News

IWF Publishes Start Book Ahead of Opening of 2021 IWF World Championships and Commonwealth Championships

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has published its Start Book ahead of the opening of the 2021 IWF World Championships in Tashkent. The flagship event, which will take place from 7-17 December 2021 in the Uzbek capital, will gather the world’s best male and female athletes. Tashkent will concurrently host the Commonwealth Championships, which is a qualifying event for next year’s Commonwealth Games. The competing athletes for the two events have been announced, alongside the groups of juries and referees and the technical officials. There will be 432 athletes (187 female, 245 male) from 74 countries participating in the World Championships. COVID-19 countermeasures have been developed by the IWF, the local organising committee, and medical experts to ensure the World Championships and Commonwealth Championships can be held despite the ongoing challenges with the pandemic. Athletes unable to compete in the Commonwealth Championships will have the opportunity to secure qualification for the Commonwealth Games in early 2022. IWF Interim President Dr Michael Irani said, “We’re delighted that the World Championships and Commonwealth Championships are able to go ahead in Tashkent, despite the challenges the pandemic continues to present. We are grateful to the Uzbek Weightlifting Federation for their collaboration, which is allowing us to finish the year on a high by giving athletes the opportunity to fulfil their dream. Together with the organising committee, we have developed COVID-19 countermeasures that will ensure the event is held in the safest possible environment. We are now looking forward to welcoming the world for what is set to be a thrilling few weeks of competition of the highest

ITA Anti-Doping Webinar – 2021 IWF World Championships

On the occasion of the 2021 IWF World Championships, the International Testing Agency is organizing an anti-doping webinar for the weightlifting community. The webinar will be on 6th December 2021 at 12:00 CET, 16:00 GMT+5 (UZB time). It will provide an overview of athlete and athlete support personnel anti-doping rights and responsibilities and also cover key topics such as how to check medications, how to apply for Therapeutic Use Exemptions if an athlete would need to use a prohibited substance, what happens during the Doping Control Process, and how to report suspicious behaviour confidentially. At the end of the session everyone will have an opportunity to ask questions.This webinar is for athletes, coaches and other athlete support personnel, but all members of the weightlifting community are welcome to register.The anti-doping webinar will be delivered in English, with simultaneous translation in Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish. The registration link for the webinar can be found

Verification of Final Entries – 2021 IWF World Championships

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the usual Verification of Final Entries of the 2021 IWF World Championships will be organized in an online format. Member Federations are kindly asked to check and verify their participating athletes’ data in the IWF E-Entry System as follows: VERIFICATION OF FINAL ENTRIES Tab Member Federations shall login with their username and password to the IWF E-Entry System (click HERE) then CLICK on the VERIFICATION OF FINAL ENTRIES tab at the top of the page. PROCEDURECOMPETING ATHLETE(S) Member Federations shall check their athlete(s) BODYWEIGHT CATEGORY/ENTRY TOTAL and modify them if needed SELECT the athlete(s) by clicking the „CONFIRM” button on the left  NON-COMPETING ATHLETE(S) DELETE those athlete(s) who WILL NOT participate by clicking the „dustbin” icon on the left  Federations are asked to DOUBLE-CHECK their final list of the athlete(s) and CLICK on the „SEND VERIFICATION” button above. THE PLATFORM FOR THE VERIFICATION IS AVAILABLE FROM TODAY UNTIL DECEMBER 5, 2021, AT 10:00 AM (GMT +5, UZB TIME). After the deadline, the IWF E-Entry System will be CLOSED, therefore NO FURTHER CHANGES CAN BE MADE to the data. In case of questions, Federations are asked to contact the IWF at

IWF Election Postponed Pending Resolution Of Outstanding Legal Issues

A meeting of the IWF Executive Board yesterday considered the written legal opinion sent by the independent IWF Legal Commission which made it clear the proper legal foundations for the planned IWF Elections had not yet been fully complied. Due to this reason the IWF Executive Board decided, that the Electoral Congress, scheduled for 20-21 December, will not therefore see voting take place on those days. However, the IWF wishes to move forward by holding a General Congress with all other points on the original agenda on 20-21 December 2021. Therefore, preparations will move forward with the same conditions as it was communicated by the IWF before. One of the reasons for this decision was the IWF Legal Commission found that the composition of the IWF’s independent Ethics and Disciplinary Commission had not yet been ratified by the IWF Congress. Consequently, the Ethics and Disciplinary Commission could not properly constitute the Eligibility and Determination Panel required to vet candidates for the election, in the opinion of the IWF Legal Commission. “The IWF is fully committed to good governance and that’s why we adopted a new constitution with near unanimity. It is important that we implement this new governance carefully and in a way that will withstand legal challenge. That’s exactly what we are determined to do,” said IWF Interim President Dr Michael Irani. You can read the report of the Legal

The Latest Edition of the South American Weightlifting Confederation’s Magazine Is Out!

The latest edition of the South American Weightlifting Confederation's magazine has been published. The new issue of the magazine reviews the performances of the South American athletes at international competitions from the beginning of 2021 until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, including South American, Pan American and World events within this time period.   In addition, many articles on several areas are included in order to generate discussions and remember some weightlifting family members. There is a long section on refereeing, providing a possibility to improve the performance of technical officials.   A joint initiative of the South American Confederation and the Pan American Federation, a Training Portal is introduced in the magazine with the aim to join all the activities and projects that are taking place.   The magazine can be found

The First Sino & Pan-America Virtual Weightlifting Training Camp Successfully Concluded

The first Sino & Pan-America Virtual Weightlifting Training Camp organized by Chinese Weightlifting Association (CWA) and Pan-American Weightlifting Federation (PAWF) was held on November 21, 2021. Around 100 participants from Pan-America Weightlifting Family participated in the event via zoom. Coaches and athletes from CWA shared their technical knowledge and experience on competitive weightlifting to their counterpart from member federations from PAWF. YU Jie, Head Coach of China’s Men’s Team, coach of Olympic Champions including LYU Xiaojun and a number of world champions, as well as DENG Huijie, coach of China’s Women’s Team participated in the event. Eight World senior/junior Champions from China’s national team made the demonstration of exercises. The training camp started with a quick view on China’s National Weightlifting Training Center, followed by a video clip featuring how sport science team has been supporting Chinese coaches and athletes in their daily training was played (YouTube link of the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFueIWmQzto&feature=youtu.be). Chinese athletes demonstrated several kinds of exercises (technical and muscular), including muscular exercises of lower back and abdominal plus scapular strength, and technical exercises of clean and jerk. These exercises were designed to answer the questions collected from PAWF member federations. The Chinese coaches also made comments and instructions on the exercises practiced by PAWF athletes. After the training session, enthusiastic PAWF member federations raised their questions one after another, which was patiently answered one by one by Chinese Coaches and thus extended the training camp from 1.5 hours to more than 2 hours. PAWF President Mr. Jose QUINONES and PAWF General Secretary Mr. William PENA said Chinese weightlifting has made huge contributions to international weightlifting community, and thanked CWA for a well-organized virtual training camp and setting up a world standard for Pan-America and the world. This training camp was the first bilateral exchange between CWA and PAWF, but it will not be the last one. In an effort to accomplish mutual development, PAWF looks forward to organizing more in-person exchanges with CWA in forms of seminars or training camps. CWA President Mr. ZHOU Jinqiang agreed to have a closer bilateral collaboration between China and Pan-America in different forms from different aspects in the future. He said that COVID-19 has made some troubles for in-person international training camps, but when the pandemic is under control he did hope to invite friends from PAWF and its member federations as well as friends from all over the world to China to train in person with the Chinese National Team, and to have a try with the rehabilitation equipment here in Beijing. Source: Chinese Weightlifting