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IWF120y/62 – 1981: Re-setting milestones in the IWF history

In May 1980, while the Olympic world was busy, trying to minimise the impact of the boycott on the Moscow Games, the IWF celebrated in Montreal (CAN) the “100 Years of Modern Weightlifting” and the “60 Years of the International Weightlifting Federation”. 60 years?! How come, if the foundation of what would become the IWF occurred in 1905? Well, this is clear now, but at the time, the most accepted version of history was that 1920 was the founding year of the IWF, as from 1905 to that date, other names were given, and other activities/sports were associated with the world governing body. This is partly true, but one Yugoslavian/Serbian official, Vladan Mihajlovic (photo), Chairman of the IWF Historical and Statistical Commission (and father of Milan, presently Member of the IWF Technical Committee), provided in 1981 “authentic documents” proposing that: 1. The birth date of the International Federation should be recorded as being June 10, 1905 as the “Amateur Athletes World Union” (1905), the “International World Federation for Strength Athletics” (1912), and the “International Amateur World Federation for Strength Athletics” (1913) could be considered as legitimate predecessors of the International Weightlifting Federation; 2. The so-called “wild” World Championships before 1920 should be taken into consideration. If this proposal was officially endorsed in 1983 (and the chronology of the World Championships starts with the inaugural edition in 1891), the definitive establishment of IWF’s founding date (June 10, 1905) was only decided in 1987!

Astrit Hasani is new President of EWF

Astrit Hasani from Kosovo is the new President of the European Weightlifting Federation. In a head-to-head between two candidates, Hasani polled 24 votes against 19 for the incumbent Italian Antonio Conflitti from Moldova. “I am deeply honoured and truly humbled by your confidence to elect me as the President of European Weightlifting Federation,” Hasani told delegates at the EWF Electoral Congress in Chisinau, Moldova, host city for the senior European Championships which begin this Sunday. The new EWF Executive Board, led by Astrit Hasani (in the centre) - Photo credit: ewf.sport “I will lead a team who will show genuine transparency. Europe will be truly united and we will choose the best people for the next IWF Congress.”  Milan Mihajlovic from Serbia will serve a second term as General Secretary after being re-elected by a wide margin. Tina Beiter was unopposed as First Vice-President, becoming the first woman to hold that role. The three vice-presidents are Jesmond Caruana (Malta), Stian Grimseth (Norway) and Nedim Masic (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The new EWF executive board members are: Triin Podersoo (Estonia), Patrik Helgesson (Sweden), Tomas Chovanec (Slovakia), Ilva Alushaj (Albania), Dusan Kovac (Czech Republic) and Patrick Fassott (Germany). Photo credit: ewf.sport Hasani, the first official from Kosovo ever to hold a leadership role at any continental sports federation, said he was keen for the EWF to align its Constitution more closely to the IWF’s. He takes the Presidency

IWF120y/61 – 2007: Olympian Marcus Stephen becomes President of Nauru

It is not uncommon to see successful weightlifters reaching, upon their retirement, high positions in the sports administration (Federation or Olympic Committee) of their respective countries. There are also several cases of former athletes choosing a political career, as members of the parliament or as top officials at the ministry of sport. But the case of Marcus Stephen is exceptional: after competing internationally in the 1990s, he became President of Nauru, the microstate in Oceania, from 2007 to 2011! Three-time Olympian in Barcelona 1992 (under the flag of Samoa, as Nauru didn’t have an Olympic Committee at the time), Atlanta 1996, and Sydney 2000 (on both occasions, already representing Nauru), his best result was a ninth place in Spain. At the IWF level, he clinched a silver medal in the Clean & Jerk section (with a lift of 172.5kg) of the 1999 World Championships. With four participations at the Commonwealth Games, Stephen earned two gold (in 1994 and 1998) and two silver medals (1990 and 2002). Throughout his career, he lifted in the 59/60/62kg categories. Off the platform, he was elected MP in 2003 and ascended in the political hierarchy of his nation, until reaching the Presidency in 2007. His Excellency Marcus Stephen is presently President of the Oceania Weightlifting Federation, Nauru Olympic Committee, and IWF Executive Board Member. At home, he is since 2019 the Speaker of the Parliament of

IWF120y/60 – 1976: David Rigert (URS), the lifter improving 65 WR!

Some say he was quite inconsistent, but statistics are there to confirm that David Rigert, representing the Soviet Union, was one of the greatest lifters of the 1970s, establishing no less than 65 World Records during his career! Born in March 1947 in Nagornoye (presently in Kazakhstan), he started weightlifting in 1966 and four years later, he was already part of the Soviet team competing at the World Championships (in Columbus, Ohio, US). On that first major appearance, he got the bronze in the 82.5kg. That would be his worst result at the IWF showcase: from 1971 to 1978, he earned five gold medals, mainly in the 90kg category. Despite this supremacy, his performances at the Olympic level weren’t so successful. At his first Games, in Munich 1972, he bombed out in the Snatch, a poor result that he would repeat eight years later, at home, in the Moscow 1980 Olympics. The honour was saved in Montreal 1976, when he clinched his only Games medal (gold), lifting 170-212.5-282.5. With nine European titles from 1971-1980, Rigert established during the “golden” decade of his career one WR in Press, 21 in Snatch, 21 in Clean & Jerk, 14 in Total (with two lifts), and eight in Total (with three lifts). In Snatch, his best was a 185kg successful attempt in 1981, while in C&J he lifted 230kg in 1980! After his retirement, Rigert was a successful coach, also developing weightlifting equipment and promoting the construction of sports

IWF acknowledges IOC decision on LA 2028 quotas

The IWF acknowledged the recent decision of the IOC Executive Board concerning the allocation of athletes and event quotas for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles (USA). Weightlifting will remain with a quota of 120 athletes (60 men and 60 women), competing in 10 bodyweight categories (five for men, five for women). While the International Weightlifting Federation had requested an increase of the existing bodyweight categories (from five to seven, for both men and women) with a minimal impact on the final number of athletes (from the present 120, to 126), our International Federation understands that within the context of keeping the 10’500-athlete overall quota (excluding the five sports proposed by the LA28 OCOG), there wasn’t a wide available margin for the sport of Weightlifting. The IWF proposal was mainly motivated by the concerns expressed by the IWF Athletes Commission regarding the health, safety, and wellbeing of our lifters who had to adjust to a five-category format, with the inherent important gaps of weight between each category. The IOC decision only strengthens IWF’s strong commitment and effort in improving the exposure and importance of our Sport in future editions of the Olympic Games. Weightlifting was one of the nine founding sports in the initial edition of the Olympics, in 1896 in Athens (GRE). Since then, we continue working very hard to enhance the added-value of Weightlifting in the Olympic programme. Moreover, the structural, positive changes undertaken by the IWF in recent years – namely in the areas of anti-doping and good governance – make the entire Weightlifting family confident in an improved Olympic presence of our Sport from the 2032 edition onwards. Following this decision and the implementation of new weightlifting bodyweight categories from June 1, 2025, the IWF will come forward to the IOC with a proposal concerning which ten categories (five for men, five for women) should be considered in the LA 2028 Olympic programme. The full event programme for the LA2028 Olympic Games can be found

IWF120y/59 – 2008: Eko Yuli Irawan (INA) starts his Olympic harvest

Indonesia’s most prolific sport in terms of Olympic medals is undoubtedly Badminton – with 22 out of the 40 podium presences (including eight of the 10 gold won so far) of the Asian nation at the Games. Weightlifting arrives next on the list, with 16 awards, including one gold, seven silver, and eight bronze medals. Two lifters deserve special mention: Eko Yuli Irawan (photo) and Rizki Juniansyah. Irawan, born in 1989, is the only Indonesian athlete with four Olympic medals and also the first one to take part in five consecutive editions of the Games. It all started in Beijing 2008, when he got the bronze in the 56kg. Four years later, in London, he competed in the 62kg and was again third (with his best-ever Olympic performance of 145-172-317). He would improve his ranking in Rio 2026 and Tokyo2020ne, earning silver on both occasions. In Paris 2024, and besides the weight of the bars, he had a big responsibility on his shoulders: he could become the first athlete in the history of the Sport with five Olympic medals! He didn’t succeed – after lifting 135kg in the Snatch, he bombed out in the Clean & Jerk. A day after this hiccup on his amazing career, he celebrated the gold medal of his teammate Rizki Juniansyah in the men’s 73kg, the first Olympic title in the history of Indonesian weightlifting. Still with 21 (he was born in June 2003), Juniansyah was junior world champion in 2021 and 2022 and also won two medals (silver) at the senior level – in 2022 and 2024. His Olympic triumph in 155-199-354 was achieved a few hours after the gold medal of a compatriot in sport climbing – on the same day, they became the only Indonesian Olympic champions outside the sport of Badminton! On the women’s side, lifter Raema Lisa Rumbewas (deceased in January 2024, at the age of 43) was the country's first athlete to have won medals in three Olympic Games (silver in Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, and bronze in Beijing