News

Russian men’s team finished way ahead at the JWC in Sofia

Three countries turned out full teams of 8 lifters at the 36th Junior Men's World Championships just concluded in Sofia, Bulgaria. Of the three Russia finished in the lead of the team classification with a very convincing advantage of almost 100 points over the second best Poland. Turkey landed in third position. China brought only five male lifters to Bulgaria, but their gold and silver medal positions were enough to allow CHN to classify as fourth best team in 2010. As usual in the years prior to the Olympic Games, probably many of the protagonists on the stage of the Universiade Hall in Sofia will be likely contenders to the spots on their country's Olympic squad for London 2012. At this 36th Junior Worlds, 47 nations were represented with male and 29 countries with female lifters, which is altogether to be considered as extensive participation. The Result Book contains all the relevant information.

China won both the Team Classification and Medal Standing in the women’s competition

On the closing day of the 16th Women’s Junior World Championships in Sofia the Chinese success became complete. Lifters from the Asian country won 6 out of 7 categories, the +75kg category (without a Chinese athlete) was won by the Russian lifter. With 18 gold medals and 504 points China easily won both the Medal Standings and the Team Classification. Russia became second with 3 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze medals and 418 points. Colombia became third in the Medal Standing with 4 silver and 1 bronze, Turkey got third place in the Team Classification with 416 points. 14 countries have won medals and 29 countries earned

Junior World Championships nearing its end in Sofia

Both men and women under 20 years of age have excelled in the Bulgarian capital since 14th June 2010. With the last women's category (+75kg) just being contested, only three men's categories are yet to be organised. The progress of the competitions - as usual - can be followed through the IWF's "LIVE RESULTS" service which is a real-time copy of the scoreboard in the Universiade Hall of Sofia. Each category's competition and the auxiliary events of the 2010 Junior World Championships are amply documented by photos in the "PHOTO GALLERY".

IWF Congress highlights

Under the chairmanship of Dr. Tamás Aján, President and Mr. Ma Wenguang, General Secretary, the IWF Congress was held in Sofia on 13th June, in the presence of delegations from 56 countries. As the main highlight of the Congress, Pyrros Dimas became a Member of the Weightlifting Hall of Fame. The exceptional career of the Greek hero, three times Olympic Champion plus once bronze-medal winner received due acknowledgement by this membership. The Turkish Federation, represented by its President Dr. Hasan Akkus gave a report on the preparations of the 2011 Qualification World Championships, which will take place in Antalya in September. The Organising Committee's delegation included weightlifting's first triple Olympic Champion Naim Suleymanoglu, another member of the Hall of Fame.

Future World Championships allocated

At its meeting in Sofia, the Executive Board approved that the 2nd Youth World Championships be carried out by the Peruvian Federation in Lima. The projected dates are in May 2011. The Board also allocated the organisation of the 2012 Junior World Championships to Guatemala City, Guatemala. The Championships will be combined with the Pan-American Continental Qualification Championships for the 2012 London Olympic Games and are planned to take place at the end of April - beginning of May. At the same time, Kosice, Slovakia was entrusted with the organisation of the 3rd Youth World Championships in 2012.

IWF Executive Board meets in Sofia

As usual before World Champioships, the IWF Executive Board is holding its regular meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, two days before the opening of the 36th Men's and 16th Women's Junior World Championships. Significant issues of the sport are on the agenda.Mr. Sliven Nejkov, Minister of Sport and BWF President Mr. Anton Kodjabashev, together with BWF General Secretary Mr. Tenyo Tenev welcomed the Board Members to Bulgaria.