News

New General Secretary of weightlifting for FSM

The new General Secretary of weightlifting for FSM (Federated States of Micronesia) is Manuel Minginfel. Three times Olympian and silver medal in the clean & jerk at the 2006 World Championships in Santo Domingo in the 62kg

Phelps enjoys sidelines

The Olympic swimming superstar is attending the Vancouver Winter Olympics. "I think it's cool to be a spectator," Phelps said in an interview. "I've competed at three summer Olympics and it's nice to see the other side of it. You know what they're going through because you've lived it, so to see how they react and compete is really special." The 24-year-old American swimmer who has amassed 14 gold medals and two bronze medals in the past two summer Games, arrived in Vancouver to make some appearances for Olympic sponsor Omega. He's not an expert on winter sports but knows the names of several U.S. hockey players, including forward Chris Drury, from playing the video game NHL Hitz. He also attended the University of Michigan with U.S. defenceman Jack Johnson and they used to lift weights together. Phelps' quest to compete in the 2012 London Olympics and become the winningest Olympian of all time has him spending more time training out of the pool than in the past, with yoga, Pilates, running, boxing exercises and weightlifting becoming a more important part of his daily regimen. "The big thing is to keep it more interesting and do some things that are not normal for swimmers. It's needed after you've been staring at a black line [under water] for 14 years."Michael Phelps Becomes Youth Olympic Games Ambassador Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps today became the first official Ambassador of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG). The 16-time Olympic medallist, who is visiting Vancouver to catch some of the Olympic Winter Games action, will support the Youth Olympic Games by encouraging the involvement of young people around the world. Michael Phelps said "The Youth Olympic Games is an excellent initiative, not only for the athletes competing, but also those who are inspired to get into sport and be more active. I am delighted that I have been given the opportunity to become the first official Ambassador of the Youth Olympic Games, and can't wait to get working with the YOG team to promote the first event this

Korea to Finance ‘Unfamiliar’ Sports

The government said it will use taxpayer money to finance athletes in Olympic sports such as ice skating, hockey, boxing, judo, weightlifting and wrestling, which struggle commercially despite getting the spotlight during international events. The list of 15 "non-popular'' sports picked by policymakers also includes fencing, shooting, gymnastics, cycling, weightlifting and water sports such as canoeing and yachting. The 15 will share some 2.06 billion won (about $1.8 million) in government funds. It is the first time the government will allocate part of its budget to directly support these struggling sports, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Non-student amateur athletes have so far relied on local government organizations, which are required to hire and train them under the sports promotion law, and corporate teams. The governing bodies of each sport also get a cut from the sports promotion fund, which is generated from revenue from state-run lotteries. "We have picked Olympic sports that lack a professional league and struggle from poor training and competing conditions, but in which we are still considered to have a real shot at winning medals,'' a ministry official said. (by By Kim

Oceania Events shifted to Fiji

By a press release coming from Paul Coffa, General Secretary of the Oceania Weightlifting Federation the OWF informs all concerned that the Oceania and South Pacific Senior, Junior and Youth Championships in conjunction with the Olympic Youth Qualification event (Oceania Continent) has been shifted from Nauru to Fiji. The dates remain the same, May 4th to 7th, 2010. The reason for changing the hosting country is that due to the large number of entries that Nauru received, the only flight per week that operates  from Fiji  to Nauru could not accommodate all the athletes and officials coming from the various islands. Therefore the OWF had no option but to relocate the event.  Information, timetable and relevant documents may be downloaded here and from the Calendar.

World Weightlifting 2009/3 – special Goyang World Championships issue

World Weightlifting's 2009/3 edition provides an overall coverage of the 2009 Goyang World Weightlifting

Weightlifting coaching course concludes in Pakistan

The Pakistan Weightlifting Federation in collaboration with the IOC Olympic Solidarity and the POA organised a coaching course at the Punjab University Ground Weightlifting centre from February 8 to 16.Qaiser Iftikhar, a diploma holder in weightlifting coaching from Semmelweis University Budapest, Hungary, was the course director. Prof M. Azhar and Prof Khizer Hayat also delivered lectures.The following participants successfully attended this programme: Anjum Rohail Butt, Muhammad Rizwan, Kashif Barkat, Abdul Jabar Adnan, Aqeel Javed Butt, Muhammad Shafeeq, Rashid Mahmood, Abdul Ghafoor, Adeeb Akram, Muhammad Anjad Amin, Ali Imran Butt, Abdul Khaliq, Ashfaq Ahmad, Muhammad Ashfaq, Muhammad Ali, Zubair Yousaf Butt, Aleem Dar, Muhammad Sabir, Allah Rakha. This is the second episode of coaching courses being organized for the development of the National Sports Structure in weightlifting. The first course of this kind was organized in Karachi in November