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Technical visit in Pattaya

The Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association welcomed the IWF delegation for a Technical visit in preparation of the 2019 IWF World Championships in the capital city of Thailand recently. The IWF inspected the venues in Pattaya: the SAT Indoor Athletics Stadium where the competition and training will take place and the Official hotel (Ambassador City Jomtien) that will accommodate all participants and meetings, including the IWF Congress. The conditions and requirements of the events concerned were discussed and specified. In view of the extensive experience of TAWA in hosting major weightlifting events and having witnessed the thorough and professional preparations, the IWF rest assured that the upcoming IWF World Championships in Pattaya will answer to the expectations of all stakeholders. The IWF delegation was ensured that TAWA will deliver a successful

Weightlifting Is READY STEADY TOKYO!

The test event – also serving as a Silver Level Qualification event – for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games weightlifting competition begins this weekend at the Tokyo International Forum. The training hall, situated in the basement of the building, features an elevated glass walkway for fans to watch their favourite athletes train prior to their moment on the Olympic stage. The competitions will provide management and operational staff in Tokyo with invaluable experience at the same venue that will be used next year, helping ensure that the Tokyo 2020 events are of the very highest standards. READY STEADY TOKYO - Weightlifting is the first test event to involve the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is organising the event alongside the Japan Weightlifting Association, together with the support of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). 73 athletes from ten countries across three continents are confirmed entrants, with a Japan-China-Korea friendship tournament at the heart of the event. This approach to test events follows the guidelines established by the International Olympic Committee’s Agenda 2020, which encourages organising smaller international tournaments in order to provide an effective technical test, while also providing cost savings. Taking place in the Tokyo International Forum, an established convention and art centre, the weightlifting competitions of Tokyo 2020 are also demonstrating how they can be hosted in an existing multipurpose venue, further easing pressures on organisers. “The IWF is very proud to have weightlifting become the first sport to feature in the READY STEADY TOKYO series,” said IWF President Tamas Ajan. “The preparations for the Tokyo 2020 weightlifting competitions have given us every reason to expect that this will be an outstanding Olympic Games for our sport and its leading athletes.” Olympic and World Champions, medallists and world record holders are among a star-studded field, which includes Hirome MIYAKE (JPN) and Xiaojun LYU (CHN). A particularly gripping contest is expected in the women’s +87KG category, featuring IWF World Champion and World Record holder Tatiana KASHIRINA (RUS), Snatch World Record holder Wenwen LI (CHN) and Rio 2016 Olympic Champion Suping MENG (CHN). As weightlifters around the world aim to secure places at Tokyo 2020, they are part of an innovative and widely-praised Olympic Qualifying System that sees countries with a proven history of clean sport rewarded with the highest number of athlete quota places. Check out the Start

How ‘Golden’ Girl Mirabai Chanu Smashed Barriers to Lift India to New Heights!

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu was only 11 when she won her first-ever competitive gold medal. The weightlifting champion, who made her debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was faced with bitter disappointment when she was only one of two lifters who did not finish at the entry-level category. Despite the disappointment, Mirabai Chanu created history at the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships held in Anaheim, United States. She became the second Indian in 22 years to clinch a gold at the World Weightlifting Championships after legendary weightlifter, Karnam Malleswari. Malleswari had achieved this feat twice, in 1994 in Turkey, and in China in 1995. Mirabai lifted over four times her body weight to clinch that gold and when she finished the lift, she did her customary namaste giving India a podium finish. She was born in a humble family in Nongpok Kakching village, located 20 kilometres from Imphal, Manipur. While her father is a lower-level employee at the Public Works Department in Imphal, her mother ran a small shop in their village. The youngest of six siblings, Mirabai would accompany her older brother, Saikhom Sanatomba Meitei, to collect firewood from a nearby hill. It was at the age of 12 that the family recognised the strength of the little girl. Speaking to PTI, her brother recalled, “One day, I could not lift the bundle of firewood but Mira easily lifted it and took it our home, about two kilometres away. She was about 12-years-old then.” Mirabai started her weightlifting journey inspired by the performance of seven-time champion Kunjarani Devi at the 2004 Athens Olympics, who coincidentally also moved on to coaching her at one point in her career. A brief overview of her journey: She hogged limelight first after clinching a silver medal for India in the 48 kg weightlifting category at the Glasgow edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2014. Despite qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics in the women’s 48 kg category, she couldn’t finish the event as she failed to lift the weight in any of her three attempts in the clean and jerk section. She bounced right back up after her historic gold win in 2017 in the Women’s 48 kg category at the World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim, CA, United States by lifting a competition record 194 kg in total (85 kg snatch and 109 kg clean and jerk). In 2018, Chanu lifted a total of 196 kg, 86 kg in snatch and 110 kg in clean and jerk to win the first gold medal for India in the Commonwealth Games 2018. She also broke the record for the weight category. At the 2019 Asian Weightlifting Championships, she won bronze in clean and jerk in the 49 kg Category. The total weight of 199 kg was her best ever. She clinched a gold medal at the EGAT Cup in Thailand, making a strong comeback from the lower back injury that kept her out of action for more than half of 2018. Mirabai was bestowed the prestigious Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contribution to the sport. She was awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award by the Government of India in 2018. At her CWG 2018 win, her brother recalled her triumph despite odds, saying “There was a lot of financial crisis for her and they could hardly support her. Despite all the hardships, she has reached a stage we never thought of… All these brought tears to my father and mother.” Source:

Young Egyptian champion Rania Ezzat honored by Ministry of Education for taking first place at the IWF Junior World Championships

Egypt’s Minister of Education honoured Rania Mohamed Ezzat, the Egyptian junior weightlifting champion, who recently made history by winning first place in the IWF Junior World Championships, bagging three medals–two golds and one silver in Suva, Fiji last month. In the same vein, Mohamed Ali Tantawy, coach of the national team of Egypt, was honoured for having a splendid impact on the Egyptian winner through support and good training. Impressing competitors from around the world coming, from New Zealand, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and more, Ezzat lifted a total of 219 kg during the remarkable competition. In the category of 76 kg weight, Ezzat pinched the two golds in the Snatch with 122 kg, in addition to winning the silver medal in the Clean and Jerk with 97 kg. Ezzat has won numerous international competitions she has participated in, among which was recently the African championships held at the end of last year, where she won the 71 kg category. In the African Weightlifting Championship, Ezzat made a triumphant appearance, claiming three gold medals in the under-18 division in the 75 kg category along with another three golds in the under-21 division in the same category. The young Egyptian champion collected three gold medals in the category 63+ in the African Youth Championship that took place in Algeria and ran from July 19 to 28 last year, according to Women of Egypt. Source:

IWF collaboration with the UWW

United World Wrestling is organizing a series of cadet training camps named 'More than Medals' for their young wrestlers. As weightlifting is a core sport and is known as one of the important modules in Strength & Conditioning training for all sports, UWW has contacted IWF to assist them in their project. In the past years, the two Federations worked together in some projects already.   At this time, in the framework of ‘More than Medals America UWW’ organized a camp in Mexico at the headquarters of the Mexican Olympic Committee. Totally 50 athletes and 17 coaches from 12 countries participated. Mr. Aureliano Jorge Huie Molinet from Mexico delivered the presentations for the young athletes, which included a theoretical class about weightlifting and the importance of strength training. The coach showed the Olympic weightlifting movements without weights since the participating young athletes were close to a competition. Due to the corrections shown by Mr. Huie Molinet the kids' technique greatly improved. The coaches were also very enthusiastic as in the end, they asked for the advice and the contact of the expert. The final outcome was very positive and both the UWW and IWF hope to continue working

British Weight Lifting seeks feedback from volunteers

British Weight Lifting (BWL) is canvassing opinion from volunteers in a bid to help clubs maximise their success. The governing body has released a survey which it hopes will produce the information required to help clubs move forward. A statement on the BWL website read: “Volunteers have always played a vital part in the sports and physical activity sector. “That’s why we are committed to ensuring clubs have the right support to recruit and retain the volunteers they need to ensure their club is the best it can be. “To help us do this, we are consulting clubs across England to understand more about the volunteers who give their time to clubs. “Importantly, and at the heart of this consultation, we also want to know more about the challenges clubs face and the support they need to help them ensure their volunteers have quality, enjoyable experiences.   Have you volunteered in the last 12 months? We'd love to hear about your experience of volunteering to help us improve the support and opportunities available to volunteers. Our survey takes around 10 minutes to complete 👇https://t.co/M8GzGltFYW pic.twitter.com/aMeBxnLg68 — BritishWeightLifting (@GBWeightLifting) 2019. június 21. “By completing this survey, you will be providing invaluable information which will help both British Weight Lifting and Sport England understand better how we can support clubs to recruit and retain the volunteers they need to run their club and to improve the volunteering experience. “Your support for this important piece of research is greatly appreciated and ultimately, will help us help community sports clubs be even more successful.” All responses to the survey, which can be completed here, are confidential. BWL has asked for the survey to be filled in by July 19. Source: