News

African Qualification Event – Competition for the Olympic Quota is on

The first Continental Qualification Championships ended on the African Continent yesterday in Nairobi, Kenya. According to the Non-Final Results, the following countries obtained 1 Olympic Quota: Women: NGR, TUN, CMR, MAD Men: ALG, TUN, CMR, RSA, NGR Click here for the

African Championships – Continental Olympic Qualification Event in Nairobi, Kenya

The Weightlifting Federation Africa held its Executive Board Meeting in the city of Nairobi, Kenya prior to the kick off of the African Championships - Continental Olympic Qualification Event. Dr. Tamas Ajan, IWF President, Dragomir Cioroslan, IWF Vice President and Dato Ong Poh Eng, IWF Executive Board Member participated in the Meeting. The Opening Ceremony was held in the presence of Kipchoge Keino, NOC President and IOC Honorary Member. The competition started on March 30 at the Nairobi City Hall with the participation of 49 women and 85 men weightlifters. Team Nigeria - coached by Patrick Bassey - which is in Nairobi with a full squad of 15 lifters (8 male and 7 female) is billed to slug it out with the biggest threat coming from Algeria and Cameroon. 15 countries are competing at the event, and 4 Continental Records were broken immediately on the first day. Chinenye FIDELIS (NGR) lifted 87kg in the Snatch and ended with 202kg in the Total, being both Junior and Senior African Records. Check out the results

London 2012: Final Coordination Commission visit

With four months to go until the London 2012 Olympic Games, the IOC Coordination Commission has arrived in the capital for its final visit to the host city. The Commission, led by Chairman Denis Oswald, will spend three days - 28 to 30 March - meeting with the London 2012 Organising Committee as well as with representatives from the government and local authorities to discuss progress and final preparations as the countdown to the Opening Ceremony gathers pace. Games experience Over the past seven years, the Coordination Commission has offered ongoing support and guidance to LOCOG, as they have worked together towards delivering Games of the highest calibre. Central to this shared objective is a commitment to providing the best possible service for all Games stakeholders, athletes, International Federations, National Olympic Committees, spectators and the media. Maximising the experience of these groups will form a key part of discussions over the next three days. Key topics Other topics to be examined during this, the Commission’s tenth and final visit, include the look of the venues, Olympic Park operations and key promotional tools such as the Olympic Torch Relay. The Commission members will also hear about the successful conclusion of the second phase of test events, and preparations for the next cluster of test events. In addition, there will be an update on marketing and the Paralympic Games. London 2012 London was elected as the host city for the Games of the XXX Olympiad on 6 July 2005 at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore. London eventually succeeded in the fourth round of voting, taking 54 votes from a possible 104. London faced stiff opposition during the vote from the other four Candidate Cities: Paris, New York, Moscow and Madrid. There will be 26 sports on the Olympic programme in London in 2012 and around 10,500

The 2012 London Olympic Games Qualification is updated

The 2012 London Olympic Men’s Qualification status is final. The Women's Qualification status is not yet final due to one pending case. It will be updated accordingly as soon as possible. The updated Qualification can be found here: Men /

World Weightlifting’s 2011 Best Lifters received Trophies in Moscow ceremony

Two Russian athletes, Svetlana TSARUKAEVA and Khadzhimurat AKKAEV were voted to be the Best Lifters of 2011 by the readership of World Weightlifting and the weightlifting public all over the world. Both outstanding weightlifters received the ” Jenő Boskovics Lifter of the Year Challenge Trophy” at a ceremony held in Moscow, at the prestigious Radisson Hotel Ukrajna. The presenters were Dr Tamas Ajan, IWF President, and Kornél Jancsó, Editor-in-Chief. The Russian media, TV and writing press, covered the ceremony and the subsequent Press Conference. The President of the Russian Weightlifting Federation, Sergey Syrtsovinvited many international dignitaries. Both athletes, world champions of Paris 2011, confirmed that they were extremely happy and proud of this proof of popularity among the public. As we reported earlier, a record number of 805 ballots came in at the online voting from 63 countries of the world and both Tsarukaeva and Akkaev took the first places with a great majority. Initiated by the late Editor-in-Chief of the IWF magazine Jenő Boskovics, the election of the Lifters of the Year looks back on 30 years of history and for the last two years a Challenge Trophy bears his

The world of weightlifting is mourning the death of Oleksander Putsov

The IWF was saddened to learn about the untimely death of Mr. Oleksander Putsov, General Secretary of the Ukrainian Weightlifting Federation. He was a renowned expert, coach and University Professor of the sport of weightlifting, and he enjoyed recognition both inside and outside his country, Ukraine. He served many Olympic Games, World and European Championships in a capacity of Technical Official and regularly worked as an expert at various coaching and technical clinics. Just recently at the IWF Paris Congress, his services were recognized with the IWF Award of Merit. He died at the age of 57. His departure is a real tragedy to the weightlifting sport. The International Weightlifting Federation wishes to express its deepest condolences to the Ukrainian Weightlifting Federation and community as well as to Mr. Oleksander Putsov’s