News

BWL celebrates two Commonwealth Games flag bearers

Two British Weight Lifting (BWL) home nation weightlifters have been selected by their respective Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) to serve as their flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games on 28 July. Emily Campbell will fly the flag for Team England. Emily is already a Commonwealth medallist after securing bronze at the Gold Coast 2018 and for these Games, she is ranked no. 1 in the Commonwealth and will compete in the women’s 87+kg category on Wednesday 3 August. Campbell made history at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 by becoming the first British woman in history to medal in weightlifting with silver. Furthermore, Campbell is a dual European Champion and medallist from the 2021 World Championships. Emily Campbell has commented on being selected “I am extremely honoured to have the opportunity to fly the Team England flag high at the opening ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. It makes it so much more special that I get to do it in front of a home crowd on Midlands soil! It really doesn’t get any better than that. Being the first female weightlifter and the first weightlifter to be flag bearer since the legend Precious Mackenzie in 1974 has me bursting with pride and I hope this moment will inspire other young girls to chase their dreams whether that’s in sport or anything else they have ambitions of becoming. I really can’t wait to get out there with the team!”  In parallel, Holly O’Shea will fly the Gibraltar flag. Holly is set to be Gibraltar's first ever weightlifter at the Commonwealth Games and will compete in the women’s 71kg category on Monday 1 August. Holly O’Shea commented, “I am so overwhelmed and incredibly honoured to have been selected to be a flagbearer for Team Gibraltar. I absolutely cannot wait to lead this super talented team out & raise the flag high for the nation. It has been a real journey through this qualification period, from training in -3 in the garage through Covid-19, to finding my feet in competition, to organising and jetting off to compete in Uzbekistan by myself. Thankfully I've had incredible support along the way that I will be forever grateful for. Thank you to everyone who has played even the smallest part in this journey, I hope I am able to make you proud.” Matthew Curtain, British Weight Lifting CEO, has commented “We are thrilled with the selection of Emily Campbell and Holly O’Shea as flag bearers for the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. We congratulate both athletes wholeheartedly as Emily and Holly are leading role models across our diverse membership. Indeed, such accomplishments will certainly inspire the next generation of athletes as BWL looks towards future Commonwealth Games”.   (...) Source: British Weight

IWF Athletes’ Commission Elects Dora Tchakounte as New Vice Chair

Last week the IWF Athletes’ Commission opened a vote among its members to fill the position of Vice Chair after the previous Vice Chairwoman Hiromi Miyake (JPN) was elected to the IWF Executive Board at the 2022 IWF Electoral Congress in Tirana, Albania.Due to this recent activity, the IWF Athletes’ Commission has now officially elected Dora Tchakounte from France as the new Vice Chairwoman. Tchakounte is an Olympian, recently competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where she placed 4th in the 59kg category. She will now join Forrester Osei on the IWF Executive Board as IWF Athlete Representatives.IWF President Mohammed Jalood commented, “On behalf of the new IWF Executive Board, I would like to congratulate Ms. Tchakounte and welcome her to the Board. The athlete perspective is very important to our sport, we have a lot of good work to do for weightlifting and together with her and the IWF Athletes’ Commission Chair Forrester Osei, I know that we will achieve a lot for our sport together.”IWF Athlete Chair Forrester Osei added, “We are so pleased to have Dora Tchakounte as our new Vice Chair. She is a strong leader within our Commission, and now having her voice included in the important discussions we will have with the IWF leadership about the future of our sport will be invaluable.”Currently there are three positions available for Athlete Representatives on the IWF Executive Board. IWF Athlete Commission Chair, Forrester Osei and now Vice Chair, Dora Tchakounte hold two positions and the third will be filled later on this

The South American Weightlifting Confederation Launches the 12th Edition of its Magazine

The South American Weightlifting Confederation has launched its new magazine. The 12th edition of the magazine features a brief summary of the weightlifting activities in the region during the second part of 2021, including the successful participation of South American athletes in the World Championships, moreover a review of doping analysis made by Dr. Victor Carpio, from Perú, who is a recognized specialist with a longtime experience in this field. You can read all in the magazine by clicking

A New Chapter Begins for the IWF

Lausanne, Switzerland - July 14, 2022    The new Executive Board of the International Weightlifting Federation met yesterday at the IWF Headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Coming together for the first time since their election, there was a packed agenda set for the new leadership. Among the most important topics was the Olympic status as well as the foundation and future of weightlifting.The discussions focused on the core principles of the IWF, including reviewing the past culture versus the new philosophy of the organisation and next steps in continuing to clean up the sport. Each member of the Executive Board committed to supporting the good governance initiatives already implemented and to the continued improvement of transparency and integrity within the sport.Furthermore, concrete steps were agreed including commissioning the International Testing Agency (ITA) to increase the number of out-of-competitions tests. Additionally, an international auditing firm will now be appointed to perform a detailed financial, governance and operational due diligence of the IWF covering the past ten years. The final report will be presented to the IWF Ordinary Congress in December this year. Also, using the learnings from the recent Electoral Congress, a review of the IWF Constitution will be made to identify any needs for adjusting operational regulations. And lastly, an adjustment will be made to the current financial management regulations and procedures to ensure a clear link between costs and obtained results.Additional points discussed also included the upcoming events for this year and next year, the support of athletes and member federations, the improvement of sponsorship and ways in which to promote the sport of weightlifting throughout the world.IWF President Mohammed Jaloud commented, “It was great to have the new Executive Board come together here in Lausanne, the Olympic Capital, and home of the IWF headquarters. With so many new Executive Board members, it was important for us to come together in unity to focus on the future of our sport. We are moving forward on all fronts and are strictly in line with the IOC requirements.”IWF General Secretary Antonio Urso said, “This was a very productive first meeting with the new Executive Board, there was a lot of positive energy. We had some great discussions and made some important decisions for weightlifting; we are looking forward to sharing more on next steps with our members and partners in the coming weeks and months ahead. But we can already promise that transparency will be at the core of everything that the IWF does from now on – including having the detailed minutes of our meeting being published very soon on the IWF

IWF Mourns the Passing of Guy Koller

The whole IWF family is deeply saddened to hear the sudden passing of Guy Koller, President of the French Weightlifting Federation while attending the Mediterranean Games in Oran, Algeria. As President of the next Olympic Games' host nation's weightlifting federation he was named ex-officio member of the IWF Executive Board  for the period of 2022-2024. IWF is sending its deepest condolences to the French Weightlifting Federation and to Mr Koller's family and loved ones. With his passing weightlifting lost a great leader and friend. He will be greatly missed.

IWF Congratulates Newly Elected General Secretary Antonio Urso

June 30, 2022 – Lausanne, SwitzerlandFollowing the second round of voting (online) for the position of General Secretary, Mr. Antonio Urso of Italy has been elected as the new IWF General Secretary.In a very close race, with 127 valid votes cast, Mr. Urso was elected with 64 votes while Mr. Jose Quinones received 63 votes. In following the IWF Constitution, Mr. Urso received the most votes and thus has been declared the winner.The IWF would like to congratulate Mr. Urso on his election and we are sure that he will make a positive impact on the sport at a crucial time in its history. The IWF would like to thank both Mr. Quinones and Mr Urso for their commitment to the sport of weightlifting with such a close run election proving there is much interest in the sport.IWF President, Mohammed Jalood commented, “I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to Antonio Urso. His extensive years of experience combined with this passion for weightlifting will be a great asset for the IWF in the years ahead. I am looking forward to working with him and my new Executive Board in the years ahead – we have a lot to do but I am confident that with this new team we will bring the IWF to an exciting new level.”Newly elected General Secretary, Antonio Urso said, “What an exciting day it has been. I cannot begin to express my thanks to the IWF family for their confidence. I am looking forward to getting to work with our new President and the entire Executive Board. This is a new era for the IWF and for weightlifting!”The online vote was supervised by the Electoral Commission and the Electoral Manager using the LUMI Global system. The completion of this vote brings the 2022 IWF Electoral Congress to a