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Havana, Day 2: Mother-of-three Piron wins B Group gold to boost chances of fourth Olympic Games

Beatriz Piron let out a scream of joy from the spectators’ seats when she won gold on day two of the IWF Grand Prix in Havana. The mother of three from the Dominican Republic had lifted in the B Group the day before – by chance rather than by strategy – and when the American Hayley Reichardt failed with her final two attempts Piron was left in first place in the women’s 49kg. Reichardt finished second and Piron’s team-mate Dahiana Ortiz, who was sitting alongside her because she had also lifted in the B Group, was third. “It was very exciting because we didn’t know if we would win medals,” said Piron. Beatriz Piron (DOM) Her 86-105-191 takes Piron up to 8th place in the Paris 2024 rankings and on course for a fourth Olympic Games appearance. “Nobody from my country has ever been to four Olympic Games and I can be the first, the record-breaker,” said Piron, 28, who placed ninth, fourth and eighth at London 2012, where she had just turned 17, Rio 2016 and the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games. “I am confident I can do it, I feel physically and mentally well prepared to qualify.” Qualifying for Paris would be a remarkable achievement for Piron, who has three young sons and who is already thinking about her next competition, the Central American and Caribbean Games starting in two weeks. That will be a priority because Dominican Republic is the host nation. Beatriz Piron (DOM) It was not a strategy to lift in the B Group here, Piron explained. It happened because another coach, who did not travel with the team to Cuba, had made the entry totals based on a recent performance rather than her training numbers. “It all worked out well,” she said. Piron is from a weightlifting family. She has a sister and a brother who lift internationally, and her inspiration when she took up the sport aged 12 was her aunt, the Pan American Games medallist Guillermina Candelario. She was also grateful for the support of her mother and her coaches Hector Dominguez, Javier Dominguez and Moreno Martinez. Reichardt made only two good lifts in her 83-107-190, which was 7kg down on her best qualifying total, and Ortiz made 83-105-188. Dahiana Ortiz (DOM) Piron and Ortiz took snatch gold and silver ahead of Andrea De La Herran from Mexico, who was sixth on total. Reichardt, 24, won clean and jerk gold on 107kg ahead of Ortiz and Piron. In the women’s 45kg Rosielis Quintana from Venezuela made 68-91-159 to finish well ahead of her only rival, the Cuban teenager Thaila Castillo, who made 60-75-135. PRK, whose 49kg lifter Ri Song Gum had posted an entry total of 201kg in the final entries last month, has made contact with the IWF by email and confirmed, without any explanation, that it will not compete in Cuba. As a result of its withdrawal PRK, which had entered 14 athletes for the IWF Grand Prix, cannot qualify for Paris 2024 as they will be unable to compete in enough qualifying competitions. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

From 1973 to 2023: The Professor’s memories

“Today, we have the conflict in Ukraine, but in 1973 we had also a difficult context. There was the Yom Kippur war and there was the ‘coup’ in Chile. The Israeli team arrived in Cuba and then withdrew, while the Chilean delegation could never land in Havana…” Discreet, in his dark blue suit, Carlos Cuervo is seated at the Pabexpo venue, the one hosting the IWF Grand Prix in the Cuban capital, waiting for the A session of the day, where he is one of the appointed Technical Officials. At almost 76, he is one of the most respected persons in the sport he “married” at the age of 14. Already present at the 1973 IWF World Championships, the last major event Cuba hosted in weightlifting, Cuervo is happy to share his memories and reflect on the present and future of his beloved sport. “I was essentially helping the organisation back then in 1973, making sure everything would run smoothly. I was everywhere, running all the time, helping whoever needed assistance. It was a great competition, well attended and with many funny episodes. We were in a kind of circular arena and of course there wasn’t electronic scoreboards like today. There was however a huge metallic structure, with some people hiding behind curtains, changing by hand the name of the athletes and the respective weights they were lifting. The result was quite nice, but the people watching it could not imagine the hidden ‘human resources’ behind those constant and fast updates,” he recalls.  Carlos Cuervo (CUB) The staging of an IWF World Championships followed the successful creation of a national team in 1965. “Before that, athletes were training in their corner, in their small town… There was no national coordination. A Cuban expert that had been in the Soviet Union then had the idea of creating a centralised group in Santa Clara. And this was decisive for the future. Results started to appear, namely at the 1967 Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, Canada, and the basis of what is today the Cuban weightlifting was initiated in those years,” Mr Cuervo admits. A dynamic of success was in place and it was then not difficult to convince the international instance that the Cuban capital was able to host the IWF showcase. “At the time, the Secretary General of the International Federation was a British gentleman, Mr Oscar State, a very nice man, but a bit conservative. And to our surprise, at the end of the Championships, he said that those were the best he had been to. That was the best tribute we could receive”. A consequence of the thorough development of Cuban weightlifting, the IWF World Championships (189 athletes – only men at the time – from 39 nations) were also a cause for further progress. “It was a big thing for our country. It fundamentally attracted many young people to weightlifting. Our national sport is baseball and to a less extent soccer or basketball. These are the main attractions for our youth. It is still the case today. But after that 1973 achievement, we managed to have many kids practicing the sport,” states the professor at the University of Physical Culture and Sport Sciences (UCCFD) in Havana. Some years later, Olympic medals appeared. It all started in Moscow 1980, then again in 1992, and the last one in London 2012. In total, eight podium presences in the biggest sport event on the planet, including two gold, one silver, and five bronze linings. “Weightlifting became a strong sport in our country, but let’s be honest, it will never compete with baseball, or even basketball…” The reason is simple: “We need equipment in weightlifting. And if we want to be professional, that equipment is expensive. Everyone knows the economic problems we are facing, so it is difficult to equip with decent barbells all the national clubs or structures interested in developing weightlifting”. There is even a more essential challenge – the nutritional aspect of the sport. “Competing at high-level, a lifter needs a very proteinic diet. This is unfortunately not easy to get in our country,” Mr Cuervo admits. “However, we, the Cubans, are experts in doing a lot with very few resources. We have a good generation of lifters, capable of achieving nice results. It’s maybe harder for us than for others, but we are getting there,” he confesses. Carlos Cuervo (right), with the President of Cuban Weightlifting Federation, Jorge Luis Barcelan After sharing these memories, Carlos Cuervo is happy to pose for a picture with the President of the Cuban Weightlifting Federation. “The Professor” - says Jorge Luis Barcelan, with a smile. “We owe him a lot in Cuba!” By Pedro Adrega, IWF Communications

Havana, Day 1: British Morrow loses 15% of her body weight to post Paris qualifying total

Fraer Morrow has become the latest weightlifter to make an extreme weight cut in an effort to boost her chances of qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Many others have had to drop a considerable percentage of their body weight to lift in one of the new Olympic categories, most notably the Tokyo champions Chen Lijun from China and Maude Charron from Canada, and the 87kg women’s world champion Solfrid Koanda from Norway. None of those three, however, had to shrink their weight by 15.5 per cent, which Morrow did before posting her first qualifying total on Thursday, the opening day of the IWF Grand Prix here in Havana, Cuba. Fraer Morrow (GBR) Morrow, 24, suffered a back problem two months after winning a Commonwealth Games bronze medal for England at 55kg last year, and has had to lose weight while training at only 60 per cent of her capabilities for much of the time. “I was training at 58 kilos last year so after coming back from injury and losing 9 kilos I’m happy to make a total here – but I’m an athlete so I always want more,” Morrow said after breaking all three British records in the 49kg B Group on 75-97-172. The back injury would need surgery for a permanent fix – “basically parts of my lower spine are too long for my body, but I’m not having surgery during Olympic qualification”. Morrow started losing weight in December when, because of her back problem, she was lifting only 35-45kg in training. “I went overboard a bit at Christmas and New Year because I knew the next 18 months were going to be tough,” she said. “It has been hard but I was down to 51kg by March and I have a nutrition team who have really helped.” Fraer Morrow (GBR) Morrow’s efforts put her in the top 30 in the rankings and left her third in the B Group behind two athletes from Dominican Republic, the triple Olympian Beatriz Piron and Dahiana Ortiz. Piron, 28, made 86-105-191, which will probably be enough for a medal after the A Group has finished on Friday night, and Ortiz made 83-105-188. Losing enough weight was too much for one of the seven entries. Omayraliz Ortiz from Puerto Rico could not get down to 49kg and was unable to lift. Chen lost about 10 per cent of his body weight when he dropped from 67kg to 61kg for the Asian Championships in Korea last month, where the Rio 2016 champion Ruslan Nurudinov from Uzbekistan was unable to cut from 109kg to the Olympic category of 102kg. It was less extreme for the Tokyo 64kg champion Charron and 87kg world champion Koanda because they planned well ahead and competed several kilos below the limit in higher classes before dropping. Charron is now in the 59kg rankings for Paris, and Koanda is due to make her first outing at the Olympic weight of 81kg here in Cuba on June 16. By coincidence, one of the referees for Morrow’s session was Daniel Nsegna, an academic working on a PhD at ULB university in Brussels, on “incidence and consequences of a strategy for losing weight quickly” in weightlifting and other sports with weight categories. Daniel Nsegna The Belgian-Cameroonian dual national, who was a coach at the Cameroon Federation for 12 years and is now its technical director, highlighted the potential dangers of trying to cut weight too quickly, which can lead to injuries and a drop in performance. “In all my life as a coach, athletes were trying to lose weight,” he said before Morrow went out to lift. “In Cameroon the strategy was more like a punishment – just stop eating.” Nsegna, a former 69kg athlete who moved to Belgium in 2011 and returned to Cameroon to lead its team at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, has been researching the subject since 2016 and will publish his latest work this year. He studied 50 weightlifters in his early work, looking for the consequences of rapid weight loss on strength, performance and body composition and is hoping to widen that number to 500 across a range of sports. “We discovered that losing weight quickly does not work long-term, that after a week or 10 days the body automatically tries to restore weight rather than lose it,” Nsegna said. “Usually it does not work if you lose more than 1kg a month. If you do it can cause damage to the body, you might suffer injuries, lose muscle and therefore strength, and that can also affect your technique.” Cutting weight quickly makes sense only in the week before a competition, after two weeks of transition from the long-term strategy, Nsegna said. “As a scientist, I believe that some of what is happening is dangerous for an athlete’s health, going up and down in weight to improve their qualification chances. “Scientifically, our body is like a cup, it can take only so much coffee and no more. There are absolute limits and when you modify a body’s capacity to absorb, that’s when you have doping. “Your body knows what weight it should be.” The evening A Group on day one in Havana, the men’s 55kg, had only three entries and one of those was from PRK, whose team has not shown up here. Osmel Argote (CUB) Osmel Argote from the host nation Cuba made 98-124-222 to win gold ahead of Jose Ical from Guatemala on 95-115-210. By Brian Oliver, Inside the

IWF Grand Prix: “It will be an unforgettable event!”

With the presence of Cuban national authorities – namely the Vice Prime-Minister, the President of the National Sports Institute, and the leader of the National Olympic Committee – the IWF Family gathered for the official opening ceremony of the first 2023 IWF Grand Prix, taking place in Havana from June 8-18. Dancing to the sound of iconic “Guantanamera” and other traditional music, athletes and participants in the competition could enjoy a relaxed moment before the start of the competition today, a qualification event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. After the flag display of the 58 nations taking part in this Grand Prix, the dignitaries made vibrant speeches, all expressing their joy and satisfaction for being in the Cuban capital for this major competition. It is Cuban’s return to weightlifting major scene, after having staged the 1973 IWF World Championships. Fifty years later, the elite of the sport is back in the country and aimed at performing well, with less than 14 months to go before the start of the Olympic celebration in France.   “Many of the athletes that will shine next year are also here, in this nation with a strong tradition in our beloved Sport. The Cuban authorities, with their professionalism, enthusiasm and devotion, have made their utmost to guarantee optimal conditions for our competitors. I am sure this effort will lead to an unforgettable event,” said Mohammed Jalood, the IWF President. “The entire IWF Family will feel at home here in Cuba. The hospitality and sympathy of its people, the beauty of this land, and the rich history of this nation will inspire our athletes, coaches and officials, but will certainly delight all those witnessing this Grand Prix on-site, or through TV and digital platforms. Our hosts deserve our deepest recognition for this successful organisation!” IWF President Mohammed Jalood delivering his opening speech   The IWF leader expressed his confidence in a bright future for the sport. “The performances of our athletes, their fair-play and talent, but also their motivation to get a precious Olympic ‘ticket’ will show once more that Weightlifting fully deserves its place in the Olympic programme. Lifters from the five continents are here in Cuba to demonstrate the vitality, the universality and the unity of our Sport, and its endless effort to be respected in a very competitive sport international environment,” Mr Jalood said. “I wish all the participants the best of luck and success!”   Member of the IWF Executive Board and President of the Pan-American Weightlifting Federation, Jose Quiñones recalled the challenges and subsequent successful responses from the Cuban organisers. “The fact that we are here tonight for the Opening Ceremony of the Grand Prix is already a great achievement. But, most importantly, the competition starting tomorrow will be very successful. And this despite all the economic difficulties this nation is facing,” stated Mr Quiñones. “This event will also be a strong ‘push’ for Cuba and its desired return to the top of the continental and even world hierarchy. I am sure you will make it! You sincerely deserve it!”   Jorge Luis Barcelan, President of the Cuban Weightlifting Federation and host of the Grand Prix, was visibly thrilled to welcome the sport’s elite in the country. “We are determined to stage a memorable event in Havana. The Cuban authorities have been always at our side to ensure that everything is ready and fully operational to run the competition. It has been a collective effort, but a very rewarding one. We thank the IWF for trusting Cuba and for your presence here today,” declared Mr Barcelan. By IWF

Cuba is ready to host its biggest weightlifting event in 50 years!

Everything is ready in Havana, the Cuban capital, to welcome the best lifters of the planet in the first IWF Grand Prix of the year, to be held from June 8-18. Around 270 competitors from 58 nations will do their best to excel and to get their “ticket” for the Paris 2024 Games, as this is an Olympic qualification event. In the opening Press Conference of this Grand Prix, the President of the Cuban Weightlifting Federation, Jorge Luis Barcelan, explained the importance of hosting this prestigious event for his country: “It’s a great honour and responsibility for us to organise this competition here in Cuba. We were hosts of the 1973 IWF World Championships in our beautiful capital, and 50 years later, we once again welcome the best athletes in the world. We hope this can be the first step for future organisations and that we don’t have to wait another 50 years to have this honour”.   The Cuban responsible also recalled that having the Grand Prix in Havana will foster the development of weightlifting in the Caribbean nation. “We had a long and significant tradition in this sport and we want to be back to the top of the world hierarchy. This will help a lot on that, as it generates more support to our sport and athletes”. At Barcelan’s side, Jose Quiñones, President of the Pan-American Weightlifting Federation and member of the IWF Executive Board, was also a happy man. “Our Cuban friends are doing their utmost to ensure an unforgettable competition. Their enthusiasm and hospitality is amazing and everyone will have a great time here!” Mr Quiñones then highlighted the importance of this Grand Prix, as a qualification event for Paris. “It is a milestone in the path of our best athletes in their journey to the 2024 Olympics in Paris. It is in reality one of the five IWF events leading to the Games, together with the 2022 and 2023 IWF World Championships, the second 2023 IWF Grand Prix later this year in Qatar and the 2024 IWF World Cup in Thailand. Several Olympic and world medallists will be here in Havana, confirming the importance of this Grand Prix”. Jorge Luis Barcelan and Jose Quiñones A strong field in Cuba The ranking lists for Paris 2024, built up after the IWF World Championships in Colombia last December and a series of continental championships in April and May, will change over the next 11 days regardless of a number of absences. The 33-year-old Indonesian Eko Yuli Irawan is entered at 67kg for only the second time in a career that began in May 2006. In the 17 years since then Irawan has won four Olympic medals, bronze 2008 and 2012, and silver in 2016 and 2020, all at lighter weights. The new-look Irawan, who dyed his hair blond before winning Southeast Asian Games gold at 61kg last month – making a clean and jerk of 170kg on the way to a 303kg total – will be 35 when the lifting starts in Paris. There are several latecomers to Paris qualifying, from Colombia, the United States, Turkmenistan and elsewhere. Polina Guryeva, Turkmenistan’s only Olympic medallist in any sport, stopped competing to have a child after taking silver in Tokyo and returns in the 81kg B Group. There are five Olympic medallists and a world champion entered at 81kg, three of them in the B Group: Guryeva, Aremi Fuentes from Mexico, and 33-year-old Leidy Solis from Colombia, who won a silver at Beijing 2008. Solfrid Koanda, the 87kg world champion from Norway, has the highest entry total in the A Group in her first competition at this weight. She is joined by two top Ecuadorians, the 76kg Olympic champion Neisi Dajomes and 87kg silver medallist Tamara Salazar. Another Tokyo medallist starting out after a long lay-off is Luis Javier Mosquera from Colombia, whose wrist injury kept him out of the first two qualifiers. After taking silver at 67kg in Tokyo he moves up to 73kg, where the man who finished behind him in Tokyo, Mirko Zanni from Italy, is among his rivals. Colombia has a very strong team and will expect to win plenty of medals in men’s and women’s events. The United States has the largest team of 20, one more than the host nation. CJ Cummings, who has not lifted internationally since finishing ninth at 73kg in Tokyo, is up in body weight by 20 per cent to lift at 89kg, which he has already done in US national competitions. Two other Olympic champions are entered in Havana, Maude Charron from Canada and Kuo Hsing-Chun from Chinese Taipei. On a surprising move, and following controversy over their presence in Havana, the team of PRK (People’s Republic of Korea) had not arrived in Cuba by the time this article is being written. While PRK has not shown up, 13 lifters with Belarus passports will compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) after signing up to conditions imposed by the IWF Policy on this

IWF President Mohammed Jalood meets with the Bulgarian Minister of Sports

The IWF President Mohamed Jalood is on an official visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of Aref Majed, the new president of the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation. During his visit, the IWF President met Vesela Lecheva, the Bulgarian Minister of Youth and Sports. The IWF delegation in Bulgaria also includes Antonio Conflitti, president of the European Weightlifting Federation, Milan Mihajlovic, general secretary of the European Weightlifting Federation, David Kipshidze, vice-president of the European Weightlifting Federation, and Alexandru-Christian Padure, president of the Romanian Weightlifting Federation and executive board member of European Weightlifting Federation.  "It is very important for us that the problems in the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation are solved, because it is one of IWF’s most valued members. Your country's success in our sport is an inalienable part of its history, present and future," said IWF President Mohammed Jalood. During the meeting, Vesela Lecheva emphasised the importance of providing a good competitive environment for both athletes and coaches before the important upcoming competitions. Moreover, the Minister informed that Bulgaria has resumed talks about hosting major championships. "One of the important policies of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is the announcement of the willingness to host World and European championships, world cups, and other major international competitions. They give the concerned federations the opportunity to gain experience, to put a certain sport on the big stage, which is important for competitors and fans, so we will support the efforts of the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation as well," Bulgarian minister Lecheva said. The IWF President Mohammed Jalood is impressed by the world record holder Karlos Nasar. In his opinion, Nasar is one of the biggest young talents in the sport and he expressed his sincere wishes for a complete and speedy recovery for the recently-injured athlete and a successful participation at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. "Bulgaria has excellent weightlifters and I am sure that we will see the Bulgarian flag in Paris next year," declared the IWF President. The two sides also discussed the intention of the International Federation to cooperate with the Bulgarian National Sports Academy for the training of specialists. Mr Jalood expressed his intention to sign an agreement between the European Weightlifting Federation and the Bulgarian National Sports Academy in September in Saudi Arabia during the IWF World Championships. "Bulgaria has some of the best coaches in the world, so I'm happy that this is also appreciated by the IWF. For us, as the leadership of the ministry, the professional path of the coaches is also key, and this was the reason why we made a programme for their financial and career support," added the Bulgarian Minister.  Finally, Ms Lecheva supported and praised the IWF leadership for its merciless efforts in fighting against doping and its clean-sport