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ECHANDIA ZARATE Katherin Oriana gets first YOG Gold

Weightlifting kicked off today with altogether 120 athletes from 63 countries competing at the 3rd edition of the Youth Olympic Games held in Buenos Aires, ARG. Youth athletes will have the chance to get to know the Olympic values better and dive into the spirit of Olympism. The Europe Pavilion, venue to host the competitions, saw the victory of 17 years old ECHANDIA ZARATE Katherin Oriana (VEN). Also Gold Medallist at the 2nd South American Youth Games and Pan American Youth Championships, she improved her performance and reached a Total of 167kg. Silver Medallist NGUYEN Thi Thu Trang (VIE) made it to 147kg while KARASAKAL Nida (TUR) ended third with 138kg. After this promising start, all three athletes have a promising future

BUENOS AIRES 2018 KICKED OFF WITH A RECORD CROWD

THE 3RD SUMMER YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES BUENOS AIRES 2018 HAVE GOT OFF TO A GREAT START! FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE MODERN OLYMPIC GAMES, THE OPENING CEREMONY WAS HELD IN THE STREET, WITH THE CELEBRATION OPEN TO ALL - AND OVER 200.000 PEOPLE SHOWED UP FOR THE PARTY! Opening the event to the general public made for a truly remarkable atmosphere on the vibrant Avenida 9 de Julio, the main avenue in Buenos Aires where the Ceremony took place. The porteños sang, danced and celebrated on what was a magical evening, showing their enthusiasm at hosting the Youth Olympic Games in their city. The show itself was spectacular, with the Olympic rings appearing to float in the air, the Youth Olympic sports being presented on the iconic Obelisk, and numerous tango dancers performing on the balconies of the apartments lining the avenue. Almost 2,000 people worked to ensure the smooth running of the Ceremony, including more than 350 artists, technicians and musicians from the Argentinian theatre company Fuerza Bruta, which captivated a worldwide audience. Addressing the young athletes in his speech, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “To get here, each of you trained and competed hard. You gave your best in the sport you love so much. This is why you deserve to be here, at your Games. Every athlete is different. We all come from different parts of the world and have different cultures. But we are all united by the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. Guided by these Olympic values, each one of you makes a difference in sport and in life. This experience will stay with you for all your life. We are all assembled here to celebrate you, as the real game-changers.” The final part of the Ceremony saw the Youth Olympic flame being passed between several young Argentinian athletes representing all the other athletes, the #GameChangers, who will be inspiring the public over the next 12 days of competition. The Torch Relay concluded with two legends of Argentinian sport – Paula Pareto and Santiago Lange – who had the honour of lighting the cauldron with the Youth Olympic flame. The flame will now be moved to the Youth Olympic Park, where it will continue to burn until the end of the Games on 18 October. The Ceremony culminated in a dazzling firework display, which illuminated the Buenos Aires night sky amidst the cheers of the athletes and the public. Let the Youth Olympic Games begin! Source:

David Liti broke the oldest New Zealand record

Last Sunday, 23rd September, David Liti broke the oldest New Zealand record of 175kg Snatch in the +105kg bodyweight category, previously held by Nigel Avery – 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist. Liti snatched 176kg to break the record by 1kg. The New Zealand National Championships produced some excellent results and an impressive number of competitors took part. The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist received the Yvette William Scholarship from the New Zealand Olympic Committee. The scholarship is valued at NZD$25,000 and takes him through to the Tokyo Olympics. This will be of great assistance to this young superstar. Source: OWF — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter

The sports equipment of Buenos Aires 2018 will include more than 20,000 items

More than just muscles are necessary to compete in any sport. Other essentials are required for the game to make sense. Can you imagine tennis, beach volleyball, futsal, hockey 5s, rugby sevens, table tennis, beach handball or 3x3 basketball without a ball? The Sports Equipment sector of the Buenos Aires 2018 Organising Committee is in charge of ensuring the fundamental elements for each competition. They have the responsibility of finding 7,393 balls: 4,980 for tennis, 600 for beach volleyball, 545 for futsal, 300 for hockey 5s, 300 for rugby sevens, 288 for table tennis, 280 for beach handball, and 100 for 3x3 basketball. Instead of being played with balls, badminton uses goose feathers and many are used each game - so many, that for these Youth Olympic Games they’ll have 10,800 feathers (900 dozen) on hand. But for 6 October they will also need 10 courts, 10 nets and 24 posts. All of this will be in the hands of the Sport Equipment team. For many of the 32 sports they’ll be providing the essentials. For example, the 8 pairs of goals for beach handball, the 4 sets of boards for hockey 5s, the 10 nets for beach volleyball, 3 hoops for 3x3 basketball, the 24 table tennis tables, 4 sport climbing walls and 15 diving boards. Athletics is the sport that requires the most items. The list begins with specific objects for each discipline: 24 discuses, 24 hammers, 24 javelins, and 24 shots. And these are in addition to the 250 cones, 190 hurdles, 28 starting blocks, 4 record indicators, 60 chalk blocks, and 16 high jump bars. There will even be a couple remote control carts to transport things… Gymnastics comes after athletics in terms of equipment needs with its 10 exercise floors (half for artistic gymnastics and half for rhythmic). It also requires 23 trampolines, 3 asymmetrical bars, 3 landing mats, 3 balance beams, 5 vaults and 3 pommel horses. Different kinds of equipment are used for the combat sports at Buenos Aires 2018. For boxing there will be 80 pairs of boxing gloves, 300 bandage tapes, and 68 helmets. The others also have specific requirements: 50 taekwondo uniforms, 16 karate belts and 60 judogis for judo. Some sports have even more particular equipment. For sailing, 18 inflatable boats, 14 catamarans for Nacra 15 and 48 windsurfer boards will be needed for the competitions at Buenos Aires 2018. Pentathlon has 28 laser pistols (model PP500), while archery will use 1,000 targets. Weightlifting has 1,200 plates, which are provided by Eleiko. All of these things must be present for the Games to kick off this weekend! Source: aipsmedia.com — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

2017 IWF World Weightlifting Championships Wins Award

Yesterday, 3rd of October SportsTravel Magazine awarded the 2017 International Weightlifting Federation World Weightlifting Championships with its Best Amateur Single-Sport Event Award. Held November 28 through December 5, 2017 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, the 2017 IWF World Weightlifting Championships hosted 328 athletes from 68 different nations. At the event, 5 world records were broken, and sixteen athletes were crowned World Champions. "We're so honoured to win this award," USA Weightlifting CEO Phil Andrews said. "We had terrific partners with the International Weightlifting Federation and Visit Anaheim to carry out such a successful World Championships." “It was great to welcome the world to Anaheim,” Roy Edmonson, Vice President of Sports Anaheim said. “We worked very hard for more than a year to try and bring a World Championships the athletes would remember for a lifetime. We thank SportsTravel for recognizing our efforts.” Members of Visit Anaheim and USA Weightlifting comprised the Organizing Committee which was tasked with arranging not only the competition; but managing logistics surrounding lodging, meals, training and other aspects of the eight-day competition Prior to the competition in Anaheim, the Organizing Committee held a training camp in Las Vegas, Nevada for international athletes from four nations to come get acclimated to the United States. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, along with MGM Resorts International and Average Broz. Gym sponsored the camp and supported the international athletes who attended. The Organizing Committee wishes to thank all of its sponsors and partners who helped make the event such a success. This is the second time in three years the IWF World Weightlifting Championships won a SportsTravel Award. SportsTravel magazine awarded the 2015 IWF World Weightlifting Championships with the Best Amateur Single-Sport Event of the Year. Houston-Harris County hosted that event. Source: USA Weightlifting — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Get to know… Gaëlle Nayo-Ketchanke

Name: Gaëlle Nayo-Ketchanke D.O.B.: 20 April 1988 Nationality: French Bodyweight category: 75kg Major medals (Total): 2015 European Weightlifting Championships (Tblisi, Georgia) - Silver 2016 European Weightlifting Championships (Førde, Norway) - Silver 2017 IWF World Championships (Anaheim, USA) - Bronze 2018 European Weightlifting Championships (Bucharest, Romania) - Silver 2018 XVIII Mediterranean Games (Tarragona, Spain) - Silver Personal Bests:  Snatch: 111kg Clean and Jerk: 137kg Total: 248kg -- BUSINESS   1 Snatch or clean & jerk? Clean & jerk.   2. What do you like to listen to when training?  Radio for background music.   3. How many hours a week do you spend in the gym?  When I'm training with the national team it's 30 hours per week; otherwise, I have to balance home and work so it's about 20 hours per week.   4. What's your favourite aspect of training?  All the preparation in general, but especially working hard and digging deep - I constantly challenge and push myself to the limit.   5. Which aspect of training do you hate the most?  Working on my weak points!   6. If there was one thing you could improve about your technique, what would it be?  Definitely the snatch, even though I improved a lot early on in my career.   7. What is your most memorable lift? Without a doubt, the 2015 European Championships where I broke all my records. It was a perfect day and I really enjoyed competing against my rivals and ultimately claiming second place. Also, my Olympic qualification during the 2016 European Championships where - despite my injuries - I managed to get back to a fairly high standard with the support of my club coach and partner. It was pretty intense!   8. What achievements will allow you to retire happy?  Winning medals has been a huge achievement, especially as they were the first in my country for 25 years. Making my parents (who still live in Cameroon, Africa) proud; making my trainers proud. I thank God for all these things that are forever engraved in my memory. My ultimate aim is to train as hard as possible every day  so that I’m in with a chance of qualifying for, and getting a medal at, the Tokyo Olympic Games.   9. Knowing what you know now, what one thing would you change in your first training routines?  There’s not much I’d change – I don’t cheat, I give 100%, and I trust my coaches.  Ideally, I’d like to become professional which would change a lots of things – but this is not the case in France!   10. Who is the greatest weightlifter of all time?   I don’t think he’s the greatest weightlifter of all time like Naim Suleymanoglu or Pyrros Dimas, but the person I most admire and who has always made me want to excel is Dymtri Klokov.   11. What is the most important thing needed to be an Olympic weightlifter?  Humility, hard work and rigour are essential qualities – added to which is a desire to follow your dreams, have an open mind, and the ability to enjoy yourself.   [caption id="attachment_24180" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Gaëlle at the 2017 IWF World Championships[/caption] -- PERSONAL    1 Describe yourself in 3 words Generous, hard-working and cheerful.   2. What other sports do you like to play?  Athletics, in particular the 100m, which I practised when starting out in Cameroon.   3. What is your favourite meal?  Eru - a Cameroonian specialty.   4. If you could only eat one type of one cuisine for the rest of your life, what would it be?  African cuisine, definitely something from my birthplace.   5. Describe your perfect day off.  Lunch with my family, a stroll and a browse in some shops. Ending with a meal at a great little restaurant near me in the south of France – on the seafront beneath the sunset.   6. Which person, alive or dead, would you like to have a conversation with? Bernard Garcia, manager of my French Club Clermont Sports, who  died of cancer in 2014.   He was the dearest person to me, my second father, and I feel his loss deeply. He did everything for me and now with God watches over my career.   7. Name one skill you would like to learn  Maybe wisdom, even if it’s not exactly a skill.   8. Where is the one place you would like to visit?  The Seychelles.   9. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received? Accept everything that happens to you as God’s will. Acknowledge your failures with serenity and learn from them.   Watch Gaëlle takeover @iwfnet Instagram Stories next Wednesday 10 October, as she trains for the 2018 IWF World Championships in Ashgabat. — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter