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Key Dates And Location For IWF World Weightlifting Championships And Elections Announced

Lausanne, 9 September 2021; Following decisions taken by the Executive Board of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), the dates and locations of the forthcoming 2021 IWF World Weightlifting Championships and the IWF Electoral Congress have been announced.  Both the 2021 IWF World Championships (7-17 December) and the Electoral Congress (20-21 December) will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.All related documents including the Event regulation are now available on the IWF website. “We already know for sure that the IWF Executive Board which follows the December elections will be very different to any that has gone before it, reflecting a more egalitarian culture that is also more clearly focused on the needs of weightlifters,” said IWF Interim President Dr Michael Irani. “This will follow on from clean weightlifting competitions at Tokyo 2020 and the adoption of completely revised governance measures in satisfying the criteria for success that were established for us by the IOC.” The 2021 IWF Junior World Weightlifting Championships were successfully held in Tashkent in May, as were the Asian Weightlifting Federation’s 2021 Congress and Asian Championships. “Our friends in Tashkent have already proven themselves to be very capable organisers of important weightlifting events this year, and the IWF is deeply grateful both to them and to the others who had shown interest in hosting our events. The IWF is pleased to be able to deliver this measure of certainty around the 2021 IWF World Weightlifting Championships for all our athletes,” continued Irani. “And in this difficult year, with the effects of the pandemic still being felt, our main priority will continue to be ensuring safe and healthy conditions for all involved.”

Dates Confirmed for the 2021 IWF World Championships

After careful consideration the IWF Executive Board has decided to reschedule the 2021 IWF World Championships for a new date with a new host: Competition Program 05 December 2021 / 15:00 - VERIFICATION OF FINAL ENTRIES 06 December 2021 / 18:00 - TECHNICAL OFFICIALS' MEETING 07-17 December 2021 / IWF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS (11 days) The deadline for submitting the Preliminary Entries for the 2021 IWF World Championships is 07 SEPTEMBER 2021. Registration details: As usual it is mandatory for Federations to register their athletes before the preliminary entry deadline for the IWF World Championships. For this purpose, Federations are able to register up to 20 athletes/gender even though the final number of competitors can only be a maximum of 10 athletes (+2 Reserves) per gender, that shall be selected by the Final Entry deadline (05 November 2021). Entries shall be registered only via the IWF Online Entry System http://www.iwf.net/e-entry_2021iwfwc/ Anti-Doping eligibility requirements for the Event: In accordance with article 5.5.16 of the IWF Anti-Doping Rules 2021 whereabouts information of the athletes shall be submitted at a minimum of three (3) months prior to the IWF World Championships. Athletes who wish to compete at the IWF World Championships shall submit their whereabouts information for the period outlined above at the latest on 07 SEPTEMBER 2021. ADAMS Deadline for Q3 2021 in regards to the IWF World Championships: 07 September 2021 ADAMS Deadline for Q4 2021 in regards to the IWF World Championships: 30 September 2021 An Athlete who does not comply with this provision is not eligible to compete at the IWF Event. The new host country will be announced soon and the regulation will be sent out and uploaded to the IWF website accordingly.

Final Entry Deadline – 2021 IWF Youth World Championships

The final entry deadline of the 2021 IWF YWC is 05 September 2021, this Sunday.The Federations shall delete all those athletes who will not participate, then confirm the final entries by clicking on the "Confirm Final List" button in the IWF ONLINE ENTRY SYSTEMThe Federations shall select maximum of 12 Men Athletes (10+2 reserve) and 12 Women Athletes (10+2 reserve) - when applies - from the Preliminary

Heavy lifting finally completed as IWF overwhelmingly passes new weightlifting constitution

Pyrros Dimas tells Around the Rings “I see happy faces, happy people and I hope everything will be the same from here to the future.”   The International Weightlifting Federation overwhelmingly approves a new constitution just days before the IOC Executive Board is to meet about the future of the sport in the Olympics. The vote came on Sunday at a second IWF Constitutional Congress being held in Doha, Qatar. The first one in late June ended with no agreement.   Pyrros Dimas, the legendary Greek weightlifter who is a member of the IWF Executive Board, tells Around the Rings “we’ve voted with 93.3 percent, a huge percentage, this is for me a victory for our sport. I was very worried before I came here but I see people who support our sport and they decide to keep our sport in the Olympics”. When asked if the new constitution would pass muster with the IOC, Dimas says “”I think yes because we did what the IOC wants. And we have nothing to be afraid about that.” The IOC Executive Board is scheduled to meet on Sept. 8. At the last IOC Session in Tokyo, the EB was given powers to suspend a federation from participating in an Olympics. The IOC has repeatedly warned the IWF that the sport could lose its place at Paris 2024 if specific criteria for internal governance reform and anti-doping measures weren’t implemented in a new constitution. While the 156-page constitution has been approved, there are five amendments to the document that still need to be discussed and decided. This effort will likely run into Monday. After the amendments are handled, the IWF Executive Board is scheduled to meet to discuss specifics including when and where the delayed Electoral Congress will be held. Dimas says that after the EB meeting is completed, the IWF will publish the new constitution in its entirety. But he says the hardest part of the process – the approval of the new constitution – has been accomplished. “I’m seeing all this, what’s happened today here very positive and I see happy faces, happy people and I hope everything will be the same from here to the future.” Source: Gerard Farek - Around the

Jacques Rogge (1942-2021)

It is with great sadness that we heard of the passing of former IOC President, Jacques Rogge.   He was a remarkable sportman who dedicated his life to the Olympic Movement.   IWF sends its condolences for this remarkable loss to his family and loved ones, furthermore to the Olympic Family.

IWF Embraces Better Governance, Adopts New Constitution

Doha, 29 August 2021; During the General meeting today in Doha, the Member Federations of the International Weightlifting Federation voted overwhelmingly to adopt a new, independently-drafted Constitution, that will radically overhaul the IWF’s governance. Of 133 Member Federations represented at the meeting, more than 2/3 voted in favour of the new measures. “It was only in October of last year that the IWF was able to come to consensus around appointing independent members to the Reform and Governance Commission (RGC), a critical step in putting the problems of the past behind us,” said IWF Interim President Dr Michael Irani. “To have adopted an entirely new Constitution after widespread consultation, and in just 10 months during the pandemic, is a real demonstration of the IWF’s determination to move towards a brighter future that is based on solid foundations.” The new Constitution will establish vital principles including athlete representation, gender equality and independent oversight. No fewer than three athlete representatives will serve on the reformed IWF Executive Board, while at least 30% of elected positions will be filled by women. Ethics and discipline issues will be handled independently of the IWF Executive Board, building on interim arrangements that had already been put in place in recent months. Robust eligibility criteria and term limits will ensure that the future IWF Executive Board benefits from a regular influx of new talents and will notably deprive National Federations with a high number of doping cases will not have access to board-level representation. “On behalf of the entire IWF, I would like to sincerely thank all those involved in the creation and refinement of this new constitution,” continued Dr Irani. “Darren Kane, the RGC’s independent chair was tireless in his efforts as were the other independent and IWF members. We are grateful to the ITA, to WADA, to ASOIF and to the IOC for their guidance and of course to our National Federations for having the courage to take this bold step.” Implementing the provisions of the new constitution, the IWF will now move to fresh elections for its Executive Board as soon as is practicable.” The final Constitution will be sent to the Member Federations in the upcoming