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LEADERSHIP CHANGES AT THE INTERNATIONAL WEIGHTLIFTING FEDERATION

By mutual consent, the IWF Director General Attila Adamfi is moving on from the Federation after 25 years of service. After starting as a volunteer at key IWF events, Mr Adamfi began working for the Federation full time in 2001 as Competition Director, becoming Director General in 2014. As part of his remit, Mr Adamfi led the delivery of weightlifting competitions for seven Olympic Games (including preparations for the forthcoming Tokyo 2020) and three Youth Olympic Games. He also managed the successful creation, operations, activities and deliverables of the Sport Programme Commission and independent Clean Sport Commission, whose work was pivotal in the IOC Executive Board’s decision to confirm weightlifting’s place on the programme for Paris 2024. Mr Adamfi also played a key role in establishing gender-balanced bodyweight categories, delivering renewed bidding and hosting processes, and delivering IWF World Championships and other multisport events. “I am proud to have had the chance to lead the IWF's operations as its Director General, including the success of weightlifting at Olympic and Multisport Games.” said Mr Adamfi. “Ensuring the sport's future, including developing an innovative Qualification System – which won the IOC President’s praise - was my most significant achievement. As one of my latest projects, I enjoyed being part of the first ever real online international event, the 'Panam Cup Live by ZKC', engaging the weightlifting community by providing safe competition opportunity for our most important stakeholders, the athletes. Having had the chance to make weightlifting be a central part of most of my professional life, I am looking forward to putting my transferable skills and experience at the service of new opportunities in sport.” A new position at the IWF of Chief Executive Officer has been established and will be advertised. Further restructuring and governance changes are also underway. An Electoral Congress expected in March 2021 will see elections for the IWF President, General Secretary, Vice Presidents, Executive Board and Committee member positions. “The IWF is grateful to Mr Adamfi for a quarter century of dedicated service to our sport and in particular for his key role in resolving the IOC’s concerns from 2017 to 2019,” said IWF Interim President Ursula Papandrea. "He crossed boundaries working with the Commissions and presenting their recommendations to the Executive Board understanding the needs of the weightlifting community. His role was pivotal in getting the Board not just to agree but to carry through on the

IWF and World Para Powerlifting sign historic Memorandum of Understanding

  The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) and World Para Powerlifting have signed a historic agreement called ‘Strengthening the World’, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will see both organisations strengthen their relationship in a variety of mutually-beneficial areas. ‘Strengthening the World’ has three key areas of collaboration: 1st Attempt – Raise the Bar (Competition), 2nd Attempt – Good Lift! (Education) and 3rd Attempt - I Lift & Press Clean (Anti-Doping strategy). Through the agreement, IWF and World Para Powerlifting aim to transfer expertise and key learnings, explore synergies and cost efficiencies and collectively fight for strong and clean sport. Some of the topics listed in the three main areas of collaboration include the development of a dual Technical Official pathway to offer opportunities in both sports, the sharing of accessibility standards and anti-doping joint initiatives to raise awareness within the sports. The MoU also intends to be of benefit of current and future organising committees for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and other multi-sport events, as well as Regional and World Championships. Ursula Garza Papandrea, IWF Interim President, said: “Building a working relationship with the World Para Powerlifting organization is a logical step as we look to collaborate with our Paralympic cousins and see commonalities between our organizations especially at major Games events. We thank WPPO and the IPC for their collaboration and look forward to an outstanding working relationship going forward.” Jorge Moreno, Head of World Para Powerlifting, said: “This agreement represents a historic moment for Para powerlifting, as it will allow us to intensify our cooperation with a crucial partner for the development of our sport. We have a long friendship with IWF, an organisation World Para Powerlifting share common values and similar goals with. I would like to thank the IWF for their support, as I am sure that, together, we will be strengthening the

Kenyan weightlifting Olympian trains daughter and granddaughter

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Keysha Atiki is only 10 but she can already lift her own weight as she trains with a weightlifting coach who once competed in the Olympics - her grandmother. Mercy Obiero was only the second African woman to compete in weightlifting at the Olympics, representing her native Kenya in 2012. Now retired from professional competition, the 42-year-old works as a coach, and both her daughter and granddaughter are hoping to follow in her footsteps. “I feel very happy and proud to be training my daughter and granddaughter at the same time,” Obiero told Reuters at her house in eastern Nairobi after a training session at a nearby gym that started with star jumps in front of a mirror. Her 12-year-old daughter Chanel, a slight 29 kg, can already lift up to 60 kg. She squats and lifts as Obiero encourages her. “My mum has been motivating me. She went to the Olympics and I saw her on TV. Since then, I said one day I will go to the Olympics,” Chanel said. Obiero has been weightlifting for 20 years, and says she’s overcome plenty of skepticism about women in the sport. She was a hockey player and athlete before her brother introduced her to weightlifting in 1999. “I got a lot of discrimination especially in the gym - the men feel like you should not be doing this. But with time, you get over it,” she said, her medals glinting in the light. Obiero said COVID-19, which forced Kenya to shut its schools in March, had brought the family closer and given the children more time to train. She watches proudly as her granddaughter Keysha - a slight 32 kg - prepares to lift 30 kg. Obiero steps forward to support her, watching her in the mirrored walls of the gym. After the workout, she’s glowing. “My grandmother is my role model,” said Keysha, Obiero’s eldest daughter’s child. “I am very proud to have her.” Source: Reuters

IWF Competition Calendar Update

During this week, IWF was notified by the corresponding Organizing Committees that further IWF Events shall be either cancelled, postponed or be held in a new format due to the virus. List of IWF Events/Other Events affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic: October Pan-American Junior Championships – POSTPONED – New date to be confirmed (2021) November European Master Championships – CANCELLED Pan-American Junior Championships - NEW ONLINE EVENT December South-American, Ibero-American & CSLP Youth & Junior Championships - Original Format Cancelled - ONLINE SUBSTITUTE EVENT Pan-American, South-American, Ibero-American & CSLP U15 Championships - Original Format Cancelled - ONLINE SUBSTITUTE EVENT Caribbean Invitational/Phillips & Springer Classic - CANCELLED South-American, Ibero-American & OPEN Senior Championships - POSTPONED - New date / 21-28 February 2021 Further Events Asian Championships – New date to be confirmed (March 2021) In case there are any further changes in the calendar, the IWF Member Federations will be notified

20 years anniversary of female inclusion in weightlifting at the Olympic Games

The 2000 Sydney Olympic Games held great significance, not only in terms of weightlifting history, but also in terms of universal sports history. For the first time female weightlifters were able to compete at an Olympic Games. In the millennium year, the Olympics were held at the second half of September, where in addition to the men categories, women categories were added to the weightlifting program. Previously female weightlifters could only compete at continental and world championships. On the Olympic program weightlifters competed in 8 male and 7 female weight classes. Altogether 162 male athletes from 63 countries and 85 female athletes from 47 countries participated in the weightlifting competitions. The medal ceremony of the first female weightlifter was one of the greatest moments in weightlifting history, where Tara Nott (USA) was awarded the gold medal in the 48 kilograms on September 17, 2000.After the win of Tara Nott, overall Chinese weightlifters dominated the female categories, but Mexico and Colombia also won gold medals. On the last day of the women's competition on the 22nd of September, China won the gold medal in the +75kg category. With this win China recorded a total of four female category wins. The distribution of gold medals was greater for men: six countries won gold medals, with Iran and Greece winning 2-2 gold medals in the male weight classes. In the male categories a total of 13 nations, in the women categories 14 countries won Olympic medals in Sydney. Female weightlifters broke 17 senior world record, while male weightlifters broke 9 senior world records during the Sydney Olympic Games. Medal Table of the Sydney Olympic Games: Men Gold Silver Bronze GRE 2 2 0 IRI 2 0 0 BUL 1 2 0 CHN 1 1 1 CRO 1 0 0 TUR 1 0 0 GER 0 2 0 POL 0 1 0 BLR 0 0 2 RUS 0 0 2 GEO 0 0 1 QAT 0 0 1 ARM 0 0 1 Women Gold Silver Bronze CHN 4 0 0 USA 1 0 1 COL 1 0 0 MEX 1 0 0 INA 0 1 2 TPE 0 1 1 PRK 0 1 0 POL 0 1 0 HUN 0 1 0 NGR 0 1 0 RUS 0 1 0 GRE 0 0 1 IND 0 0 1 THA 0 0

Anniversary – Frank Isaac Spellman

Frank Isaac Spellman, one of the most outstanding athlete in US weightlifting history was born exactly 98 years ago on 17 September 1922 in Malvern, Pennsylvania. As a child, he was fascinated by the sight of muscular and strong people, and was determined to be one of them when he is grown. He managed to reach this goal by starting weightlifting and he achieved his first great success at the age of twenty when he became a US junior champion in middleweight representing the York Barbell Club. As a U.S. Army soldier, he served for three years during World War I and then resumed weightlifting once the war was over. Among the seniors, he made his mark at the 1946 World Championship. He won a bronze medal and set the American record in press in the same year. After he won the US Amateur Athletic Union middleweight category, he was able to compete at the 1947 World Championships, where he won a silver medal.  The following year brought him a truly outstanding success: he won the 1948 London Olympics in the 75 kg category being first in all three disciplines. Next to the Olympic gold medal, he set a new Olympic record in both Clean&Jerk and with 390 kilograms in Total as well. His career did not stop after the 1948 Olympics. While he improved the national record several times, he won the North American middleweight title in 1949, and proved to be the best in the weight class at the Maccabi Games in 1950 in Israel. In 1954, he went even further and he set a world record in squats, a discipline within powerlifting, which is a similar sport to weightlifting. Even in 1971, at the age of 49, Spellman did not stop lifting. As a father of six children he was still able to win in the middleweight category at the US National Championships. He was elected to the United States Weightlifting Hall of Fame and in several other organization’ Hall of Fame as well thanks to his achievements. The charismatic sportsman passed away on January 12, 2017, at the age of