News

Australian Weightlifting Federation Newly Elected Board

The 2018 Annual General Meeting of the Australian Weightlifting Federation was held on Monday the 10th September. The newly elected board consists: Sam Coffa - President/Chair Deborah Acason Lyn Jones Pedro Sanchez Phil Maunder The AWF Board will appoint additional two directors in due course. Congratulations to all the elected officials! Source: Australian Weightlifting Federation — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter

Lasha Talakhazdze is one to watch at the 2018 IWF World Championships

The Georgian National Championships were held over the weekend, where national favourite, Lasha Talakhadze showed off his incredible talent once again.   At his first formal competition in the newly established 109kg bodyweight category, Lasha broke multiple unofficial World Records and set a new personal best with his 264kg Clean and Jerk. This is one kilogram more than the official 105kg World Record set by Iranian weightlifter Hossein Rezazadeh in 2004. As of the Snatch, Lasha easily lifted 214kg, that earned him a 478kg Total, which is also 1kg more than the 105kg bodyweight category World Record set by himself last year at the World Championships in Anaheim. At 220kg, he holds the Snatch World Record as well. Watch the 264kg Clean and Jerk on Lasha's Instagram! 2018 could be the most successful year in Lasha's career so far. After being named Lifter of the Year earlier this year, he is expected to shine at the 2018 IWF World Championships starting 1st of November. If he delivers the same performance, he would become the World Record holder in Snatch, Clean and Jerk and Total in his bodyweight category. Be ready for Ashgabat! — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter

WHEREABOUTS REMINDER Q4

This is a reminder that every Athlete included in the International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP) shall submit their whereabouts information through the Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) throughout the whole year on a quarterly basis. The deadline to submit for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2018 is 30 September. Please also note that Athletes who are not included in the IRTP but wish to compete at IWF Events shall provide whereabouts information for at least the two-months period prior to the Event. In case of an IWF World Championship the length of this period is three months. Athletes who do not fulfil this criteria shall not be eligible to compete at the IWF Event in question. Should you encounter any technical difficulties please contact us immediately

DEADLINE REMINDER: Final Entries 2018 IWF World Championships Ashgabat

The deadline for submitting the Final Entries to the 2018 IWF World Championships in Ashgabat, TKM runs out on 28 September. Member Federations are hereby reminded to submit their applications with an immediate urgency. We kindly ask you to register your athletes through the IWF Online Entry System:   http://www.iwf.net/e-entry All other documents, like Team Accommodation Form, Transportation Form, Media Accreditation Form, Visa Application Form, Regulations are downloadable by the following link: Documents The World Championship will be held between 1st and 10th November. _ Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter

Interview: Morghan King – YOG Athlete Role Model

The International Olympic Committee, along with the International Weightlifting Federation, appointed Morghan King and Oscar Albeiro Figueroa Mosquera as Athlete Role Models at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. So, how is Morghan feeling about her new role? [caption id="attachment_23874" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Morghan King at Rio2016 (USA Today Sports)[/caption] What will your role as YOG ambassador entail? My overall mission is to support and inspire our young athletes. Weightlifting is an incredible sport – it’s an incredible feat of human physical ability. So, I’m going to do my best to promote weightlifting on one of the biggest stages.   What advice would you give to those competing at YOG? One thing Melanie Roach (USA Olympian 53kg) said to me after the 2008 Olympic Games was to make sure you enjoy it, because it goes by so fast. For weightlifters specifically – appreciate the moment of walking out onto the platform. Try to take in everything, including everyone who’s there to support you. If you remember your training and keep calm, you’ll do great things.   Have you had any experience of the Youth Olympic Games before? I haven’t. I only started weightlifting at the end of 2012! However, I’ve spoken to athletes who competed at the last Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing and they said they had the most amazing time. Travelling to a different country, for some of these kids the first time, and opening their eyes to different cultures will be an incredible experience.   What excites you about this specific YOG? I’m excited to be in a competitive environment and be supportive of these young athletes. My focus is on having fun and enjoying the sport while being a role model. Being a young athlete, it will most likely be the first time they're participating in the Olympic movement - it will be cool to feel that energy in Buenos Aires. It will be special to be part of where it all starts for these young athletes.   How can athletes get the most out of this event? The Youth Olympic Games has an inclusive and open feel about it. The Olympic movement is all about unity and love of sport, I feel as though everyone is keen to meet everyone else and experience it together. Athletes will get to meet so many new people, so be outgoing and try to remember how few people actually get to experience what you are experiencing.   What do you just before you're about to go lift that others might find helpful? I’m a big proponent of meditating. Learning to control what’s going on in your own mind and letting go of the things out of your control can help so much with performance. The Games can be chaotic, especially in the weightlifting back room, so practicing breathing techniques will be useful. In terms of performance – do what you’ve always done, don’t change a thing. When you’re about to step out onto the platform, allow yourself to enjoy the moment and simply remember your training. For the most part, a coach will not put weight on the bar that they think you can’t lift. That should be reassuring. Don’t worry about what’s on the bar and most importantly - have fun!   Do you think YOG is a good stepping stone to the Olympic Games? The Olympic process isn’t as straightforward as progressing in traditional sports, as every quad can be very different. So, having an event like the Youth Olympic Games where kids can reach such a high level so early is a great tool to inspire the next generation of athletes. Weightlifting is on the rise, so having an internationally-recognised event is a way to get more young people involved with the sport and to nurture the goal of becoming an Olympian.   Apart from weightlifting, are you excited to watch any other events? Loads! When I competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, I finished competing the day after the opening ceremony, so I had lots of free time to explore and take in the wonderful Olympic experience. If I could watch every single sport I would. Just knowing what these athletes have gone through to get to this level makes me appreciate them all. I'm hoping to be with the young athletes and watch many of the events. At the Olympics I missed out on watching tennis, table tennis and rugby, so I would love to see some of those. — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter

2018 WUC closed: Exellence in mind, body – and in organisation

The heavyweights got into action on the final day of the 2018 WUC. USA, Austria and Germany vied for the top positions in the men's 105kg and shared the snatch medals. KOCH Florian from Austria was best in snatch, but in clean and jerk LIN Sheng-Lun from TPE rose to prominence. However, the overall winner was GUNTHER Bjorn, Germany. In the women's 90kg Tom GOEGEBUER's lifter, European Championship silver medallist VANBELLINGHEN Anna represented Belgium, won hands down, and added 3 WUC gold medals to her collection. Women's +90kg - 2017 Universiade 4th Korean KO A-Rang and 2016 WUC 3rd Mexican BUENO PLACENCIA Gladis G. were fighting for the gold medals. Since the Korean was better on both lifts, finishing with 339kg in total, she won all the three gold medals ahead of BUENO. The men's superheavies were last to board the platform. Serbia's KAJDOCI Tamas came out last but in snatch he received strong competition from HSIEH Yun-Ting, TPE who received the gold for 170kg, four kilograms over the Serbian's. Ecitement rose in clean and jerk where KAJDOCI met his match in NONAKA Masahiro, Japan. Their chase ended with the Serbian tackling 222kg successfully for a 388kg winning total. The WUC in Biala Podlaska came to an end with a Closing Ceremony whereby FISU 1st Vice President Leonz EDER praised the organisers and the excellence of the participants. "As FISU Technical Delegate for Weightlifting, I am happy and proud to have had another successful World University Championships like this one in Biala Podlaska. All participants had a great time and enjoyed perfect competing, lodging and catering conditions. Last but not least, we must be grateful to the hosts for their traditional warm Polish hospitality." - said Anikó NÉMETH-MÓRA, in charge of supervising the event. "The IWF has also expressed its full satisfaction and appreciation to the hosts for what was an entirely excellent event with 26 countries participating." - confirmed IWF Technical Delegate Mátyás