News and Media

News

DEADLINE REMINDER FOR 2020 IWF JWC PRELIMINARY ENTRIES/WHEREABOUTS INFO

The new host for the 2020 IWF Junior World Championships, Bucharest, Romania was selected last week by the IWF Executive Board and the final dates have just been confirmed: IWF CONGRESS / 13 MARCH 2020 COMPETITION / 14-21 MARCH 2020 We would like to inform you that the deadline for submitting the Preliminary Entries for the 2020 IWF Junior World Championships expires on 14 DECEMBER 2019. ENTRIES SHOULD BE REGISTERED THROUGH THE IWF ONLINE ENTRY SYSTEM http://www.iwf.net/e-entry   PRELIMINARY ENTRY – 14 DECEMBER 2019 According to the IWF TCRR the FINAL LIST of athletes can be selected only from those included in the Preliminary Entry! Member Federation must submit the Preliminary Entry (Long List) of a maximum number of athletes: 20 MEN and 20 WOMEN Please make sure to include all your athletes to the Preliminary Entry, because no additional athletes can be entered after 14 DECEMBER 2019.   FINAL ENTRY – 14 FEBRUARY 2020 Member Federation must select the final list of athletes from the Preliminary Entry (previously submitted by 14 December 2019): Maximum 12 (10+2 Reserve) MEN and 12 (10+2 Reserve) WOMEN ELIGIBILITY In accordance with Article 5.6.5 of the IWF Anti- Doping Policy an Athlete who is not listed on the IWF’s Registered Testing Pool but wishes to participate in an IWF Event shall provide accurate and complete whereabouts information as set out at Annex I of the International Standard for Testing and Investigations for a period of at least three (3) months prior to the IWF Junior World Championships. Athletes who wish to compete at the IWF Junior World Championships shall submit their whereabouts information for the period outlined above at the latest on 14 DECEMBER 2019. An Athlete who does not comply with this provision is not eligible to compete at the IWF Event. The Competition Regulations shall be soon available on the following

SHI Zhiyong set a new World Record at first day of IWF World Cup

The 2019 'Shengxin' IWF World Cup kicked off yesterday in Tianjin, China with the participation of 60 women and 52 men, representing 21 countries from all around the world. [caption id="attachment_28681" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Shi Zhiyong (Photo: Chinadaily/Xinhua)[/caption] As a highlight of day 1, Chinese weightlifter SHI Zhiyong set a new Clean and Jerk World Record in the men's 73kg bodyweight category and dominating the field, took all 3 gold medals with 363kg Total. "Although I broke the world record, I'm not satisfied with my form. And I would be more stable over the next few months," Shi said after the game to Asia Pacific Daily. In the men's 81kg, Olympic Champion LYU Xiaojun, still suffering from his back injury that happened at the World Championships in Pattaya, finished second place behind also Chinese competitor and silver medallist at the Worlds behind LYU, LI Dayin. The first day of the competition was stuffed with Chinese success, 2019 World Champion LI Fabin took all gold in the men's 63kg bodyweight category, with a Total of 311kg, while FENG Lyudong won the men's 67kg category and JIANG Huihua managed to overtake PRK star athlete RI Song Gum in the women's 49kg category. The IWF World Cup, which is also a Silver Level Qualification for the Tokyo Olympic Games will be ongoing until the 12th of December.

IWF and ITA representatives discussed plans for the future

On 3 December 2019, representatives of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) and the International Testing Agency (ITA) met at the ITA’s headquarter in Lausanne to evaluate the cooperation and discuss the future plans aimed at protecting clean athletes and promoting clean sport. The respective Directors General Attila Adamfi and Benjamin Cohen led their teams as the two organisations reviewed both the work already accomplished in 2019, and the future plans for 2020. “The IWF family continues to work hard to implement robust reforms in its anti-doping program and the discussions held today are encouraging as we continue to work in close cooperation to support and implement the many steps undertaken by IWF to promote a doping-free culture in the sport of weightlifting,” said ITA Director General Benjamin Cohen. “I believe the ITA has made a meaningful contribution towards ensuring the IWF maintains its position as a leader in the fight against doping as we head into an Olympic year and we are determined to see that this remains the case.” The partnership started on 1st January 2019 with out of competition testing, Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) and Education. The transfer concluded in September 2019, whereby all key areas have been transferred to ITA, including: detailed risk assessment, test distribution planning and management, in-competition testing, management of the IWF Athlete Biological Passport programme, results management, and long-term storage and re-analysis of samples. The ITA handled in-competition testing for the 2019 IWF World Championships for the first time, which included the collection and analysis of more than 300 samples. “I highly appreciate ITA’s contribution to an unprecedented busy year considering the record number of qualification events. Taking over such complex Anti-Doping Program during the Qualification Period was a great challenge, however ITA’s professionalism ensured the smooth and efficient transfer. I am confident that the cooperation of our committed teams will lead to a cultural change to ensure clean sport for future generation of Athletes,” said IWF Director General Attila

Executive Board makes further progress towards clean weightlifting

The IWF Executive Board has concluded a successful meeting in Lausanne. The meeting provided a chance to reflect on a successful 2019, while looking forward to next year and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Distinguished guests were welcome at the meeting: Mr. David Luckes, Associate Director of IOC Sport Department; Me Francois Carrard, the IWF’s Legal Advisor, Dr. Richard Young, Chairman of the Clean Sport Commission and the Independent Member Federation Sanctions Panel as well as Dr. Patrick Schamasch, Chairman of the IWF Anti-Doping Commission. The status of the Independent Member Federations Sanctions Panel was confirmed. In order to further improve independence, it was decided that in the future ITA will be requested to deal with the appointment of Panel Members. Mr. Brent Nowicki, Managing Counsel of CAS Anti-Doping Division (ADD) submitted a presentation to the Executive Board and, to further enhance the level of independence, the Board decided to cooperate with CAS ADD. That will ensure that only independent expert arbitrators adjudicate those cases where hearings are requested by the individuals concerned. The Executive Board also heard representatives of the Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association (TAWA), who submitted a request to amend their Undertaking on “self-suspension” signed in March 2019. Whilst acknowledging the progress made by TAWA, the Executive Board, considering that the case initiated in Court by TAWA is not yet closed and that additional information is still expected from ITA concerning a number of individual cases, decided not to accept any modification to the Undertaking and that the Federation’s request will be considered at the next meeting. As a consequence of the CAS decision to uphold the Independent Member Federation Sanctioning Panel’s (IMFSP) decision on the suspension of Egypt, the EB reallocated the 2020 IWF Junior World Championships that was to be held in Cairo. Among 4 strong candidates (Georgia, Tbilisi; Greece, Hersonissos; Poland, Wladyslawowo and Romania, Bucharest) the Board’s decision fell on Bucharest (14-24 March 2020). Athlete welfare was in the focus of the Executive Board’s consideration when it laid down the foundations of Guidelines on Zero Tolerance, which aim to ensure protection from harassment and abuse, including sexual misconduct. The Board further received updates on the Dakar 2022 Youth Olympic Games and the idea of Power Games. “I am very pleased that the IWF Executive Board has displayed unity and wisdom when supporting the progressive proposals that confirm our commitment towards clean weightlifting, even more independence and credibility,” said IWF President Tamas

CAS decision upholds IMFSP sanction against Egypt

Following a hearing at the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS), the appeal of the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation was dismissed and the decision rendered by the Independent Member Federations Sanctioning Panel (IMFSP) to suspend the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation was upheld. In dismissing the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation’s appeal against the sanction, the CAS arbitration panel ordered the Federation to make a contribution towards the IWF’s expenses in connection with the proceedings. The IMFSP had originally imposed sanctions against the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation on 12 September, with the suspension being based on multiple anti-doping rule violations that were committed by Egyptian weightlifters. After having been ineligible to send athletes to the 2019 World Weightlifting Championships, the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation will now be unable to qualify athletes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. “If we are to ensure a culture of clean competition, then we must be prepared to see the most serious of consequences applied in extreme cases. The IWF will now do all it can to help the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation with education and improvement in the field of anti-doping, so that their athletes may make a successful return to