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2022 IWF World Championships – Entry List

The entry list for the 2022 IWF World Championships is NOW AVAILABLE HERE. The list includes the current ranking based on entry totals and it is automatically updated in case of any change in the athletes’ bodyweight category or entry totals. About the details of the Online Verification of Final Entries (03 December 2022, 12:00 Colombia Time) the Member Federations will be informed

Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees General Assembly

CANOC XX General Assembly took place on 4th and 5th November 2022 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Delegates elected new president and Executive Board for a four year term until 2026. Brian Lewis former President of CANOC is followed now by Keith Joseph from St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Earlier this year at the 2022 Caribbean Games in Guadeloupe seven sports were in the Games programme. Currently three sports, among them weightlifting is seeking admission to the next Caribbean Games to be held in 2025. The bidding for hosting the Games in 2025 has been extended until end of March 2023. In conjunction with the General Assembly CANOC organized a workshop where weightlifting had a presentation by Pan American Weightlifting Federation President, José Quinones and Barbados Amateur Weightlifting Association President, Andrew Callender. The two gentlemen introduced weightlifting, the Caribbean Members and the Caribbean Program of 2021, in which the Pan American Weightlifting Federation donated equipment to six Caribbean nations. As a part of the Caribbean Development Programme initiated by the Pan American Weightlifting Federation and supported by the International Weightlifting Federation, in 2022 Barbados Amateur Weightlifting Association and Weightlifting Canada will jointly host a technical & coaching course in Barbados from 21 through 27 November 2022. Weightlifting coaches from the Caribbean region can attend and the main objective of the course is to develop the sport of weightlifting in the countries of the English-speaking Caribbean. For 2023 several regional events are

LIST OF ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES FOR IWF ATHLETES’ COMMISSION PUBLISHED

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), via its appointed independent Eligibility Determination Panel, has today published the list of eligible candidates for the first IWF Athletes’ Commission elections. In total, 17 candidates representing all continents and genders will go forward to the elections, which will take place at the 2022 IWF World Championships in Bogotá, Colombia from 5-16 December 2022. It will be the first time that elections have been held for the IWF Athletes’ Commission and reflects the federation’s commitment to ensuring a strong athlete voice is represented. The IWF received 25 applications, of which three have been declared ineligible according to the Athletes’ Commission Electoral Rules and the IWF Constitution. A further six candidacies have been deemed provisionally ineligible due to non-compliance with the candidate nomination process. These candidates will be granted the right to be heard until Monday, 7 November 2022. An update on their status will be published on 9 November. Following the elections, the IWF will break new ground in athlete representation by having three athletes on the IWF Executive Board and also having three athletes as full voting members of the IWF Congress. IWF General Secretary Antonio Urso said: “It’s encouraging to see such interest and diversity among the candidates – and I thank them all for their commitment to contribute to the future of our sport. These elections represent an important milestone in our efforts to develop a truly athlete-centred culture across the IWF. I would also like to acknowledge the members of the Eligibility Determination Panel for their rigorous and important work ensuring the process is delivered to the highest levels of integrity, in line with the good governance principles set out in our new constitution.” IWF Athletes’ Commission Chair Forrester Osei added: “On behalf of the current Athletes’ Commission, I would like to congratulate all the nominated athletes and thank them for helping drive our sport forward with athletes at its heart. We are excited to hear the candidates’ ideas to help build on our work strengthening the athlete voice within the IWF. We are working diligently to support a successful election and we wish all the candidates the best of luck.” The Report of the Eligibility Determination Panel can be accessed

IWF participates in ANOC General Assembly

IWF President Mohammed Jalood and IWF Executive Board member Matthew Curtain pose in Seoul with Nigerian NOC delegate Ruth Ogbeifo, silver medallist in the Women 75kg category at the Olympic Games Sydney 2000. IWF was represented at the annual General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), which took place from 18 to 21 October in Seoul, South Korea. IWF President Mohammed Jalood and IWF Executive Board member Matthew Curtain joined delegates from all the world’s National Olympic Committees (NOCs) alongside other international federation and IOC representatives. Th ANOC General Assembly is the largest global meeting in sport outside of the Olympic Games. This year’s gathering was also attended by OWF President and IWF Executive Board Member Hon. Marcus Stephen MP and AWF President and IWF Executive Board Member Mohamed Yousef Al Mana, who participated in the capacity of their roles with the Nauru and Qatar

Stephen and Coffa retain leadership roles at Oceania Weightlifting Federation elections

Marcus Stephen and Paul Coffa have both been re-elected unopposed to the top two positions in the Oceania Weightlifting Federation (OWF). Other important decisions made at the OWF Congress in Sydney, Australia at the weekend included the awarding of the next two continental senior championships, which feature in the qualifying programme for Paris 2024. The 2023 Oceania Championships will run concurrently with the Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands next November-December, and the 2024 Championships will be a few months later in Auckland, New Zealand, at the end of February. Stephen, from Nauru, is beginning his fourth term as President, a role he will hold until 2024. Coffa, an Australian who coached Stephen in the 1990s and has been involved in Oceania weightlifting for more than half a century, continues as secretary general. The next Electoral Congress is less than two years away - before or just after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games - because the Congress in Sydney was two years later than planned, having been delayed by COVID-related postponements. Simon Kent of New Zealand is one of two new vice-presidents elected. The other is Della Shaw Elder of Fiji, who was elected unopposed as the female vice-president, a role which is required under the OWF Constitution. Shaw Elder was just a few votes short of being elected to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) Executive Board at its Electoral Congress in June and could, if she stands for OWF President in 2024, become the first female leader of any continental federation in the sport. Dika Toua, one of the biggest stars in weightlifting in Oceania, will hope to qualify for a sixth Olympics in Paris ©Getty Images Last year Shaw Elder was among those who complained to Coffa and Stephen about the way the OWF was being governed. Fiji was one of nine federations who wrote in May 2021 to call for elections at an Extraordinary Congress, but none were held until this weekend. The proceedings in Sydney were "very successful and held in a most friendly atmosphere", Coffa said. Two vice-presidents were re-elected, Jerry Wallwork of Samoa and Luisa Peters of Cook Islands. Three new members of the Executive Board were voted in - John Davis of Northern Marianas, Edgar Molinos of Guam and Stevick Patris of Palau. The assistant secretary is Lilly Coffa, technical chair is Sam Coffa, and masters chair is Coral Quinell - all Australian. The medical co-chairs are Dr Lisimoni Kami of Tonga and Dr Lawrence Teariki Puni of Cook Islands. Next year’s Oceania Youth and Junior Championships will be held on a date to be decided in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Oceania lifters, who were inconvenienced more than any other continent by COVID travel restrictions, had a successful year, winning 10 medals at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The continent’s two gold medallists in Birmingham, the multiple junior world record holder Eileen Cikamatana of Australia and the ever-improving Samoan Don Opeloge, will both be aiming for good results in December at the 2022 IWF World Championships in Bogota, Colombia. Another of Oceania’s big names, 38-year-old Dika Toua of Papua New Guinea, is hoping to qualify for the Olympic Games for a record sixth time. Source : Brian Oliver–

Pan American Junior Championships and South American Championships

Last week took place the Pan American Junior Championships in Lima, Peru together with the South American Junior & Youth Championships and the South American U15 Championships. This was the first international weightlifting event where athletes competed on two platforms at the same time. Totally 17 countries have sent weightlifters to participate at least at one of the four events. Hampton Morris from USA broke his own junior world record, with a 163 kg in clean and jerk. Besides this world record, several Pan American and South American records have been broken. The different delegations expressed their satisfaction with the two platforms event and welcomed this initiative to be used more time in the future. The whole event can be looked back at the Youtube channel of the Pan American Weightlifting Federation.