News

Vueti heads off

FIJI weightlifter Joe Vueti has been offered a one year coaching scholarship. Vueti will be training in New Caledonia under the guidance of Oceania weightlifting coach Paul Coffa. "When Joe comes back, he will have coaching to fall back on," Fiji weightlifting coach Della Shaw said.(Fiji Times

Singapore 2010: 15 months to go and progressing well

The Coordination Commission for the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2010 concluded its second visit to Singapore today. Fifteen months before the Opening Ceremony on 14 August 2010, the Singapore Organising Committee (SYOGOC) has advanced considerably with preparations for the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2010. Good progress has been made with finalising the sports programme in collaboration with the IFs. The daily competition schedule is almost complete, and SYOGOC is moving forward well in terms of planning for sports presentation. SYOGOC has also made significant progress in terms of developing the Culture and Education Programme, including specific content development, and has shown strong commitment to this part of the project, which is essential to the success of the YOG. SYOGOCs commercial and marketing efforts are gaining momentum with the engagement of a large number of potential sponsors and suppliers. Following the launch of the Singapore 2010 emblem in January, SYOGOC is currently developing a full range of brand elements and applications to support the promotion of the Games. A comprehensive communications plan has been put forward, and SYOGOC has stepped up its local publicity efforts in the last few months. Messages will be disseminated through multiple channels including traditional media platforms, local and international dia platforms, events and festivals and with a particular emphasis on the use of digital media. and suppliersevents and festivals, with particular emphasis on the use of digital media. In this respect, SYOGOC launched its WhyOhGee website in April (www.singapore2010.sg/whyohgee/), a micro site aimed at young people. SYOGOC and the IOC are working and will continue to work together to ensure synergy between the two organisations digital efforts aimed at the youth audience. In the last six months, the Organising Committee has worked hard towards the completion of its venue master plan and YOG event schedule by day. Much effort has also gone into detailed operational and venue planning, which will remain SYOGOCs focus for the coming months. It will be important for SYOGOC to keep up the tremendous momentum it has built up so far as it moves towards operational readiness, said Sergey Bubka, Chairman of the Coordination Commission, at the end of the visit. We have been working closely with the IOC to co-construct the YOG. In the last two days, we had fruitful and open discussions with the IOC Coordination Commission (CoCom) on various aspects of the Games, specifically on venue development, the Games-time Culture and Education Programme, as well as the YOG Event Schedule, which integrates the sport, culture and education programme schedules. We received valuable inputs from the CoCom. We will fine-tune the concepts and work with the IOC YOG team to develop the operations plan. We are in the midst of venue planning to synthesise the various functional areas operations plans at each venue. This will be completed in the second half of this year as we prepare to enter the Operational Readiness Planning phase in September 2009, said SYOGOC Chairman and IOC Executive Board member Ser Miang Ng. The Singapore 2010 sport pictograms were unveiled today at the Singapore 2010 Learning Centre. In line with the YOG philosophy, Culture and Education pictograms will also be created and unveiled in the lead-up to the Games. Presentations were of a high standard and the level of detail was a clear reflection of the solid planning work SYOGOC is currently undertaking. It is clear that SYOGOC is on the right track to deliver the 1st Summer Youth Olympic Games and is committed to the co-construction of these inaugural Games with the IOC, concluded Sergey Bubka. (IOC)

Chinese LU Yuntao and Turkish OKUR are the first ever Youth World Champions in history

Seventeen-year old Chinese young man LU Yuntao became the first ever Youth World Champion in weightlifting history at the EGAT YWWC in Chiangmai, Thailand. He won with a total of 213 kilos marking four youth world records in the process. In the next session, the Girls' 44kg, Turkish OKUR Saziye (17)surprised with an outstanding 162 kilos total, shunning Chinese CHEN Yulian (aged15). This category did not go without a world record either: 76kg in snatch by the Turkish World

1st Youth WC kicking off with staggering turnout

After a spectacular Opening Ceremony in traditional North-Thailand style, the 1st ever World Championships for the Youth age group (13 to 17 years old) is kicking off on 20th May 2009 in ChiangMai. The home of many great champions of Thailand and host of the 2007 Royal WWC, this city must have been very attractive for the young athletes from all over the world, because the participation exceeds all previous expectations and calculations.Naturally, the fact that the 1st EGAT YWWC is the main opportunity to earn qualification for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore has only added to this attraction. As a result, a staggering number of 373 young weightlifters,k of which 155 girls and 218 boys are featured on the Starting List, representing 48 countries.Competitions will run through five days from early morning till late night. For the first time, the IWF on this website provides the chance to fans to follow the progress of the Championships with the help of an online scoreboard.

Haworth underwent surgery

Weightlifter Cheryl Haworth underwent surgery last week, but the three-time Olympian's latest health concern won't impact her plans for the 2012 Olympics. "The injury has actually given me a little more resolve," said Haworth from the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado. "I've had to rededicate myself to weightlifting. You get some time off and you get chomping at the bit a little bit. I never thought I would want to do a squat workout as much as I do right now." Haworth scheduled the operation to fix a torn labrum in her hip. The surgeon discovered the labrum didn't need to be repaired but found cartilage damage instead. He decided to smooth the part of Haworth's femur bone that fits into the hip socket as well as the socket itself to save her remaining cartilage. "It needed to be done," she said. "Better to get it over with now than down the road." (Savannah Morning

Results of Asian Championships 2009

Iran won first place of the 40th Asian Senior Men's Weightlifting Championship. Iran climbed the podium with 583 points, winning six golds, six slivers and three bronzes. Kazakhstan and China came second and third respectively in the tournament.