News

Gold for Thailand and China

W48kg Tbilisi crowned the first Junior World Champion in the Women’s 48kg bodyweight category SUKCHAROEN Thunya (THA) whose last Youth bronze medal goes back to 2013. Competition was tough as she ended silver in the Snatch because of bodyweight. Lifting the same 86kg as the Chinese JIANG Huihua, she managed to defeat her challenger in the Clean and Jerk. JIANG – 2015 Junior World Champion as well as 2015 World Champion – had 6 good attempts although in the Clean and Jerk she ended with 107kg. Her Total of 193kg only ranked her second as SUKCHAROEN – also 6 good lifts – made it 194g. Three bronze medals were awarded to LONG Xiaoqun, 2010 Youth Asian Champion. M62kg China made it to the top of the podium! A Gold and a Bronze won today in the Men’s 62kg bodyweight category. Easy win in the Snatch with 137kg MO Yongxiang (CHN) just like in the Clean and Jerk with 170kg. With his Total of 307kg – he won the Gold with 16kg more than last year’s winner PAK Jong Ju (PRK). MENG Cheng (CHN), Junior World Champion last year in the 56kg ended behind PAK. Moving up this year, had only 2 successful attempts – last one in the Snatch (130kg) and last one in the Clean and Jerk (154kg). SUKCHAROEN Thunya (THA) “Winning the battle is double satisfaction” - How do you feel about winning the champion’s title? I’m full of energy, very glad and happy. - On the first day, another Thai weightlifter celebrated his VICTORY, today it’s you. Is Tbilisi is lucky city for Thailand? You are right, I’m proud that I and my compatriot presented our country such a good performance. - You have won gold in a pretty tense battle… The two Chinese weightlifters were serious competitors, winning the gold in such tense battle is double satisfaction. - Was this result your private record? Yes, I improved my best result with 2kg. - What do you think about the organization of the championships? The organization is wonderful, local people are amazing, overall we are very pleased. MO Yongxiang (CHN) “I WILL BEAT THE WORLD RECORD IN SEVERAL YEARS” - Congratulations on winning the Gold. You took an advantage of 16kg over the silver medallist. Were you expecting such a great result? Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this, but I was concentrated and did my best and I am happy that it was enough to win the gold medal. - What do you think about your opponents? Opponents were very strong, but I always work hard on myself.  I am glad that my hard work was appreciated and I won the gold. - Your Total was 307kg. Is it your best result? Yes, it’s my own record and I am happy that it helped me to win the first place today. - You were so near to world record. Why didn’t you give it a try? Today I wasn’t ready for this, but I hope in several years I will be able to beat the world record. - Wish you success in your career. Are you satisfied with the competition and Tbilisi? I like being here very much, the atmosphere which is present in your city is great. I thank the Georgian Weightlifting Federation for organizing such a great

Thailand’s MINGMOON first Junior World Champion in 2016

M56kg Men’s 56kg bodyweight category marked the start of the 2016 IWF Junior World Championships Tbilisi, GEO. The field where 10 competitors were entered was dominated by THA MINGMOON Witoon with a huge advantage of 29kg. 4th place last year at the Junior World Championships and 7th place in Houston, MINGMOON Snatched 115kg and ended with an impressive 150kg Clean and Jerk. His Total of 265kg is far beyond the Junior World Record hold by THACH Kim Tuan (VIA), but still way beyond the result of 236kg of FERRUZOLA ALAVA Rafael Patricio (ECU) – Silver medal winner. Third place SENOO Yuya (JPN) had 6 good lifts ending with 98-135-233kg. MINGMOON ,, I am very happy of being here. I like Georgian people and atmosphere which is created here. It’s my third world championship. I got silver medal in Poland and I am glad that I could get gold medal in Tbilisi. Today’s result isn’t my limit. My own record in jerk is near 160kg, but I was little bit excited today and it affected my performance, and I couldn’t break

IWF Congress

The IWF Congress in Tbilisi, GEO was held in presence of 120 delegates representing 48 Member Federations. After receiving a detailed report on Anti-Doping related matters, the Congress delegates expressed their support to the strong stance of the IWF Executive Board in this field. Burundi was ratified as 192nd IWF Member Federation by the IWF Congress. Pedro Meloni, Rio 2016 Weightlifting Sport Manager reported on good progress and advanced stage of preparation in weightlifting at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and assured the Congress delegates that the weightlifting competitions will not be affected by budget cuts or the reduction of the level of services. Rio 2016 will deliver weightlifting competitions according to the IWF TCRR while reforming the external perception of the “look and feel” experience, broadcasting and sports presentation. The Congress approved the Financial Statement of 2015 presented by the IWF Financial Advisor and the 2016 Budget as well as the Auditor’s Report for the year 2015 presented by KPMG. The IWF Congress endorsed the 8th bodyweight category for Women. The 2016 IWF Junior World Championships Tbilisi, GEO will kick off tomorrow. According to the Start Book, 250 athletes from 47 countries (110 Woman from 36 countries - 140 Man from 39 countries) will participate. It is the 1st time ever that Technical Officials’ groupings at a World Championships are reaching a 50% male and 50% female representation. Importantly, the message weightlifting wants to convey is that for Youth and Junior World Championships we want to see younger Technical Officials being

Second day of the IWF Executive Board meeting in Tbilisi

IWF Development Program The IWF continues its ambitious Development Program on 5 continents through financing technical help, education programs and trainings – seminars Rio 2016 Pedro Meloni, Rio 2016 Weightlifting Sport Manager reported on good progress and advanced stage of preparation in weightlifting at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games 2018 IWF Junior World Championships Choosing among five strong candidates, the IWF Executive Board allocated the hosting right of the 2018 Junior World Championships to Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea New Member Federation The IWF Executive Board affiliated Burundi as 192nd Member Federation Quota reallocation The IWF Executive Board voted in principle about the reallocation of 8 Men 11 Women Quota places available (subject to the approval of the IOC). In order be fair and keep the balance between continents; considering ranking, universality and countries’ representation, (according to the current standing – subject to changes) the redistribution is as follows: Africa: KEN (M) / MAR (W) MRI (W) Asia: QAT (M) SRI (M) / IRQ (W) UAE (W) Europe: GRE (M) ISR (M) / FIN (W) LAT (W) SWE (W) Oceania: NRU (M) / SOL (W) Pan-America: CHI (M) GUA (M) / ARG (W) PER (W) URU (W) Finance The IWF Executive Board approved Financial Report on 2015 and the Budget for 2016 as well as defined main financial strategies for the coming period Good Governance As discussed and accepted by the ASOIF at its General Assembly, the key governance principles and basic indicators were endorsed and practically applied by the IWF Executive Board in their activities and decision making 8th Women bodyweight category According to the IOC Agenda 2020, the IWF Executive Board is fully committed to reach gender equality by introducing an additional bodyweight category for women in order to achieve 8 for Women that would equal the 8 already existing for Men THE IWF EXECUTIVE BOARD WISHED A HAPPY OLYMPIC

Strong statement by the IWF Executive Board

Today, the IWF Executive Board started its two days meeting in Tbilisi, GEO with the first day entirely dedicated to Anti-Doping. The IWF fully identifies with the content of the Declaration of the Olympic Summit stating that all the stakeholders of the Olympic Movement must do their utmost to ensure that only clean athletes should be able to participate in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. At all times, the IWF has identified itself with the stand, the policy and the guidelines of the IOC regarding doping and cheaters in sport and aligned its own rules, policy and their implementation to the principle of Zero Tolerance. The IWF Anti-Doping Policy has one of the most stringent sanction systems in the world and in addition to the severe regulations, the IWF has been the only International Federation that also elaborated a Special Anti-Doping Policy for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (approved by the IOC) which enables the IWF to prohibit a National Federation/National Olympic Committee from entering competitors in weightlifting at the next Olympic Games in case of multiple Anti-Doping Rule Violations, and includes the right for the IWF Executive Board in certain situations to withdraw a number of athlete quota places. The aforementioned Special Anti-Doping Policy for Rio 2016 and the related CAS confirmation of banning Bulgaria from competing at the upcoming Olympic Games is exemplary in the world of sport. Protecting clean athletes by standing up against those who do not comply with the rules remains and will continue to remain crucial for the IWF. Recognizing the importance of the fight against doping at all times and with special regard to the serious consequences of the 2015 IWF World Championships Houston, USA results and the reanalyzes of the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 samples, the IWF Executive Board made the following decisions today: The IWF Executive Board strictly and immediately applied its Special Anti-Doping rules for Rio 2016 on Quota withdrawal to countries having produced multiple positive cases in the Qualification period. The IWF Executive Board unanimously voted the withdrawal of 11 quotas to the additional 2 that were already withdrawn from Romania and Uzbekistan. Two (2) quotas were withdrawn from Azerbaijan (1Man - 1Woman) due to the multiple positive cases in the qualification period One (1) quota was withdrawn from Belorussia (1Man) due to the multiple positive cases in the qualification period Two (2) quotas were withdrawn from Kazakhstan (1Man - 1Woman) due to the multiple positive cases in the qualification period Two (2) quotas were withdrawn from Moldova (2Men) due to the multiple positive cases in the qualification period Two (2) quotas were withdrawn from Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (1Man - 1Woman) due to the multiple positive cases in the qualification period Two (2) quotas were withdrawn from Russia (1Man - 1Woman) due to the multiple positive cases in the qualification period One (1) quota was withdrawn from Romania (1Man) due to the multiple positive cases in the qualification period (19.11.2015) One (1) quota was withdrawn from Uzbekistan (1Woman) due to the multiple positive cases in the qualification period (19.11.2015) The IWF is setting up an Independent Investigation Commission to investigate into countries with multiple Anti-Doping Rule violations (3 or more per year) including those that have produced 3 or more Adverse Analytical Findings or Presumptive Adverse Analytical Findings in the reanalysis procedures of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. The IWF Executive Board is modifying its Anti-Doping Policy to enable it to apply extra sanctions beyond the existing articles, including suspension of Federations which produce the most significant number of Anti-Doping Rule Violations in an Olympic period. The IWF will take appropriate measures to make sure that the athletes potentially implicated in the reanalysis process of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games – once disqualified by the IOC – shall not participate in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The IWF Executive Board has decided that National Federations confirmed to have produced 3 or more Anti-Doping Rule Violations in the combined re-analysis process of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games shall be suspended for 1 year. Countries thus subject to suspension are: KAZ, RUS, BLR. Additionally to the above cited decisions, an Action Plan including but not limited to the below mentioned points has been approved to be implemented by the IWF Executive Board prior to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games: Taking into consideration the overall situation, the IWF Anti-Doping Commission is engaging testing and analytical experts and works as a temporary task force An extensive testing on the International Registered Testing Pool and international athletes worldwide is being carried out with the aim to test all possible participants prior to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Targeted education and keeping up the good work in all World Championships, Continental Seminars Carry on with the new available analytical methods Increase the long term storage of samples Implement a REPORT DOPING tab on the IWF website to ensure more source for receiving intelligence Additionally, the IWF Executive Board expressed disappointment in a position statement over the appointment of Mr. Sergey Syrtsov, President of the Russian Weightlifting Federation as Chair of the EWF Anti-Doping Commission. Given the current environment, the IWF Executive Board strongly suggests that Mr. Syrtsov and the European Weightlifting Federation reconsiders the appointment to this particular position. The IWF Executive Board is determined to continue with the application of its strict system of sanctions and elaborating further sport specific rules in order to protect the clean athletes and the integrity of the sport of

IWF Committee meetings in Tbilisi

The IWF Committees had their joint meeting prior to splitting into their relevant groups in order to address the matters of common interest. The following topics were raised: Good Governance As discussed and accepted by the ASOIF at its General Assembly, the key governance principles and basic indicators were endorsed by the IWF Committees in their activities and decision making IWF Guidelines The full set of the recently elaborated guidelines package was introduced to the attendance 8th Women bodyweight category According to the IOC Agenda 2020, the IWF is fully committed to reach gender equality by introducing an additional bodyweight category for women in order to achieve 8 for Women that would equal the 8 already existing for Men Technical Committee The Technical Committee led by Chairman Sam Coffa had an extensive discussion with regard to the modification of the IWF TCRR. The technical and procedural requirements for the video replay technology were summarized in order to proceed to the next stage looking for possible solutions and service providers. Coaching and Research Committee The Chairman, Major General Intarat Yodbangtoey and Members finalized the IWF Club Coach Course and discussed the conditions that apply. Duration of the course, participation fee, certification process as well as other details were established. All relating information will be published on the IWF website. Invited guest, Colin Buckley, Chairman of the EWF Coaching Research and Scientific Committee introduced their program under the guidance and leadership of the IWF CRC. Tadamasa Uesaka presented the Force Plate Platform and Bar Speed Analyzer and asked for the thoughts, opinions and evaluation of the CRC members. Medical Committee The IWF Medical Committee conducted a most fruitful meeting. The Chairman, Dr. Michael Irani and the MC Members among many other issues discussed the Transgender Policy of the International Olympic Committee focusing on weightlifting specific aspects, thus creating the basis for the IWF's own Policy. Following that, Dr. Dominik Doerr gave a thorough presentation about weightlifting injuries during 2015 and a scientific report proving that the so called athletic heart syndrome does not and is unlikely to threaten weightlifters. With regard to the upcoming Olympic Games, the MC examined again the IOC Medical Policy and emphasized the importance to comply with the rules set out by it. Possible modifications of the IWF TCRR based on medical aspects and strategies to communicate the IWF Needle Policy towards Member Federations were discussed as