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ECHANDIA ZARATE Katherin Oriana gets first YOG Gold

Weightlifting kicked off today with altogether 120 athletes from 63 countries competing at the 3rd edition of the Youth Olympic Games held in Buenos Aires, ARG. Youth athletes will have the chance to get to know the Olympic values better and dive into the spirit of Olympism. The Europe Pavilion, venue to host the competitions, saw the victory of 17 years old ECHANDIA ZARATE Katherin Oriana (VEN). Also Gold Medallist at the 2nd South American Youth Games and Pan American Youth Championships, she improved her performance and reached a Total of 167kg. Silver Medallist NGUYEN Thi Thu Trang (VIE) made it to 147kg while KARASAKAL Nida (TUR) ended third with 138kg. After this promising start, all three athletes have a promising future

BUENOS AIRES 2018 KICKED OFF WITH A RECORD CROWD

THE 3RD SUMMER YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES BUENOS AIRES 2018 HAVE GOT OFF TO A GREAT START! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES, THE OPENING CEREMONY WAS HELD IN THE STREET, WITH THE CELEBRATION OPEN TO ALL - AND OVER 200.000 PEOPLE SHOWED UP FOR THE PARTY! Opening the event to the general public made for a truly remarkable atmosphere on the vibrant Avenida 9 de Julio, the main avenue in Buenos Aires where the Ceremony took place. The porteños sang, danced and celebrated on what was a magical evening, showing their enthusiasm at hosting the Youth Olympic Games in their city. The show itself was spectacular, with the Olympic rings appearing to float in the air, the Youth Olympic sports being presented on the iconic Obelisk, and numerous tango dancers performing on the balconies of the apartments lining the avenue. Almost 2,000 people worked to ensure the smooth running of the Ceremony, including more than 350 artists, technicians and musicians from the Argentinian theatre company Fuerza Bruta, which captivated a worldwide audience. Addressing the young athletes in his speech, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “To get here, each of you trained and competed hard. You gave your best in the sport you love so much. This is why you deserve to be here, at your Games. Every athlete is different. We all come from different parts of the world and have different cultures. But we are all united by the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. Guided by these Olympic values, each one of you makes a difference in sport and in life. This experience will stay with you for all your life. We are all assembled here to celebrate you, as the real game-changers.” The final part of the Ceremony saw the Youth Olympic flame being passed between several young Argentinian athletes representing all the other athletes, the #GameChangers, who will be inspiring the public over the next 12 days of competition. The Torch Relay concluded with two legends of Argentinian sport – Paula Pareto and Santiago Lange – who had the honour of lighting the cauldron with the Youth Olympic flame. The flame will now be moved to the Youth Olympic Park, where it will continue to burn until the end of the Games on 18 October. The Ceremony culminated in a dazzling firework display, which illuminated the Buenos Aires night sky amidst the cheers of the athletes and the public. Let the Youth Olympic Games begin! Source:

David Liti broke the oldest New Zealand record

Last Sunday, 23rd September, David Liti broke the oldest New Zealand record of 175kg Snatch in the +105kg bodyweight category, previously held by Nigel Avery – 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist. Liti snatched 176kg to break the record by 1kg. The New Zealand National Championships produced some excellent results and an impressive number of competitors took part. The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist received the Yvette William Scholarship from the New Zealand Olympic Committee. The scholarship is valued at NZD$25,000 and takes him through to the Tokyo Olympics. This will be of great assistance to this young superstar. Source: OWF — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter

The sports equipment of Buenos Aires 2018 will include more than 20,000 items

More than just muscles are necessary to compete in any sport. Other essentials are required for the game to make sense. Can you imagine tennis, beach volleyball, futsal, hockey 5s, rugby sevens, table tennis, beach handball or 3x3 basketball without a ball? The Sports Equipment sector of the Buenos Aires 2018 Organising Committee is in charge of ensuring the fundamental elements for each competition. They have the responsibility of finding 7,393 balls: 4,980 for tennis, 600 for beach volleyball, 545 for futsal, 300 for hockey 5s, 300 for rugby sevens, 288 for table tennis, 280 for beach handball, and 100 for 3x3 basketball. Instead of being played with balls, badminton uses goose feathers and many are used each game - so many, that for these Youth Olympic Games they’ll have 10,800 feathers (900 dozen) on hand. But for 6 October they will also need 10 courts, 10 nets and 24 posts. All of this will be in the hands of the Sport Equipment team. For many of the 32 sports they’ll be providing the essentials. For example, the 8 pairs of goals for beach handball, the 4 sets of boards for hockey 5s, the 10 nets for beach volleyball, 3 hoops for 3x3 basketball, the 24 table tennis tables, 4 sport climbing walls and 15 diving boards. Athletics is the sport that requires the most items. The list begins with specific objects for each discipline: 24 discuses, 24 hammers, 24 javelins, and 24 shots. And these are in addition to the 250 cones, 190 hurdles, 28 starting blocks, 4 record indicators, 60 chalk blocks, and 16 high jump bars. There will even be a couple remote control carts to transport things… Gymnastics comes after athletics in terms of equipment needs with its 10 exercise floors (half for artistic gymnastics and half for rhythmic). It also requires 23 trampolines, 3 asymmetrical bars, 3 landing mats, 3 balance beams, 5 vaults and 3 pommel horses. Different kinds of equipment are used for the combat sports at Buenos Aires 2018. For boxing there will be 80 pairs of boxing gloves, 300 bandage tapes, and 68 helmets. The others also have specific requirements: 50 taekwondo uniforms, 16 karate belts and 60 judogis for judo. Some sports have even more particular equipment. For sailing, 18 inflatable boats, 14 catamarans for Nacra 15 and 48 windsurfer boards will be needed for the competitions at Buenos Aires 2018. Pentathlon has 28 laser pistols (model PP500), while archery will use 1,000 targets. Weightlifting has 1,200 plates, which are provided by Eleiko. All of these things must be present for the Games to kick off this weekend! Source: aipsmedia.com — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

2017 IWF World Weightlifting Championships Wins Award

Yesterday, 3rd of October SportsTravel Magazine awarded the 2017 International Weightlifting Federation World Weightlifting Championships with its Best Amateur Single-Sport Event Award. Held November 28 through December 5, 2017 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, the 2017 IWF World Weightlifting Championships hosted 328 athletes from 68 different nations. At the event, 5 world records were broken, and sixteen athletes were crowned World Champions. "We're so honoured to win this award," USA Weightlifting CEO Phil Andrews said. "We had terrific partners with the International Weightlifting Federation and Visit Anaheim to carry out such a successful World Championships." “It was great to welcome the world to Anaheim,” Roy Edmonson, Vice President of Sports Anaheim said. “We worked very hard for more than a year to try and bring a World Championships the athletes would remember for a lifetime. We thank SportsTravel for recognizing our efforts.” Members of Visit Anaheim and USA Weightlifting comprised the Organizing Committee which was tasked with arranging not only the competition; but managing logistics surrounding lodging, meals, training and other aspects of the eight-day competition Prior to the competition in Anaheim, the Organizing Committee held a training camp in Las Vegas, Nevada for international athletes from four nations to come get acclimated to the United States. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, along with MGM Resorts International and Average Broz. Gym sponsored the camp and supported the international athletes who attended. The Organizing Committee wishes to thank all of its sponsors and partners who helped make the event such a success. This is the second time in three years the IWF World Weightlifting Championships won a SportsTravel Award. SportsTravel magazine awarded the 2015 IWF World Weightlifting Championships with the Best Amateur Single-Sport Event of the Year. Houston-Harris County hosted that event. Source: USA Weightlifting — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Level 1 Coaching Course in Myanmar

In the framework of the 2018 Olympic Solidarity Program, the Myanmar Weightlifting Federation - jointly with the IOC, IWF and the Myanmar Olympic Committee - organized a Level 1  Coaching Course in Naypyitaw, Myanmar from 19 - 26 September. The course was lectured by expert Mr. Tamás Fehér, who gave both theoretical and practical lessons to the 31 attendees. Throughout the session, Mr. Fehér answered many technical and practical questions of the participants, who also got a chance to discuss related topics with Mr Thi Han, MWF General Secretary and Mr. Myo Min, IWF Technical Official and MWF Officer. Mr Aung Chit, MWF President, Mr Thi Han and officials of the Myanmar Olympic Committee were present on the Opening and Closing Ceremony of the course. — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube