News

IWF120y/14 – 1992-2004: Pyrros Dimas, a hero in Greece and in weightlifting

Being the most decorated Olympian in Greece, the birthplace of the Games, is an honour all Hellenic athletes aspire to have. This special status is for the time being reserved for a hero, arguably one of the best weightlifters of all time, Pyrros Dimas. Born in 1971 in Himara (Albania), to ethnic Greek parents, he soon demonstrates a great ability for the sport and moves in the beginning of the 1990s to Athens. At his first Olympic participation – Barcelona 1992 – Dimas gets the gold in the 82.5kg, with a total of 167.5-202.5-370. After this success, he is received like a hero at the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens (the one hosting the 1896 first Olympics of the modern era), but the world (and Greece) had only witnessed the start of a legendary journey that would include two more gold (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000) and one bronze medal (Athens 2004) – the most significant harvest in the history of Olympic weightlifting. Competing at home, and suffering from a knee injury, the “Lion of Himara” (as he was also known), Dimas considers this last podium appearance as the most special one in his career. After the awards ceremony, in a crowded and ecstatic arena, he leaves his weightlifting shoes on the platform, as a sign of his retirement after these so inspiring Games. The fans in the stands, in a several-minute standing ovation, scream his name and this moment is widely seen as the most touching one in the two weeks of the Olympics. With personal bests of 180.5kg in Snatch, 215kg in C&J, and 392.5kg in Total, Dimas was also world champion on three occasions (1993, 1995, and 1998) and is presently an IWF Vice-President. Between 2012 and 2015, he is also a member of the Hellenic

IWF120y/13 – 1925: The first “official” World Record list

Following the consolidation of the FIH (“Fédération Internationale d’Haltérophilie”, the French version of the IWF) after 1920, and the establishment of the weightlifting programme for the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam – where one-hand movements were banned and remained a triathlon of events formed by the press, snatch, and clean & jerk, all with both hands – an FIH Rules Commission was created in 1924. One of its missions was the establishment of clear sport rules, with one obvious consequence: the “cleaning” of the performances listed until then as “World Records”. The Commission published in March 1925 the first official set of World Records, with results only going back to 1922. With some of the lifts reflecting the results of the Paris Olympic Games, held in July 1924, seven records are proposed for each of the five bodyweight categories (60kg, 67.5kg, 75kg, 82.5kg, and +82.5kg): right-hand snatch, left-hand snatch, right-hand clean & jerk (C&J), left-hand C&J, two-hand press, two-hand snatch, and two-hand C&J. By the standards of 1925, Charles Rigoulot, from France, was the strongest man in the field, with a successful (two-hand) C&J of 160.5kg in the heaviest category. The French star had been the Olympic champion in the 82.5kg, with a total of 502.5kg (for the five events still on the programme, the three with two hands, plus one-hand snatch and one-hand

IWF120y/12 – 2022: Members of the Athletes Commission are elected by their peers

2022 was a turning point in terms of the athletes’ voice and representation within the IWF. If an Athletes Commission was already in place before that, the new Executive Board and updated Constitution that resulted from the June 2022 elections stipulated that the future composition of the athletes’ body had to be voted by the lifters themselves. Therefore, in December 2022, during the IWF World Championships in Bogota (COL) and for the first time in the IWF’s history, a vote was organised and participants in the event were able to cast their preference between the 18 candidates who were deemed eligible by a vetting panel. As a result of that vote, 10 members were elected, representing the five continents and ensuring a gender-balanced composition (five men and five women). In the early days of January 2023, the new Commission met and elected Forrester Osei (GHA) as Chair. Moreover, and in accordance with the Constitution, three members were chosen to sit on the IWF Executive Board. Osei, Hidilyn Diaz (PHI), and Luisa Peters (COK) are currently EB members (photo), with full voting rights at both the Executive Board and the Congress. This is quite pioneering in the world of sport international federations and brings the IWF to a unique position in terms of its athletes’ voice and

IWF120y/11 – 1896: Without a formal structure but already in the Games

The foundation of the IWF in 1905 does not mean that the sport of weightlifting was only “born” then. From that important moment on, it became more structured, but its practice was popular by the middle of the 19th century. The “strength” movements were part of the physical education exercises, so when Pierre de Coubertin decides to revive the Olympic Games, weightlifting appears without surprise in its first edition, in 1896 in Athens, Greece. It was one of the nine sports on the programme, together with Athletics, Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics, Shooting, Swimming, Tennis, and Wrestling. At the Panathinaiko Stadium, seven lifters from five nations (Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, and Hungary) competed in two events: one-hand and two-hand lifts. Competitors were not divided by body categories (this was namely one of the rules later imposed by the IWF), and the first two Olympic champions in history came from Great Britain and Denmark. In the one-hand event, Launceston Elliot (left, photo), won the first gold of his country in the history of the Games, lifting 71kg. Earlier in that same day, at the two-hand contest, Elliot and Viggo Jensen, from Denmark (right, photo), had finished tied at 111.5kg, but judges decided that Jensen’s attempt had been performed with more style… He also remains in the history books as the first Olympic champion representing

IWF120y/10 – 1960: Yuri Vlasov (URS), the intellectual “strongest man”

Born in 1935, Yuri Vlasov started weightlifting 21 years later, while studying at the Air Force Academy. His talent and natural abilities were rapidly spotted, and in 1959 he earns his first World and European titles. But his glorious hour would come in 1960, during the Rome Olympic Games: in the Eternal City, in the men’s +90kg category, Vlasov gets the gold in 180-155-202.5-537.5 – at that time, three events were on the programme: press, snatch and clean & jerk. The C&J outcome remains a milestone in the history of weightlifting, as it meant the first time an athlete could lift more than 200kg. Named the “World’s Strongest Man” on several occasions, the Soviet ace wins three more World Championship titles (1961-1963), establishes 34 Word Records, and wins a second medal (silver) at the 1964 Tokyo Games. After that, he announces his retirement from the sport and dedicates his life to his other passion: writing. Often seen with glasses, he is called the “weightlifting intellectual” and will, in the subsequent years, shine as a successful novelist and journalist. Between 1985 and 1987, he leads the Soviet Weightlifting Federation and is elected on two occasions as a member of the Parliament: firstly in 1989, still at the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Soviet Union, and then in 1993, at the Russian State Duma. He passed away in 2021, but left a legion of fans behind: US star Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of them, as he publicly said on several occasions that Vlasov was his “idol”! Photo credit:

IWF120y/9 – 1920: FIH (IWF in French) becomes the official name

The name “International Weightlifting Federation” – and the corresponding acronym (IWF) – was not the one that was originally defined on the foundation date, in 1905. By then, its first designation was “Amateur Athletes World Union”, combining the sport of weightlifting and wrestling. In 1912, it became the “International World Federation for Strength Athletics”, and one year later, the word “Amateur” was added to the name. The advent of World War I in 1914 provoked a disruption in the Olympic movement (the 1916 Olympics were cancelled) and the international federations were not an exception. After a period of turbulence and almost no sport activity, the 1920 Games were held in Antwerp (BEL), and with no real functional organisation in charge of running the weightlifting events, the Belgian national body took that responsibility. Moreover, there was a spirit of great animosity against the losers of the conflict, namely Germany, Austria, and Hungary. Amidst this turmoil of circumstances, Jules Rosset (photo), initially a wrestler and president of the French Federation (of weightlifting and wrestling), proposes (some historians prefer “imposes”) the split of the former body and the creation of the “Fédération Internationale d’Haltérophilie” (FIH, literally IWF), only responsible for weightlifting. The reaction of the “International Amateur World Federation for Strength Athletics” (led by Hungary’s Peter Tactics) was immediate but soon the majority of the members adhered to the renovated entity, whose Board is controlled by French representatives (besides Rosset, the General Secretary and Treasurer also come from France). One of the first main milestones in Rosset’s presidency (which will last until 1937, and then again from 1946 to 1952) is the announcement in June 1921 that weightlifting will remain in the programme of the Olympic Games. In 1972, the English versions of “International Weightlifting Federation” and IWF are definitively adopted. Photo credit: Quentin Lutte Olympique