Solidarity course in Timor Leste

An Olympic Solidarity course was held in Dili, Timor Leste 5-10 August. IWF Coaching and Research Committee Member, Aveenash Pandoo was the lecturer of the Level 1 course, dedicated to beginners. 25 coaches, 22 men and 3 women attended. “The coaches present were mostly former athletes and were involved in some sort of weight training before, displayed a fair level on the technical aspect of the sport of Weightlifting, but the Theoretical and Education aspect of the sport was seriously lacking.” “The Coaches were tested every morning about the previous day lectures, and I must say it was of a satisfactory standard.” “In the end I was glad that they had a better understanding of the sport, more scientific base and develop a new paradigm shift as they move forward.” “Among the coaches in the group there were a few that were earmarked for a possible furthering of their studies in coaching and could use the IWF Development Program to do so,” said Mr Pandoo. The topics included modules of IWF official coaching manual level 1, coaching principles and roles of the coach, technical determination for Snatch and Clean and Jerk with explanatory videos, periodisation, nutrition and IWF Anti-Doping program. “I would like to thank the Weightlifting Federation of Timor Leste and the NOC for their support during the course despite the limited resources. They were very welcoming and showed willingness to learn.” “A good basic was laid at the course and there are a lot of talent among the coaches that need to be developed and further polished,” added Mr

Happy Birthday Mike Irani!

Dr Michael Irani, Chairman of the IWF Medical Committee and Executive Board Member celebrated his 70th Birthday this weekend. Dr Irani is holding positions at the IWF since 1992 and always serves unselfishly at the events as a doctor on duty, despite being a busy doctor of his own practice and supporting British Weightlifting for many years. The IWF and the Weightlifting Family wishes him many more successful

PUBLIC DISCLOSURE

IWF reports that the sample of Mr. Mohammad HOSSEINI (IRI) has returned an Adverse Analytical Finding for Oxymetholone metabolites (S1.1A Exogenous AAS). As a consequence, the Athlete is provisionally suspended in view of a potential anti-doping rule violation. In any case where it is determined that the Athlete did not commit an anti-doping rule violation, the relevant decision will also be published. IWF will not make any further comments on the case until it is