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Oceania Stars to Battle for Glory at Australian Open

Weightlifters from eight countries across the Oceania region will gather in Brisbane this weekend for the 2018 Australian Open at the Sleeman Sports Complex – and the competition is set to be more ferocious than ever. With last year’s event having served as a qualifier for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which will take place in nearby Gold Coast in April, this year’s Australian Open will feature a series of competitors who have lofty ambitions, as well as many who have already established outstanding reputations on the international stage. Amongst the athletes coming from all corners of the host country, Cameroon-born Francois Etoundi, who has been selected to represent Australia at the upcoming Commonwealth Games, will compete in the men’s 77kg category. No fewer than 20 of the competitors will be teenagers, providing an exciting glimpse of the future, including Tasmanian Stephanie Pickrell, who will compete in the women’s 48kg division and has been tipped as an up-and-coming star after a series of impressive performances last year. However, the Australian athletes will need all the support they can get from the home fans, with several weightlifters with Olympic Games experience ready to challenge for places on the podium. Among them will be Jenly Wini, who was the flagbearer for her native Solomon Islands at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics and also competed at the Rio 2016 Games. She will be hoping for a repeat of her gold medal in the 58kg division at the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby. Sisters Thelma and Dika Toua from Papua New Guinea will also present significant challenges to the home favourites in the women’s 48kg and 53kg categories, respectively. Thelma Toua won three gold medals at the 2015 Pacific Games, while Dika Toua picked up gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a record total lift for the event of 193kg. [caption id="attachment_21371" align="aligncenter" width="541"] Weightlifting sisters Thelma and Dika Toua. Photo: RNZ Pacific/Vinnie Wylie[/caption] In the men’s competition, it is also worth watching out for the 105kg division, which will feature two gold medal-winners from the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Dancing legend David Katoatau will be targeting further glory after winning Kiribati’s first ever Commonwealth Games gold medal in the 105kg division four years ago, while Steven Kari of Papua New Guinea has moved up from the 95kg category. Morea Baru will also harbour ambitions of bringing a medal home to Papua New Guinea in the men’s 62kg division, having finished sixth in his category at the Rio Olympics two years ago. However, Baru will be up against a number of tough rivals in a competitive division, including Fijian pair Poama Qaqa and Manueli Tulo. [caption id="attachment_21374" align="aligncenter" width="539"] Always putting on a show: Kiribati's David Katoatau[/caption] Qaqa won a gold medal in the Oceania Junior Championships and a bronze in the Oceania Senior Championships in Gold Coast back in September, while Tulo, a former Fiji Sportsman of the Year, claimed gold at the 2016 Australian Open before edging out Elson Brechtefeld and Australian Lynton Hargrave for top spot at the Oceania Championships last year. Hargrave and Brechtefeld are back again for this year’s Australian Open, with a mouth-watering competition in prospect. Remarkably, Brechtefeld will be one of five athletes representing the remote Republic of Nauru, the smallest state in the South Pacific and home to only 11,000 inhabitants, demonstrating the reach of a truly global sport. Keep up-to-date with the Australian Open via the Australian Weightlifting Federation's channels. Follow them on Facebook to learn more. -- Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter

WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING’s latest issue is out!

No.143 of WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING special issue on the 2017 IWF World Championships Anaheim, USA is out. Check it out the best moments and

Yasmin Zammit Stevens named Malta’s Sportswoman of the year

Maltese weightlifting has made history once again with Yasmin Zammit Stevens named Malta’s Sportswoman of the year 2017. Jesmond Caruana was nominated for "Official of the year" and Shelby Mangion Vassallo was nominated for "Youth athlete of the year". Yasmin Zammit Stevens finished on top after 8 sport journalists from different media voted for who they thought had the most success in 2017. Last year, Zammit Stevens was the first Maltese female weightlifter to compete at the European Championships and at the Universiade, the first Maltese woman to win individual gold medals at an international weightlifting event, broke over 20 national records and qualified for the Commonwealth Games set to take place in Gold Coast this April. Jesmond Caruana finished in a close 2nd place in his respective category. This was the 8th time Caruana has been voted into the finals with consistently high results every year. First time finalist, Shelby Mangion Vassallo, was also among the 5 finalists for youth athlete of the year, celebrating a very successful year leading up to the youth Olympic Games. The Malta Weightlifting Association is overjoyed with the tremendous success 2017 has brought. This recognition confirms that the tireless work by the association is paying off with more and more success year after year. Check out the video on YouTube Source: Jesmond Caruana, Malta Weightlifting Association

IWF oversees anti-doping education seminars in suspended Member Federations

Lausanne; 16 February 2018: The latest anti-doping education seminar has concluded in Azerbaijan as the IWF continues to oversee anti-doping education seminars in its nine suspended Member Federations (MFs) and support them bring about cultural change. MFs must organise anti-doping seminars at least every four months, as part of the IWF’s extensive series of criteria that they are obliged to fulfil. Since December 2017, anti-doping seminars have been held in Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Moldova Turkey and Ukraine. The purpose of the seminars is to educate athletes, coaches and officials on the dangers of doping and provide more information on IWF anti-doping policy, anti-doping rule violations, prohibited substances, ADAMs and whereabouts information, WADA and NADOs. Representatives from National Anti-Doping Agencies and medical experts make presentations to provide the very-latest information and scientific data. The seminars and their content is strictly overseen by the IWF and MFs must provide the IWF with detailed reports following the seminars. The IWF Monitoring Group, consisting of independent anti-doping experts, examines and evaluates all the presentations and reports of the MFs to ensure the seminars are effective as possible. IWF President Tamas Ajan said: “Anti-doping education is vital in helping change cultures, particularly in high-risk countries where doping is more prevalent. We of course need to ensure we have robust anti-doping measures in place to protect clean athletes and catch athletes who cheat. But, it is equally important to have extensive education programmes in place to encourage cultural change and prevent the minority of athletes who cheat from cheating in the first place. “When we suspended the nine MFs we sent out the strongest possible message about how committed we are to protecting clean athletes. We also made it clear that we would work with these countries to make real and lasting change and put in the necessary anti-doping measures to address their doping issues. These anti-doping seminars are effective way of doing that. But there is a lot more that needs to be done and a lot of criteria they need to fulfil before they can fulfil their obligation to ensure clean sport. The IWF, through the Monitoring Group, will continue to work with them to achieve

OWF Elite Training Camp

With the financial assistance of the IWF Development Program, an Elite Training Camp was held at the Oceania Weightlifting Institute in Mont Dore, New Caledonia from the 24th January to the 4th February 2018. The purpose of this training camp which was organised by the Oceania Weightlifting Federation, was to bring together the best regional lifters who have not only qualified for the Commonwealth Games but are also – most of them – medal prospects for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games coming up April 4-15. A similar training camp funded by the IWF Development Program was held prior to the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games where Oceania regional lifters were very successful by winning four gold, five silver and five bronze medals. The camp produced some outstanding and inspirational performances.  These are some of the performances: Lui (Samoa) 21 years old snatch 180Kg, clean & jerk 220kg Total 400Kg in the +105Kg Category. Steven Kari (PNG) 150kg snatch, 207kg clean & jerk in the 94kg category A superb performance was put up by Morea Baru (PNG) in the 62kg category with 133kg snatch, 167kg clean & jerk 300kg total – which equals the winning performance at the recent world championships in the USA Sanele Mao (Samoa) in the 105kg snatch 160kg clean & Jerk 200kg – just missing 205kg 17-year-old junior female lifter from Samoa – Feagaiga Stowers clean & jerk 140kg in the +90kg category Another excellent performance from 18 years’ old Nauruan sensation, Charisma Amoe-Tarrant, also clean & jerk 140kg in the +90kg category Manueli Tulo (Fiji) snatch 110Kg, clean & jerk 140 for a 250Kg total in the 56Kg category. Leading coaches from the region also attending the camp were: Jerry Wallwork (Samoa), Joe Vueti (Fiji) and Tina Ball (New Zealand) The OWF is very confident, of surpassing the successful medal results from Glasgow. We wish to thank also the Australian Weightlifting Federation for sending Bowen Stuart their Information Technology & Communication Manager to webcast the final training sessions. The two training sessions can be seen on this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPF8ZXyUMP4g-BRJ0p-DeJtBrmNXWhfCz Source: Paul Coffa, OWF General

Successful Technical Visit to 2018 IWF WWC in Ashgabat

A delegation composed of Attila Ádámfi, Director General, Anikó Németh-Móra, Director of International Relations, Mátyás Lencsér, Competition Manager and Angélique Mottet, Operations Manager completed a Technical Visit to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, host of the 2018 IWF World Championships. With their Turkmen partners, the IWF team inspected all the potential venues of competition, training and accommodation and selected the sites to be used for the Championships. The probable competition dates (10 days for the 20 bodyweight categories) are 1st to 10th November, with the meetings and Congress to take place prior. In addition to detailed discussions with the Weightlifting Federation's President Berdinyyaz Myatiyev and General Secretary Charygeldi Mammedov, as well as with the Olympic Committee and its General Secretary Azat Muradov, the IWF representatives were received at the highest level by Turkmenistan's newly appointed Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Dayanc Gulgeldiyev who also gave his and the Government's guarantees to their determination to host a top-level and large-scale event in the capital city. The World Championships will be compact event with all venues and hotels in walking distance. At what is going to be the first World Championships to be hosted by Turkmenistan in any sport, the splendid facilities built for the 2017 AIMAG will now again be put to use enriching the legacy of the Games and creating new opportunities for