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IWF120y/111 – 1952: Stanley Stanczyk (USA), a winner in sport and in life

Born in 1925 in a Polish family that had immigrated to Wisconsin (USA), Stanley ‘Stan’ Stanczyk and his parents moved to Detroit one year later, after an epidemic killed his two elder sisters. In his new home, life never ceased to be difficult: the random jobs of his father and the associated poverty obliged young Stan to be strong, morally and physically. He discovered weightlifting in his teenage years – to “gain muscles” – and in 1943 he was mobilised in the US Army during the last years of World War II. Six months after his discharge, he took part in the 1946 World Championships in Paris (the first major competition after the conflict) and won his first of many titles. He would repeat the achievement in the subsequent four editions of the global showcase, in 1947, 1949, 1950 (when he got his best result of 125-130-165-420), and 1951. In the meantime, he travelled to London, for the 1948 Olympics, and was also above the field in the British capital, clinching gold in 130-130-157.5-417.5. In Helsinki 1952, for his second Olympic appearance, he was the runner-up in his category (82.5kg), securing the silver medal in 127.5-127.5-160-415. In 1951, he was also the best in the first edition of the Pan-American Games. He was still present at the 1953 and 1954 IWF Worlds, earning the bronze on both occasions. After that, he retired from the sport (in which he improved eight World Records) and opened a bowling alley in Florida – together with his wife, they ran the business for 27 years and Stan became also a talented player. He passed away in 1997, aged 72. Photo credit:

IWF120y/110 – 2024: Emily Campbell (GBR) secures her place in the history books

Besides the strength displayed on the platform, Emily Campbell (GBR) is presently one of the most charismatic female lifters in the circuit. After seven Olympic medals, all won by men – ranging from the distant first edition of the Games, in 1896, until 1984 -, Campbell is the only female lifter from Great Britain on an Olympic podium. And she did it twice: in Tokyo 2020ne, competing in the +87kg category, she secured the silver in 122-161-283, and in Paris 2024, she was again among the best, clinching the bronze in the +81kg event (126-162-288, her best Total in international events). At the IWF World Championships, she has the exact same harvest – second in 2022 (122-165-287) and third in 2021 (121-157-278). “Weightlifting is very special and we should be so thankful that we have such beautiful people in our sport,” Campbell said after her world silver medal in Bogota, Colombia. On a continental level, her supremacy is complete in the +87kg category, with five consecutive European titles (2021 to 2025). Finally, she was also a Commonwealth Games champion in 2022 (after getting the bronze in 2018). Born in May 1994 in Nottingham, she graduated in 2016 with a Sports Science degree. In 2025, celebrating the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, she was again inspirational: “I want to be more than just an athlete. I would love to open my own gym for, predominately, youth and development. But I want anyone to be able to walk into my gym, to be able to have that community space to learn weightlifting, to learn physical literacy and to be comfortable and to live a healthy lifestyle”. Before Campbell, Louis Martin was the only British lifter with two medals in two editions of the Olympics – bronze in 1960 and silver in

IWF120y/109 – 1924: Last medals for Swiss lifters at the Olympics

Switzerland is presently the most important country in the world concerning sports international administration: from 1915 hosting the International Olympic Committee, since then many International Sports Federations – including the IWF – are also headquartered in the Alpine nation. The history of the country at the Olympics has been quite successful, with special emphasis going to the Winter Games. In weightlifting, Switzerland has won four medals so far, the last ones dating back more than 100 years ago. It all started in Antwerp 1920, with Eugene Ryther winning bronze in the 60kg category. His teammate Fritz Hunenberger (photo) would become the most successful athlete in the Olympic history of the country, by earning silver in Belgium (in the 82.5kg category), and then by finishing also second at the Paris 1924 Olympics (behind the star of that time, France’s Charles Rigoulot). He is the only Swiss lifter with two podium presences in the Games. Native from the Basel region (on the border with Germany and France), he competed for a German club in the early years of the 1920s. The Swiss harvest in the Olympics was completed by Arthur Reinmann, bronze medallist also in the French capital, 101 years ago. He also took part at the 1928 rendezvous in Amsterdam, but finished fifth. In recent years, Switzerland had in Scheila Meister its most prominent lifter: born in 1987, she had a late entry into the sport, but managed a fourth place at the 2023 European Championships. At 37, at the last IWF World Championships in December 2024, she was still present, finishing 18th in the 59kg category. Photo credit:

IWF120y/108 – 2020: Ursula Papandrea (USA) reaches the top of the IWF hierarchy

Ursula Papandrea is the most successful female administrator in the history of the IWF, after serving as Acting President of our International Federation in 2020, in order to restore credibility and cease the institutional turbulence in the IWF. A Houston (Texas) native, Papandrea fell in love with the sport from a very early age, when there were still many difficulties concerning the acceptance of women in weightlifting. In a 2023 interview, she recalled: “In the 1980s, when I started in the sport, there was a stigma attached to women lifting weights and so many ridiculous ideas of how it would impact our bodies. Of course, we now know that lifting weights has so many incredible health benefits that it has become common to the workout routines for men and women, old and young”. Despite the challenges, she became a successful national athlete, having also represented the USA in four editions of the IWF World Championships (whose first edition for women took place in 1987, precisely on US soil). She then went on a coaching career – she was the first female coach to drive a men’s team to the national title, in 2014 – and on providing her best expertise as an administrator. She was first elected as President of USA Weightlifting in 2016 (first woman to ascend to that position), and in 2017, she chaired the IWF Women’s Commission, while sitting as Vice-President on the IWF Executive Board. A strong promoter of gender equity and good governance, Papandrea (graduated with a major in exercise and sport science, followed by a Masters in political science) was elected IWF First Vice-President in 2022, and then re-confirmed in this position at the 2025 IWF Electoral

IWF120y/107 – 1988: Joachim Kunz gets the gold in the last Games for the GDR

During its last decade as a divided country, Germany had in Joachim Kunz its shiniest weightlifting star, competing for the GDR (German Democratic Republic). Born in February 1959 in Stollberg (then in the territory of East Germany), he was already a prodigy in the junior category, having won a gold medal at the World Championships in this age group, in 1977 and 1979. Competing in the 67.5kg category, Kunz arrived at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as one of the lifters to beat – he did not disappoint, getting the silver in 145-190-335. Four years later, in Los Angeles, the Eastern block decided to boycott the Games and Kunz could not compete. However, his domination at the world level was undisputable: after two silver medals at the IWF showcase in 1979 and 1980, the German ace was the best in 1981 and 1983. Had GDR decided to take part in the 1984 Olympic rendezvous, Kunz was, in normal conditions, certainly a candidate for a medal. Despite this important hiatus, he continued to train hard and qualified for the 1988 Games in Seoul. In the Korean capital, he successfully lifted 150-190-340, finishing second behind Angel Genchev (BUL). However, the Bulgarian lifter was subsequently tested positive for prohibited substances and Kunz ended up getting the Olympic title. It was the last time the ‘two’ Germany competed separately in the Games: one year later, the fall of the Berlin Wall led to the reunification of the country. During his amazing career (which also included several medals at the European Championships), Joachim Kunz also improved nine World Records – four in Snatch, three in Clean & Jerk, and two in

IWF120y/106 – 1978: Cairo (EGY) is the founding city of the Weightlifting Federation of Africa

After the Americas (in 1951), Asia (1958), and Europe (1969), the Weightlifting Federation of Africa (WFA) was established in 1978, thus becoming the fourth IWF continental body (Oceania would follow in 1980). Without surprise, the WFA is founded in Cairo, the Egyptian capital. The Land of the Pharaohs always played a key role in the continent: it was the first African federation affiliated to the IWF (in as early as 1920), followed only 28 years later by South Africa (1948), and then Morocco (1958). Moreover, at the Olympic and world level, Egyptian lifters had already excelled by winning several medals: still today, it is the most successful African nation in our sport. Presently, the continental body has 38 national federations, with the last inclusion being Equatorial Guinea at the May 2025 IWF Ordinary Congress. The WFA is directly responsible for the organisation of Youth, Junior, and Senior Championships at the continental level, on an annual basis. The last WFA showcase took place in Mauritius, at the end of April 2025, a competition where Nigeria and Egypt achieved the most remarkable performances. At the Olympic level, three African countries have obtained medals so far in weightlifting: Egypt (15), Nigeria (2) and Cameroon (1). In the long history of the IWF World Championships, the list (only counting Total medals) is a bit longer: Egypt (42), Nigeria (7), Tunisia (2), and Madagascar (1). In accordance with the IWF Constitution, each of the five continental federations’ presidents sits on the IWF Executive Board as IWF Vice-President.