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IWF120y/114 – 1960: Tan Howe Liang becomes a national hero in Singapore

For 48 years, Tan Howe Liang held a very special privilege: to be the first and sole Olympic medallist in his country (all sports included)! Born in the Guangdong (China) region in 1933, he was four when his parents decided to move to Singapore. Third of eight siblings, his living conditions were far from ideal and when his father died (Tan was only 14), he was forced to quit school. One day, passing through an amusement park, he saw a weightlifting exhibition and decided to try the sport. It was the right decision, as he proved quite strong and started winning some national titles. In 1956, he qualified for his first Olympic Games: in Melbourne, his performance went unnoticed as he finished ninth. 1958 was a pivotal year for Tan, as he earned two gold medals, at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. Two years later, at the Rome Olympics, he will enter the Olympic history book of the tiny Asian nation: competing in the 67.5kg category, he lifted 115-110-155-380 and secured the silver medal. It was the first podium presence for Singapore, a feat that will remain unmatched until the national women’s table tennis team also clinched a silver medal at the… 2008 Games in Beijing (since then, four more medals were won by Singaporean athletes). Tan is the only Olympic medallist for Singapore in weightlifting and was an inspirational model for many young athletes practicing the sport. In 1962, he was again the best at the Commonwealth Games. In 1964, in Tokyo, he lifted a total of 400kg, but this outcome is only sufficient for the 11th place. After his retirement, he tried several jobs and businesses but ended up being a weightlifting coach. Tan received the highest accolades in Singapore and passed away at the age of 91, in December 2024. Photo credit: Singapore National Olympic

IWF120y/113 – 2022: Mohammed Jalood starts a new era for the IWF

After his election as IWF President in June 2022, Mohammed Jalood and his colleagues from a renovated Executive Board undertook immediate, structural, and robust reforms to address two of the main problems undermining our International Federation’s reputation: good governance and anti-doping policy. The approval of a new Constitution and By-Laws was the main mechanism to cover the first topic, establishing clear rules and procedures to ensure gender equity, athlete representation, term limits, and a code of conduct for officials serving in the IWF. Moreover, considerable efforts were made in the fields of inclusivity – namely with the creation of the first-ever IWF Refugee Team, in 2023, or the adoption of a gender identity policy – and sustainability (the IWF has since developed a partnership with the United Nations in this field). On the anti-doping front, the IWF President was a strong promoter of a solid collaboration between our International Federation and the ITA (International Testing Agency), thus guaranteeing that the entirety of anti-doping operations is run in an independent and transparent way. Other major initiatives under Jalood’s presidency include the reinforcement of the IWF headquarters in Lausanne, the establishment of a 2024-2032 IWF Strategic Plan, the integration of safeguarding policies, and the adoption of a Human Rights and Non-Discrimination Policy. These reforms played an essential role in the IOC’s positive decision to keep Weightlifting in the Olympic programme for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. This ‘culture change’ was also largely valued by the IWF National Federations in May 2025, when Mohammed Jalood was re-elected as the IWF President for the period

IWF120y/112 – 1996: Andrey Chemerkin (RUS) is the man to beat in the super heavyweight category

Our historical weightlifting review includes several successful athletes from the former Soviet Union, a powerhouse until its dissolution at the beginning of the 1990s. Russia is the ‘natural’ successor of the ancient political entity and has remained faithful to the tradition. One of its most distinguished representatives was Andrey Chemerkin, arguably one of the biggest super heavyweight stars in the 1990s. Born in February 1972, he already represented Russia at the 1993 World Championships, where he won a bronze medal. That same year, he was the second-best at the European level. In 1994, he upgraded his world hierarchy – silver -, and in 1995 he got the gold at the IWF showcase in Guangzhou (CHN). He arrived at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics as the man to beat in the +108kg category: and he remained unbeaten, winning the Games gold in 197.5-260-457.5. Chemerkin was once more the best of the field in the three subsequent editions of the IWF World Championships: 1997 (with his best Total of 200-262.5-462.5), 1998, and 1999. After this impressive series, he was again the favourite for the 2000 Sydney Games (photo), but in Australia, his result of 202.5-260-462.5 (better than the one four years earlier) was only sufficient for the bronze medal – behind Hossein Rezazadeh (IRI, 472.5kg) and Ronny Weller (GER, 467.5kg). It was the beginning of the decline for Chemerkin, who was still able to earn a bronze medal at the 2001 IWF Worlds. During his prestigious career (which also comprised two European titles, in 1994 and 1995), the Russian ace improved nine World Records, including one in Snatch (200.5kg, in 1994), five in Clean & Jerk (best of 262.5kg, in 1997), and three in

IWF120y/111 – 1952: Stanley Stanczyk (USA), a winner in sport and in life

Born in 1925 in a Polish family that had immigrated to Wisconsin (USA), Stanley ‘Stan’ Stanczyk and his parents moved to Detroit one year later, after an epidemic killed his two elder sisters. In his new home, life never ceased to be difficult: the random jobs of his father and the associated poverty obliged young Stan to be strong, morally and physically. He discovered weightlifting in his teenage years – to “gain muscles” – and in 1943 he was mobilised in the US Army during the last years of World War II. Six months after his discharge, he took part in the 1946 World Championships in Paris (the first major competition after the conflict) and won his first of many titles. He would repeat the achievement in the subsequent four editions of the global showcase, in 1947, 1949, 1950 (when he got his best result of 125-130-165-420), and 1951. In the meantime, he travelled to London, for the 1948 Olympics, and was also above the field in the British capital, clinching gold in 130-130-157.5-417.5. In Helsinki 1952, for his second Olympic appearance, he was the runner-up in his category (82.5kg), securing the silver medal in 127.5-127.5-160-415. In 1951, he was also the best in the first edition of the Pan-American Games. He was still present at the 1953 and 1954 IWF Worlds, earning the bronze on both occasions. After that, he retired from the sport (in which he improved eight World Records) and opened a bowling alley in Florida – together with his wife, they ran the business for 27 years and Stan became also a talented player. He passed away in 1997, aged 72. Photo credit:

IWF120y/110 – 2024: Emily Campbell (GBR) secures her place in the history books

Besides the strength displayed on the platform, Emily Campbell (GBR) is presently one of the most charismatic female lifters in the circuit. After seven Olympic medals, all won by men – ranging from the distant first edition of the Games, in 1896, until 1984 -, Campbell is the only female lifter from Great Britain on an Olympic podium. And she did it twice: in Tokyo 2020ne, competing in the +87kg category, she secured the silver in 122-161-283, and in Paris 2024, she was again among the best, clinching the bronze in the +81kg event (126-162-288, her best Total in international events). At the IWF World Championships, she has the exact same harvest – second in 2022 (122-165-287) and third in 2021 (121-157-278). “Weightlifting is very special and we should be so thankful that we have such beautiful people in our sport,” Campbell said after her world silver medal in Bogota, Colombia. On a continental level, her supremacy is complete in the +87kg category, with five consecutive European titles (2021 to 2025). Finally, she was also a Commonwealth Games champion in 2022 (after getting the bronze in 2018). Born in May 1994 in Nottingham, she graduated in 2016 with a Sports Science degree. In 2025, celebrating the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, she was again inspirational: “I want to be more than just an athlete. I would love to open my own gym for, predominately, youth and development. But I want anyone to be able to walk into my gym, to be able to have that community space to learn weightlifting, to learn physical literacy and to be comfortable and to live a healthy lifestyle”. Before Campbell, Louis Martin was the only British lifter with two medals in two editions of the Olympics – bronze in 1960 and silver in

IWF120y/109 – 1924: Last medals for Swiss lifters at the Olympics

Switzerland is presently the most important country in the world concerning sports international administration: from 1915 hosting the International Olympic Committee, since then many International Sports Federations – including the IWF – are also headquartered in the Alpine nation. The history of the country at the Olympics has been quite successful, with special emphasis going to the Winter Games. In weightlifting, Switzerland has won four medals so far, the last ones dating back more than 100 years ago. It all started in Antwerp 1920, with Eugene Ryther winning bronze in the 60kg category. His teammate Fritz Hunenberger (photo) would become the most successful athlete in the Olympic history of the country, by earning silver in Belgium (in the 82.5kg category), and then by finishing also second at the Paris 1924 Olympics (behind the star of that time, France’s Charles Rigoulot). He is the only Swiss lifter with two podium presences in the Games. Native from the Basel region (on the border with Germany and France), he competed for a German club in the early years of the 1920s. The Swiss harvest in the Olympics was completed by Arthur Reinmann, bronze medallist also in the French capital, 101 years ago. He also took part at the 1928 rendezvous in Amsterdam, but finished fifth. In recent years, Switzerland had in Scheila Meister its most prominent lifter: born in 1987, she had a late entry into the sport, but managed a fourth place at the 2023 European Championships. At 37, at the last IWF World Championships in December 2024, she was still present, finishing 18th in the 59kg category. Photo credit: