News

Malta Weightlifting Association, Training camp in Brisbane

Small team from the Malta Weightlifting Association (MWA) had the opportunity to participate in a training in Brisbane, Australia between the 24th August and 3rd September 2017. The Maltese national weightlifting coach Mr. Jesmond Caruana together with Maltese national athletes, Kyle Micallef and Kieran Mifsud and Jessica Edge have participated in this camp at Cougars Weightlifting Club under the guidance of Miles Wydall and Angela Wydall. The challenging aspect of this initiative was the travelling distance as well as the timing of the training camp given that two weeks later the athletes were competing in an international competition. These training sessions were however essential for the Maltese team as apart from the weightlifting aspects and technicalities as part of its development for future athletes. The MWA would like to show its appreciation and gratitude towards the International Weightlifting Federation for this camp. Source: Jesmond Caruana, Maltese Weightlifting Association

New course for athletes on the IOC Athlete Learning Gateway

The brand new course, Safeguarding Athletes from Harassment and Abuse has just launched on the Athlete Learning Gateway! This course is a must for coaches, athletes, and members of the entourage, as everyone needs to be proactive in keeping sport safe. Led by Dr. Margo Mountjoy who is a sports medicine physician and a retired elite synchronized swimmer, along with former professional ice hockey player, Sheldon Kennedy. Taking the courage to speak out about abuse he suffered at the hands of a former coach, Sheldon campaigns for child abuse cases to be handled better, working with the likes of the Canadian government, the IOC and US Senate. In this course you will learn: What harassment and abuse is What the signs of harassment and abuse are Why harassment and abuse may happen How you can play a part in safeguarding against it What organisations are doing to stop it To join the course you can click on the following link. Find out more about the courses available on the IOC Athlete Learning

IWF Clean Sport Commission: Reforming and elevating standards

The International Weightlifting Federation's (IWF) Clean Sport Commission met for the first time for a two days meeting in Frankfurt on Monday and Tuesday this week. IWF Director General, Attila Adamfi opened the meeting giving a comprehensive summary on the issues discussed by the Sport Programme Commission and drafted the leading lines suggested for future implementation. “The Clean Sport Commission takes its tasks seriously and what drives its work towards efficiency is the combination of people knowing weightlifting, athletes, administrators joined by outside experts in the areas of testing, science and sports law working together to evaluate the most state-of-the-art innovations available and find the ones which could serve the protection of the sport best.” - said Richard Young, Sports Law Expert and Member of the Commission. The new Commission looks into the past to assess the present in aiming to ensure a level playing field for all with making recommendations for the future. Willing to address the issue on a high level, the emphasis was put on getting the full support of all stakeholders involved. The Independent experts in the field of Anti-Doping (Athlete Representative, Representative of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Sports Law Experts, Laboratory Experts, Representatives of a National Anti-Doping Agency) all agreed that doping could be fought with joint forces only and IWF can count on the contribution of its Member Federations, the National Anti-Doping Organizations and the National Olympic Committees. Major axes paired with assets were brought together as part of potential innovations to lead the way in the following fields: Potential changes in the IWF Anti-Doping Policy Anti-Doping Education – shifting the culture through targeted spread of knowledge Sample Collection Analytical innovations The Commission aims to find the best means to improve the IWF Anti-Doping Programme even further, relying on both the expertise provided by its Members and its assessment of the robust work already done by IWF. The first preliminary report of the Commission will be submitted to the IWF Executive Board during its meeting in Bucharest on 30 September- 1

Olympic Solidarity course in Argentina

In August 2017 an Olympic Solidarity course took place in Corrientes, Argentina. The six days long course was destined to experienced coaches who are involved in the development of the country, especially to redesign the development of sport at the Under 15 and Under 17 age group. The course was organized by the Argentinean Weightlifting Federation with the support of IWF and Olympic Solidarity. During the lessons the coaches listened the expert with great enthusiasm, Mr. Jaiber Manjarres Cortes who has an extensive curriculum in weightlifting with international results. Both the theoretical and the practical part took place in Sedronar Corrientes Capital which has facilities of first level. The agenda was wide and diverse, providing up-to-date information presented by someone who has currently one of the most competitive teams in America. Mr. Manjarres answered all the questions of the listeners with great professionalism and experience. As a result, the material shared by the expert made a national sport development program for athletes of Under 15 and Under 17. This program contains macro-cycle planning with the analysis of each training unit. At the same time, the dynamics of the regional and national training camps for the competitors of this age group were considered within the

No positive test results at the 2017 IWF Junior World Championships

The IWF is pleased to announce that no prohibited substances were detected in any of the samples collected at the IWF JWC. The event featured 256 athletes, out of which a total of 166 tests were conducted including 43 blood and 123 urine during the IWF JWC between 15-23 June 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. The test distribution plan of the Event was carefully elaborated by the IWF Anti-Doping Commission which appointed the Japan Anti-Doping Agency to be the Sample Collection Authority of the IWF JWC. All analyses were conducted by the WADA-accredited Laboratory of Tokyo in Japan with the use of the most sophisticated detection methods. The successful Anti-Doping Outreach created in joint efforts with the Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) on the occasion of the 2017 IWF JWC as well as the Education Seminar organized on site both aiming to provide useful knowledge for the participants strengthened the IWF’s efforts in its committed fight against doping. Providing tailored education for young kids and grassroots proves to be an important part of the long term IWF strategy to ensure a level playing field for all in the

Anti-Doping Technical visit in preparation for the 2017 IWF WWC

The International Weightlifting Federation delegation paid a visit to Colorado Springs for the first time ever. The visit marks a historical trip since there had never been any technical visits before dedicated only to Anti-Doping purposes. For these reasons, IWF's visit to coordinate the Event Testing and Education with the United States Anti-Doping Agency is a sign of IWF's strong commitment to Clean Sport. The IWF Technical visit was led by Dr. Patrick Schamasch, Anti-Doping Commission Chairman joined by Dr. Eva Nyirfa Legal Counsel and Dr. Lilla Sagi Junior Legal Counsel. As part of the Organizing Committee, the USA Weightlifting hub hosted the meetings successfully. Just like in the past, it remains highly important that at the biggest IWF Event the athletes and the athlete support personnel receive the most comprehensive Anti-Doping information and feel their involvement in the fight against doping. The IWF warmly welcomes the cooperation with USADA as the best protection to Clean Lifters could be given with joint