News

Pathway to Paris 2024: Weightlifting qualification system explained – Part 1

Weightlifting will once again feature at the Olympic Games, with five medal events for both men and women scheduled for Paris 2024. (...) After the excitement of Tokyo 2020, weightlifting will be once again back on the Olympic competition programme at Paris 2024 but with a number of differences compared to the last Olympic Games. In total, 120 athletes competing in 10 categories (five for women and five for men, four less in total than Tokyo 2020) will demonstrate their extraordinary strength as they fight for the ultimate prize in sport - an Olympic gold medal - at the South Paris Arena 6. But before any of that can take place, weightlifters will need to qualify for the competition - no easy task in itself. Considering the significant changes to the categories, athletes will face a challenge to qualify for the Olympic Games in just over two years' time. (...) How many athletes will compete in weightlifting at Paris 2024? In total, 120 athletes will compete in the Paris 2024 weightlifting competition, a drop from 196 in Tokyo and a further drop from the 260 who competed at London 2012 and Rio 2016. As the host country, France will be allocated four quota places (two for men and two for women). There will also be 10 quota places reserved for continental representation and six quota places for Universality places which will be decided by the Tripartite Commission in 2024. Each NOC will only be able to qualify one athlete per weight class, and three per gender across all weight categories - down from four each at Tokyo 2020. For each weight category established at Paris 2024, a maximum of 12 athletes will compete - two less in each category than Tokyo 2020. What are the requirements for athletes to be eligible for a quota? To be eligible to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, athletes and NOCs will be required to comply with the following:  Athletes must be born on or before 31 December 2009. Athletes (including those from the host country and those who may be eligible for the Universality quotas) must participate in the 2023 IWF World (Senior) Championships (Q4 of 2023) and 2024 IWF World Cup (Q2 of 2024), except for truly exceptional circumstances Athletes must participate in a minimum of three of the following events (athletes from the host country and those who may be eligible for the Universality quotas must participate in at least two): 2022 IWF World (Senior) Championships/Q4 2022 2023 Continental (Senior) Championships (or Continental Senior Games if they are officially replacing the Continental Senior Championships) / Q1- Q2, 2023 2023 IWF Grand Prix I / Q2-Q3, 2023 2023 IWF Grand Prix II / Q3-Q4, 2023 2024 Continental (Senior) Championships, Q1-Q2, 2024 Athletes and their NOCs must be clean in terms of Anti-Doping Violation. More details can be found on the official IWF document (page 4) (...) Source: MENG Lingcheng -

Parents & Guardians: A Guide to Clean Sport

Parents and guardians of young athletes have many roles. As well as being their child’s number one fan, they are their taxi driver, nutritionist, psychologist. Alongside this, parents and guardians also have an important role in their child’s development as a clean athlete. This requires an understanding of anti-doping rules, and just as importantly, an ability to positively influence their child’s values and behaviours, which in turn can prevent doping. We invite parents, guardians, all athletes, and others who work with young athletes, to tune in as our expert panellists discuss this important topic. Joining us are Dr Lubna Sibtain, whose daughter was the first female swimmer and youngest female Olympian from Pakistan, and Jodi Brown, a former international netball player, parent, and member of Drug Free Sport New Zealand’s Education Team. They will share their experiences and provide practical tips on how parents and guardians can learn about, and take an active role in clean sport. As always, we are pleased to deliver these webinars in English with simultaneous translation to four additional languages – Arabic (العربي), Spanish (español), French (français) and Russian (русский). Topic: Parents and Guardians: A Guide to Clean Sport Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aGL42DYbRx6x8WEeVgAj0g Event date: Tuesday 31 May 14:00–15:00 CET Panelists: Dr Lubna Sibtain, IOC Certified Sport Physician and parent of young Olympian Jodi Brown, Drug Free Sport New Zealand and International Netball Player Moderator:  Mairi Irvine, ITA Education Team

Entry List is Now Available for the 2022 IWF Youth World Championships

The entry list of the 2022 IWF Youth World Championships is now available here. Just as the entry lists of 2022 IWF Junior World Championships, this  version includes the current ranking based on entry totals and it is automatically updated in case of any change in the athletes' bodyweight category or entry

31st SEA Games

IWF General Secretary, Mohammed Jalood visited the Southeast Asian Games currently running in Hanoi, Vietnam. This is the second time Vietnam is hosting the SEA Games, the first one being in 2003. The event was originally scheduled for  2021  but due to the COVID Pandemic it was postponed to 2022. Mr. Jalood also met the official mascot of the Games, Sao La, both supporting the clean sport. The weightlifting competitions last 4 days and athletes are competing in 14 categories. One of the biggest name competing at the event is Hidilyn Diaz (PHI), Tokyo 2020 Olympic

The ITA imposes two-year sanctions on six Egyptian weightlifters

THE INTERNATIONAL TESTING AGENCY (ITA), LEADING AN INDEPENDENT ANTI-DOPING PROGRAM FOR THE INTERNATIONAL WEIGHTLIFTING FEDERATION (IWF), REPORTS THAT SIX EGYPTIAN WEIGHTLIFTERS HAVE ACCEPTED EACH A TWO-YEAR PERIOD OF INELIGIBILITY AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THEIR ANTI-DOPING RULE VIOLATIONS (ADRVS) STEMMING FROM SAMPLES COLLECTED DURING THE 2019 AFRICAN GAMES IN RABAT, MOROCCO. The six cases concern Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs) for the presence of the prohibited stimulant 5-methylhexan-2-amine (1,4-dimethylpentylamine) collected on 29 and 30 August 2019 during the 2019 African Games in Morocco. The prohibited substance is classified as a Specified substance by the World Anti-Doping Code. The cases were first prosecuted by the Organizing Committee of the African Games (COJAR). Following the conclusion of the results management process by COJAR, the individual results of the athletes obtained at the African Games were disqualified and the matter was referred to the ITA for the continuation of results management under the applicable IWF Anti-Doping Rules in order to determine the applicable sanction for the period following the African Games. The ITA reports that in line with the IWF Anti-Doping Rules the following athletes have accepted a retrospective period of ineligibility of two years – 22 January 2020 until 21 January 2022: Samar Habashy; Mohamed Abdelrahman Elsayed; Ibrahim Moustafa Wahid Shaaban Sara Samir Elsayed Mohamed Ahmed Farag Salma Ahmed Mahmoud Awad Abdelalim Mahmoud Selim The athletes have not participated in any event since the date of sample collection, therefore there are no additional results to disqualify. Under Article 12 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules when three or more ADRVs sanctioned by the IWF are committed by athletes, officials or athlete support personnel within a 12-month period, the member federation can be suspended, fined and/or have other rights withdrawn. As a result, the matter of the consequences to be imposed on the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation will be referred by the ITA to the IWF’s Independent Member Federation Sanctioning Panel for its determination.

Olympic Solidarity Course in Cyprus

The Weightlifting Federation of Cyprus organized a Coaching Course in Cyprus, in March 2022 which was supported by the IOC's Olympic Solidarity program and IWF. The seminars were conducted on 3 weekends in March and due to some travel restrictions still in place, the theoretical parts were arranged via Zoom webinar. For the final weekend all 3 experts, Ms. Denise Offermann from Cyprus, Mr. Georgios Saroglakis and Mr. Dimitris Ioannidis from Greece traveled to Cyprus to have 3 full days of practical sessions.  Alltogether 19 participants took part and listened to various presentations among others on: Theory of the Coaching Pathway, Coaching Skill development, Competition Preparation and End Phase Theory, Code of Ethics and Fair Play and The Winning Attitude – athlete’s mind set. The course was a major step in the development of the Weightlifting Federation of Cyprus in all regions and therefore a great success. The Weightlifting Federation of Cyprus appreciated the support of IWF, Olympic Solidarity and Cyprus Olympic Committee in organizing this