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IWF Statement

The IWF is firmly opposed to the organisation of the 2026 Enhanced games (where the sport of Weightlifting was announced in the programme) and the danger it poses not just to athlete health but the integrity of sport. Weightlifting is rooted in the values of transparency, respect and fair competition. These principles are non-negotiable. The Enhanced games, on the contrary, can potentially put the lives of athletes at risk for supposed entertainment and threaten to undermine trust in the future of sport and the performances of clean athletes. Over recent years, the IWF has taken decisive action to strengthen integrity and clean sport across all levels of weightlifting. Today, our systems are more robust and transparent than ever before, and we remain fully committed to continuous improvement. We invite athletes and fans of our sport to witness true strength and integrity at the 2025 IWF World Championships this October in Forde (NOR), where fair competition will continue to inspire the next generation around the

Last meeting of the 2022-2025 IWF Executive Board held today in Riyadh (KSA)

One day before the 2025 IWF Electoral Congress in Riyadh (KSA), the last meeting of the 2022-2025 Executive Board took place today in the Saudi capital. In the two-hour gathering, the IWF President Mohammed Jalood heartfully thanked his colleagues for the “extraordinary work and unity” during the three-year term. “This Board literally saved our Sport and fought hard to keep weightlifting in the Olympic programme. I am very proud to lead such a fantastic team, with such a motivation, dedication and true passion for our Sport,” Mr Jalood also stated. Special thanks were addressed to IWF General Secretary Antonio Urso, and members Sam Coffa (also Chair of the Technical Committee) and Fathi Masmoudi, who will not be candidates to any future position within the IWF structure. “Their contribution has been outstanding and they will be forever part of our family!” the IWF President stated. IWF Executive Board Meeting in Riyadh (KSA) Mr Urso, also on an emotional tone, then took the floor and praised the “intense, rewarding and joyful years with so many friends and true supporters of Weightlifting. I will take you forever in my heart,” confessed the IWF General Secretary. After being greeted by the host of the IWF presence in Riyadh – “I want you all to feel at home in Saudi Arabia – my team and I will make our best to offer you and all delegates to the Congress the best possible conditions,” said IWF EB Member and President of Saudi Arabia Weightlifting Federation Mohammed Al-Harbi -, the EB proceeded with the discussions of the agenda items. They included the approval of the Membership Commission’s recommendation on the status of some National Federations, the ratification of the external and independent audit of the 2024 Financial Statements, the discussion on the Electoral Congress procedures, and the update on the celebrations of the IWF’s 120th anniversary. The IWF President also briefed the Board about his recent visit to Turkmenistan, where he had the opportunity to meet with the President of the country, Mr Serdar Berdimuhamedow. In a very “constructive dialogue” between the two dignitaries, the Head of State emphasised his nation’s passion for weightlifting, the sport that has brought the sole medal for Turkmenistan at the Olympics – by Polina Guryeva, second at the 2020 Tokyo Games in the women’s 59kg category. “The country and its President are very keen to host future IWF events in the near future and I told Mr Berdimuhamedow that we will seriously consider the possibility of Turkmenistan organising a qualification event for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games,” explained Mr Jalood. In 2018, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan’s capital, successfully hosted the IWF World Championships. IWF President being received by the President of Turkmenistan, Mr Serdar Berdimuhamedow (top), and meeting the Turkmenistan Weightlifting Federation representatives The IWF Ordinary and Electoral Congresses are taking place this weekend in Riyadh, where delegates from about 180 countries will vote on a new IWF Executive Board, as well as the IWF Committees and Commissions for the next four years. Live feed of these meetings will be available on IWF’s YouTube channel.   IWF

IWF120y/102 – 2024: Maude Charron enters in the Canadian weightlifting pantheon

The Canadian achievements at the Olympics are normally rather associated with other sports than with weightlifting (athletics, swimming, or ice hockey, just to name a few), but lifters from the maple leaf country have already earned six medals in the Games. Four of them were won by two remarkable women: Christine Girard and Maude Charron (photo). They are so far the only two Olympic weightlifting champions for their country – Girard in 2012 and Charron in 2020ne. Member of the IWF Athletes Commission, Maude Charron lifted 105-131-236 in Tokyo (in the 64kg category), and became the most successful Canadian lifter in 2024, after clinching the silver in the 59kg with a Total of 106-130-236 in Paris. At the world level, Charron (born in April 1993) won a bronze in 2022 – she was also champion at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games. If Charron could properly enjoy her award ceremonies, that was not the case for Christina Girard. Also with two medals – besides the gold in London, she was a bronze medallist in Beijing 2008 -, they were given to Girard on a ‘delayed’ mode: in 2008, she had finished fourth, and in 2012 she was initially third. In 2016, a re-analysis of samples from both Olympics revealed that other athletes with medals had tested positive for prohibited substances. This led to the upgrade of Girard, who received in 2018 the gold medal for the London 2012 and the bronze for the Beijing 2008 Games. Moreover, she was first at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 2011 Pan-American Games. Before these two ‘golden’ ladies, Canada had medalled on two occasions at the Olympics: in 1952, with Gerry Gratton, and in 1984 with Jacques Demers, both with a silver

IWF120y/101 – 1956: Mahmoud Namdjou (IRI), one of the best lifters of the decade

After World War II and for most of the 1950s, Iran had in Mahmoud Namdjou one of the best lifters in its history. Born in 1918 in Rasht (on the Caspian Sea coast), he moved in 1937 to Tehran and started working as a carpenter. Despite his tiny weight (he competed in the 56kg category), he was strong and took weightlifting in a gym close to his workplace. In parallel, he also competed in bodybuilding, but it was in our sport that the results made him a star in the country. At the 1948 London Games, he made his first Olympic appearance, but he finished fifth, with 82.5-82.5-122.5-287.5. In the two subsequent editions, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956, he did much better: in Finland, he was second (90-95-122.5-307.5), while in Australia he clinched bronze in 100-102.5-130-332.5. At the World Championships, his achievements were even more impressive: three gold medals in 1949, 1950, and 1951, one silver in 1954, and two bronze in 1955 and 1957 (this last one at home, in the Iranian capital, where he got his best Total at the IWF showcase with 97.5-97.5-125-320). With two more podium presences at the Asian Games – first in 1951 and second in 1958 – Namdjou was also quite successful in establishing new World Records. He improved 11 global marks during his career, including three in the Snatch, five in the Clean and Jerk, and three in the Total (with three lifts). With his gold medal in 1949, he became the first Iranian world champion in weightlifting (at Olympic level, this honour goes to Nassiri in 1968), setting the pace for a tradition of great achievements for the country in our sport. In 1960, he still tried to qualify for the Rome Olympics, but he didn’t manage to take part in his fourth Games. Namdjou died in 1989, aged 70.

IWF120y/100 – 2021: Polina Guryeva, a special medal for Turkmenistan

In the weightlifting Olympic story, among the countries with one single medal at the Games, three of them have another common characteristic: that podium presence is the only one for the nation, all sports included, in their respective Olympic trajectory. These countries are Iraq, Samoa, and Turkmenistan. The most recent case comes precisely from Polina Guryeva (photo), who earned in Tokyo 2020ne the sole medal so far in the history of her nation, Turkmenistan. Competing in the women’s 59kg category, she earned silver after lifting 96-121-217, an achievement that brought her the highest recognition from the Turkmen authorities: she was offered a new apartment and car upon her return to Ashgabat. Born in October 1999, she never replicated this success on a later stage: having gained weight and moved to the 76kg category, she was 20th at the 2023 IWF Worlds in Riyadh (KSA) and seventh at the 2024 Asian Championships. In Beijing 2008, Ele Opeloge clinched the sole medal so far in the Olympic history of Samoa: lifting in the women’s +75kg, she initially finished fourth, but was upgraded to second after two athletes tested positive for prohibited substances. Going back even further, we arrive at the 1960 Rome Olympics. In the men’s 67.5kg category, Abdul-Wahid Aziz will achieve an unparalleled feat in the history of Iraq so far: an Olympic medal! After lifting 117.5-115-147.5-380, he got the bronze medal. One year earlier, at the World Championships in Warsaw (POL), the Iraqi star was also third, with a Total of

IWF120y/99 – 1924: Austria starts Olympic 12-year cycle of success

Despite intense discussions around the participation of Austria in the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris – the country had been one of the defeated belligerents during World War I and had been banned in the 1920 edition in Antwerp -, Austrian lifters were finally present in the French capital. And the least we can say is that their participation was quite successful, with four medals – three silver (Andreas Stadler, Anton Zwerina, and Franz Aigner) and a bronze (Leopold Friedrich). Four years later, in Amsterdam, the Austrian delegation clinched two victories, thanks to Franz Andrysek (60kg) and Hans Haas (67.5kg). In Los Angeles 1932, Haas will become the sole Austrian lifter with two Olympic medals until the present day, by adding a silver to his roll of honour. Karl Hipfinger (75kg) also got a bronze medal in California. In 1936, Berlin hosted the Olympics in a dangerous time for Europe, and Robert Fein (gold in the 67.5kg category) closed the Olympic medal count for Austria. With nine medals, weightlifting is the third most successful sport for the central European nation, after sailing and canoeing. Both Haas and Fein (photo) were Jewish: if the first one could complete his career without major problems, Fein’s story was completely different. After the victory in Berlin (he was one of the 13 Jewish athletes getting a medal there), he could still earn a silver at the 1937 World Championships in Paris, but with the instauration of anti-Semitic laws in Austria, he was barred from competing. Never again, after World War II, did Austria know such achievements from its athletes. On the administration level, things were different: curiously born in 1924, Gottfried Schödl was one of the most prominent IWF officials, entering the Executive Board in 1964 and being elected IWF President in 1972 (until