News

Pioneering Ahmed credits YOG for launching career

Weightlifter who became the first Egyptian woman to win an Olympic medal and the first Arab woman to get on the podium in her sport has inspired countless others across the Middle East. Sara Ahmed produced one of the most memorable feel-good stories of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games when she became the first Egyptian woman to win a medal in her country’s 104-year Olympic history. But the little weightlifter’s journey to becoming a trailblazer in the Arab world had begun two years earlier. “The Youth Olympics are one of the biggest competitions I have ever participated in and it had the greatest impact on the development of my performance.” It was at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games that Ahmed first made her mark, winning the 63kg class at the age 16. “The Youth Olympics are one of the biggest competitions I have ever participated in and it had the greatest impact on the development of my performance,” she said. Asked if she was nervous before competing in Nanjing, the 1.55m-tall (5ft 1in) Ahmed replied emphatically. “Yes, oh yes, because I was so small and the competition was so strong, but thank God I achieved my goal and won the medal. “And my gold medal there was an incentive for me to prepare more and better for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to gain a new medal for Egypt and for myself.” The bronze medal she won in Brazil, in the 69kg event, was historical in many ways: as well as being a first for an Egyptian woman, it was the first Olympic weightlifting medal to be won by an Arab woman and only the second by an African woman. It neatly illustrated sport’s ability to knock down social barriers and made Ahmed – who competes in a sport hijab and a full-length unitard – a role model for women across the region. “I was proud to achieve a greater goal and to improve the role of women in Egypt and Arab countries. It emphasised the role of women in the Arab world and that this is not less than the role of men in all fields.” After her success in Rio, Ahmed said she hoped others would follow in her footsteps and now, she confirms, that has happened. “Many athletes do weightlifting to be like me and I am so proud of that – to be a reason for increasing the number of women athletes in weightlifting, and also in other sports, to raise and increase their role in sports. “Female athletes tell me they were very happy and proud (when Ahmed won bronze in Rio) and started looking forward to achieving and being like me in their fields, always looking to reach to the high levels and be the best.” Ahmed hopes to see some of those women achieve success at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games. And she has a message for all the athletes preparing for what will probably be the biggest event of their lives so far. “They must maintain their commitment to training and follow the instructions of their coaches to be more able to face stronger competition. They must insist on achieving their goals. “The Youth Olympics equip young athletes to prepare for even greater goals and be experienced to be able to participate in stronger championships, such as the Tokyo Olympic Games (in 2020).” Ahmed herself is training and preparing psychologically every day for her goal of “gaining a gold medal for Egypt in Tokyo”. Few would bet against her. Source: YOG Buenos Aires

Member Federations, attention! Launching of the IWF Online Entry System

IWF is pleased to announce the launching of the IWF Online Entry System of Athletes and Team Officials to the IWF Events! The first Event where you may use the Online Entry System – as an alternative to the traditional Entry Forms – is the 2017 IWF World Championships, Anaheim, USA. We remind you of the 2017 WWC Anaheim Final Entry Deadline: 27 October 2017. We accept Entries both online and by Entry Forms. All Preliminary of Final Entries received by today have been uploaded in the System. If you have not yet submitted your Entries you can do it now online with this application. If you have sent your Entries, we recommend you to check, finalize and verify your Final Entry before the 27 October 2017 deadline. Please complete the Entries – already submitted or new – with your Athletes’ / Team Officials’ photo for faster accreditation. The IWF Online Entry System can be accessed after filling in your username and password (sent to each Member Federation one by one). You can select English/French/Spanish/Russian but add names only in English, according to the passport. If you have any technical problem please contact:

It’s lit! The Olympic Flame is on the way to PyeongChang

The Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang are underway. On the 24th October the Olympic Flame is lit in Ancient Olympia, Greece. You can watch the Olympic Flame Lighting Ceremony with English commentaries on the following link.  Source: Olympic

Suspension Starts For Nine IWF Member Federations Involved In Olympic Doping

IWF determined to encourage and protect clean weightlifting 20 October 2017; Budapest, Hungary: The one-year suspensions of the nine IWF Members Federations (MFs) found to have had three or more anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs) during the retesting of samples taken at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, officially took effect today. The IWF has informed each of the nine MFs of their suspension, following the decision of the IWF Executive Board on 30 September 2017 to approve the recommendation of IWF’s Tbilisi Commission and to uphold the Board’s decision of 22 June 2016. Each MF will now have 21 days to appeal the decision. IWF President Tamas Ajan said: “The steps taken in weightlifting today are unprecedented in the history of sport. They show our total commitment to protect clean athletes. It was clear to us at the IWF that the problems in these nine countries required whole national cultures to change. For many of these member federations, there has already been a change of leadership and work has already begun to change the culture. Of course, we welcome these developments, as they will facilitate to those federations to comply with the requirements of a clean sport.“ “The IWF Anti-Doping efforts will continue with increased intensity in these 9 countries. IWF will do everything to make sure they will put in place the necessary anti-doping measures to address their doping issues so that they can take their places alongside the other members of our family once again.” The IWF will work with the nine suspended MFs to ensure that they implement the IWF Rules in their countries and construct their national level ‘shields’ to protect clean athletes. IWF has urged these countries to willingly undertake complying with a massive set of criteria which aim to trigger the cultural shift thus ensuring that once these Federations regain their eligibility, a level-playing field is finally ensured at national level. IWF expects these MFs to expressly acknowledge their responsibility for clean sport and to use this opportunity to actively commit to the fight against doping as a means to restore their reputation. In case an MF decides to unconditionally accept the set of criteria it automatically involves the acceptance of being monitored by an Independent Monitoring Group which will mainly consist of outside-the-sport anti-doping experts. The Group will carefully assess the situation of each MF which undertakes to comply with the criteria and create an action plan to address these issues one by one. The monitoring will continue throughout the entire suspension period. If fully satisfied, the Group at its sole discretion may decide to grant a Partial Conditional Reinstatement of the MF’s right to participate at IWF Events. The earliest time of such reinstatement depends on the gravity of the MF’s violation of the Policy rendered by the Board on 22 June (i.e.: number and severity of re-analysis cases). The reinstatement will not affect any other rights of the MF suspended as per the Board’s decision – these will remain suspended even in case a conditional lift is granted. The full suspension will be immediately reinstated if the Group considers that the MF subject to the conditional reinstatement fails to meet any of the criteria. Any decision of the Group will be final and binding and will not be subject to

IWF Coaching Course in Tunisia

In the framework of the IWF Development Program, the Weightlifting Federation of Tunisia organized a Coaching Course in Hamamat city (60 km far from the Capital, Tunis) from 27th September to 1st October 2017. Lectures were given by Mr. Maged Salama, while theoretical sessions were followed by practical ones. 29 coaches from Tunisia attended the course while additional coaches visited some of the sessions. Topics included: The physical fitness elements in weightlifting, The main muscles' work in weightlifting, Warming up and its importance during training and competition, etc. All participants evaluated the course to be a great success and coaches were delighted with the knowledge acquired. The IWF is happy that more and more Member Federations in Africa are using the opportunity provided by the IWF Development

International seminar and roundtable in Chile

"Perspectives of Weightlifting at School, University and Military Sector" Within the context of the II South American Youth Sports Games, Santiago de Chile 2017, the seminar and round table "Perspectives of Weightlifting at School, University and Military Sector" was held on the 4th, 5th and 6th of October in the Pierre de Coubertin Hall of the Chilean Olympic Committee. Delegates from different South American federations, Chilean federations of other sports and the Chilean Olympic Committee attended. This activity is part of the IWF Development Program through the South American Confederation of Weightlifting (CSLP); and was jointly organized by the Chilean Weightlifting Federation (FECHIPE) and the Universidad Santo Tomás. The inauguration was given by Mr. José Quiñonez, President of the South American Confederation of Weightlifting, addressing the relevance of Weightlifting at School, University and Military Sector, that shall be done with experts from each specific sector in order to learn from each experience. Then the Director of the Institute of Sports Sciences of the Universidad Santo Tomás, Rodrigo Alvarado, expressed his interest in linking the University with federated sports, either in theoretical or practical activities. Finally, the President of the Chilean Federation Italo Barattini emphasized on joining forces in caring out such activity while strengthening it and make such initiative permanent. Each of the three days included roundtable discussions where the representatives of the different countries were able to contrast their realities with the Chilean one. The aim was to improve the presence of weightlifting in South America. The first day the National Coordinator of Physical Activity of the Ministry of Education of Chile Patricio Venegas presented the way in which this Ministry relates to sport, emphasizing how sport helps the physical and mental health of students. During the discussions, representatives from Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay and Paraguay took the floor to present similarities and differences regarding their countries, addressing specific themes such as: Age of onset Insurance and medical care National School Games Sport and study Flexibility of the study system Alliance between the Ministry of Sports, the Ministry of Education and the Federation Specific human resources International examples At local level, this activity served to link the Ministry of Education to the first National U12 Championships to be organized by FECHIPE for the first time on November 3-5. In addition to snatch and clean and jerk, physical tests being of great interest of the ministry were included. The second day featured presentations from Captain Ignacio Zamora and Coronel (R) Patricio Opazo, both of the Army Sports Federation, representing the National Defense Sports Confederation CODEFEN, organization formed by Army, Navy, Aviation and the Police. They presented the structure of the armed forces sports and their development depending on the specific jobs of military people involved and the interest towards civilian sport. FECHIPE invited the representatives of CODEFEN to send military sports instructors to participate in coaching courses to be held in the future. Brazilian coach Carlos Aveiro (Saúl) made an excellent presentation about the specific project carried out in that country as part of the preparation for the Olympic Games. During the roundtable the following topics were discussed among others: Historical relationship between this sport (and sport in general) with the Armed Forces Sports career and military career Benefits for the Armed Forces that have high performance athletes International experience and examples World Military Games and Weightlifting Weightlifting as a basis for other sports Insurance and medical care Special attention was paid to the link between weightlifters and military career with examples like Pyrros Dimas, Oscar Figueroa, and the military championships in the Dominican etc. The intervention of the President of the Colombian Weightlifting Federation touched a sensitive topic. He sees a possibility of collaboration with the end of the armed conflict with the guerrillas in his country through sport, offering a possibility for development on both sides. The third day was devoted to the relationship between sports and the University, starting with the presentation of the Executive Secretary of the Federation of University Sports FENAUDE of Chile Ricardo Peñailillo. He exposed the institutional structure and its relationship with weightlifting. Emphasis was placed on the weak South American participation in international weightlifting university events, particularly in the last edition of the Universiade held in Taipei. The following topics to strengthen the relationship with the authorities in the sector were also discussed: Benefits and scholarships for university athletes Scientific support for sport Athlete's career versus academic obligations Coaching career Quality control of processes Benefits for universities that have high performance athletes Insurance and medical care International experience World University and Universiade Championships The 2019 South American University Games will be held in the city of Concepción, Chile, and FECHIPE is already working on the possibility to add weightlifting to the program. Source: Italo Barattini, President