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XVI Pacific Games

The weightlifting sessions will be ongoing from 9 to 14 July in Apia, Samoa at the biggest Pacific Games in history. Prior to the competition, Oceania Weightlifting Federation held its annual Congress with the participation of 19 Member Federations, where the 2020 Oceania Championships was awarded to Nauru. The Games were declared open at the 7th of July with a three-hour celebration of Samoan culture at the Apia Park, where more than 5000 athletes and team officials marched. As the highlight of the ceremony Ele Opeloge, legendary Samoan weightlifter, only Olympic Silver medallist of the country lit up the Olympic light. In relation to the Pacific Games, the Oceania Championships (Gold Level) and the Commonwealth Championships (Silver Level) and Qualification event on the road to Tokyo 2020 are held simultaneously. All combined, representatives of 26 countries arrived in Apia, 109 women and 105 men, rounding up the weightlifter headcount on the island of Samoa to 214. The Pacific Games can be followed directly from the iwf.net here, while you can check the schedules at the official website of the Games here. Start

Tokyo Ready for Olympic Games as Test Event Wraps Up

By Kevin Farley The first day of competition of READY STEADY TOKYO 2020 Olympic Games Test Event produced high drama and new world records as dozens of athletes lifted on the same stage where next year’s Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo, Japan.   In the day’s first session, HOU Zhihui (CHN) set a new world record in snatch in the women’s 49kg bodyweight category, with a 95kg lift. HOU, the silver medalist at the 2018 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Ashgabat, TKM previously held the record of 94kg with a lift she made at the IWF World Cup in Fuzhou, CHN in February. HOU won the event with a 205kg total. JIANG Huihua (CHN) won silver in the women’s 49kg bodyweight category with a 204kg total. TAKAHASHI Ibuki (JPN) took home host nation’s first medal of the Test Event with a bronze in the total with 171kg. LIAO Quiyun (CHN) took the crown in the women’s 55kg category with a 218kg total. HAM Eunji (KOR) won her nation’s first medal of the test event with a 183kg total, for silver, while YAGI Kanae (JPN) took home bronze with a 193kg total. In the men’s 61kg session, QIN Fulin (CHN) won gold with a 305kg total with teammate LI Fabin (CHN) 4kg behind for silver with 301kg. HIRAI Hayato was Japan’s first male medalist with a 270kg total for bronze. HUANG Minhao (CHN) set a new world record in the men’s 67kg snatch with a 155kg lift. Combined with a 173kg clean & jerk, he won gold with a 328kg total. LEE Chango (KOR) took home silver with 295kg and ITOKAZU Yoichi (JPN) won bronze with a 294kg total. 2018 World Champion CHEN Lijun (CHN) did not record a snatch, but did post a 180kg clean & jerk. In the afternoon’s first session, CHEN Guiming (CHN) won the women’s 59kg session posting a 229kg total. ADOH Mikiko (JPN) won silver with a 220kg total and KIM Sohwa (KOR) took bronze with a 204kg total. In the women’s 64kg bodyweight category, 2018 World Champion DENG Wei (CHN) continued her dominance, posting a 248kg total for gold. Silver medalist, HAN Sojin (KOR) finished 31kg behind with a 217kg total. KIM Yera (KOR) also finished with a 217kg total for bronze. Japan claimed its first gold medal of the event in the women’s 71kg bodyweight category. ISHII Miku (JPN) swept gold with a 96kg snatch, 115kg clean & jerk and 211kg total. She was the sole athlete in this bodyweight category. 2018 World Champion ZHANG Wangli (CHN) picked up gold in the women’s 76kg bodyweight category with a 270kg total. KIM Suhyeon (KOR) took silver with a 242kg total and teammate MUN Minhee (KOR) went home with bronze with a 228kg total. Korea swept the podium in the women’s 81kg bodyweight category, as only two athletes battled for gold. KANG Yonhee (KOR) came out on top with a 220kg total with teammate LEE Jieun taking silver with a 207kg total. In the men’s 73kg bodyweight category, 2018 World Champion SHI Zhiyong (CHN) won gold with a 345kg total. MIYAMOTO Masanori (JPN) took home silver with 341kg while YUAN Chengfei (CHN) took bronze with a 337kg total. A spirited 81kg competition ended with 2018 World Championships bronze medalist LI Dayin (CHN) taking gold with a 365kg total. 2018 World Champion LYU Xiaojun (CHN) claimed silver with a 350kg total with KIM Woojae (KOR) earning bronze with a 330kg total. Team China claimed more world records as the event concluded Sunday in Japan’s capital city. In the men’s 96kg category, TIAN Tao (CHN), the silver medalist at the 2018 World Weightlifting Championships, took home gold and set a new world record in clean & jerk with a 231kg lift. It was previously held by 2018 World Champion MORADI Sohrab (IRI). HAN Junghoon (KOR) claimed silver with a 343kg total. JIN Yunseong (KOR) was crowned champion with a 386kg total, the only competitor in the men’s 102kg bodyweight category. The men’s 109kg category featured the first athletes from countries beyond the Japan-China-Korea Friendship cup. But it was 2018 World Weightlifting Championships silver medalist YANG Zhe (CHN) who took gold, with a 406kg total. YANG attempted, but just missed setting the world record in the snatch, missing his 197kg final attempt. BOCHIKOV Rodion (RUS) claimed silver with a 388kg total while SEO Huiyeop (KOR) was the bronze medalist with a 386kg total. Chinese Taipei claimed its first gold of the competition in the men’s +109kg bodyweight category with CHEN Shih-Chieh (TPE) taking the top spot with a 415kg total. A hometown crowd filled the Tokyo International Forum with loud cheers as MURAKAMI Eishiro (JPN) took silver with a 412kg total. ALBEGOV Ruslan (RUS) ended with a 343kg total, good enough for bronze. In the women’s 87kg category, WANG Zhouyu (CHN) dominated the field, winning gold with 278kg, 48kg over silver medalist’s KLINGSEIS Marissa Eileen (USA) performance of 236kg. PASKHINA Ksenia (RUS) won bronze with a 222kg total. The final session of the day produced the most drama of the competition as +87kg 2018 World Champion KASHIRINA Tatiana (RUS) and LI Wenwen (CHN) battled for the top of the podium. LI took a 1kg lead over KASHIRINA in the snatch with a 141kg at the break. LI came out on top with a 326kg total and a new junior world record 185kg clean & jerk. KASHIRINA finished in second with a 322kg total. KIM Jihyeon (KOR) took bronze with a 258kg total. 2016 Olympic Champion MENG Suping (CHN) withdrew from the

Technical visit in Pattaya

The Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association welcomed the IWF delegation for a Technical visit in preparation of the 2019 IWF World Championships in the capital city of Thailand recently. The IWF inspected the venues in Pattaya: the SAT Indoor Athletics Stadium where the competition and training will take place and the Official hotel (Ambassador City Jomtien) that will accommodate all participants and meetings, including the IWF Congress. The conditions and requirements of the events concerned were discussed and specified. In view of the extensive experience of TAWA in hosting major weightlifting events and having witnessed the thorough and professional preparations, the IWF rest assured that the upcoming IWF World Championships in Pattaya will answer to the expectations of all stakeholders. The IWF delegation was ensured that TAWA will deliver a successful

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. Check out the Start

PUBLIC DISCLOSURE

IWF reports that the sample of Ms. Swati SINGH (IND) has returned an Adverse Analytical Finding for Morphine (S7. Narcotics). 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

How ‘Golden’ Girl Mirabai Chanu Smashed Barriers to Lift India to New Heights!

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu was only 11 when she won her first-ever competitive gold medal. The weightlifting champion, who made her debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was faced with bitter disappointment when she was only one of two lifters who did not finish at the entry-level category. Despite the disappointment, Mirabai Chanu created history at the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships held in Anaheim, United States. She became the second Indian in 22 years to clinch a gold at the World Weightlifting Championships after legendary weightlifter, Karnam Malleswari. Malleswari had achieved this feat twice, in 1994 in Turkey, and in China in 1995. Mirabai lifted over four times her body weight to clinch that gold and when she finished the lift, she did her customary namaste giving India a podium finish. She was born in a humble family in Nongpok Kakching village, located 20 kilometres from Imphal, Manipur. While her father is a lower-level employee at the Public Works Department in Imphal, her mother ran a small shop in their village. The youngest of six siblings, Mirabai would accompany her older brother, Saikhom Sanatomba Meitei, to collect firewood from a nearby hill. It was at the age of 12 that the family recognised the strength of the little girl. Speaking to PTI, her brother recalled, “One day, I could not lift the bundle of firewood but Mira easily lifted it and took it our home, about two kilometres away. She was about 12-years-old then.” Mirabai started her weightlifting journey inspired by the performance of seven-time champion Kunjarani Devi at the 2004 Athens Olympics, who coincidentally also moved on to coaching her at one point in her career. A brief overview of her journey: She hogged limelight first after clinching a silver medal for India in the 48 kg weightlifting category at the Glasgow edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2014. Despite qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics in the women’s 48 kg category, she couldn’t finish the event as she failed to lift the weight in any of her three attempts in the clean and jerk section. She bounced right back up after her historic gold win in 2017 in the Women’s 48 kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim, CA, United States by lifting a competition record 194 kg in total (85 kg snatch and 109 kg clean and jerk). In 2018, Chanu lifted a total of 196 kg, 86 kg in snatch and 110 kg in clean and jerk to win the first gold medal for India in the Commonwealth Games 2018. She also broke the record for the weight category. At the 2019 Asian Weightlifting Championships, she won bronze in clean and jerk in the 49 kg Category. The total weight of 199 kg was her best ever. She clinched a gold medal at the EGAT Cup in Thailand, making a strong comeback from the lower back injury that kept her out of action for more than half of 2018. Mirabai was bestowed the prestigious Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contribution to the sport. She was awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by the Government of India in 2018. At her CWG 2018 win, her brother recalled her triumph despite odds, saying “There was a lot of financial crisis for her and they could hardly support her. Despite all the hardships, she has reached a stage we never thought of… All these brought tears to my father and mother.” Source: