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Coaching and Anti-Doping Seminar in Tashkent

On 13th February 2020, a Coaching and Anti-Doping Seminar was conducted for the participants of the Asian Youth and Junior Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.     The seminar was opened by Mr Mohammed Jalood, IWF General Secretary and Mr Bahtiyor Abdukarimov, General Secretary of Uzbekistan Weightlifting Federation. The anti-doping part was presented by Ms Galiya Zhumbayeva and Ms Maira Bakasheva from Central Asian RADO. They talked about the procedures and behaviour of the athletes and also gave information about the coaches and federation's responsibility in the fight against doping. Mr José Quinones, IWF Vice President and Chairman of the IWF Development and Education Commission provided information about the IWF Development Program. He explained the details of the application, the forms to be completed and the possibilities, for what can the federations apply. Finally, Mr Milan Mihajlovic, Member of IWF Technical Committee, presented the importance of implementation of IWF TCRR during weightlifting events. The coaches got practical advice about their behaviours during competition. Examples were shown of the different Technical Officials' roles (Chief Marshal, Technical Controller, Timekeeper, etc) and their procedures, what are their duties and what can and have to do the coaches during the competition. The feedback of the seminar was very positive, in the end, the participants signed the PLAY TRUE flag, showing their determination for the clean

IWF 2019 LIFTER OF THE YEAR – AMERICAN AND GEORGIAN WINNERS

Nye for the first, Talakhadze for the third time Just like in 2017 and 2018, Lasha TALAKHADZE became the year’s Best Male Lifter in 2019 again at the Lifters of the Year election. In WORLD WEIGHTLIFTING’s voting, the Best Woman Lifter is Katherine Elizabeth NYE. Starting with the latter is not only dictated by politeness but also because NYE – last year’s 71kg world champion – earned this title for the first time and, what is more, this is the first time since 1982 that a USA athlete has won! Among the men there is no change in the last three elections: Georgia’s giant, TALAKHADZE celebrates his third victory in a row. No wonder, he laid the foundations for this honour with further stupefying world records and another world champion title in 2019 in the superheavy category. Another record has been registered in this election: more than 50 thousand, precisely 50,514, ballots were cast online on the IWF website for the five male and five female pre-selected lifters, each of them world champions in 2019. The male candidates received 2,000 votes less than the female quintet. NYE received 9,105 votes for her pole position; followed by KUO Hsing-Chun from Chinese Taipei with her 7,755 nominations of best lifter. In third place we have Colombian Arboleda Leidy Yessenia SOLIS with her 4,784 votes. In men, TALAKHADZE overwhelmed with his 17,084 votes; Armenian Simon MARTIROSYAN was given 5,514 and third-placed Chinese LYU Xiaojun earned 2,169 votes from the fans. It is worth noting that LYU had already been on the peak a decade ago: in 2009 he was the Lifter of the Year. Congratulations to all these wonderful champions!   VOTING RESULT 2019 Men 1       TALAKHADZE Lasha                         GEO        +109kg            17,084 2       MARTIROSYAN Simon                      ARM        109KG               5,514 3       LYU Xiaojun                                         CHN        81kg                   2,169 4       SHI Zhiyong                                         CHN        73kg                   1,053 5       OM Yun Chol                                       PRK        55kg                      410 Women 1       NYE Katherine Elizabeth                   USA        71kg                   9,105 2       KUO Hsing-Chun                                TPE         49KG                  7,755 3       SOLIS Arboleda Leidy Yessenia      COL        81KG                  4,784 4       DENG Wei                                            CHN        64kg                   1,796 5       RIM Jong Sim                                       PRK        76kg                     

A fruitful Asian Youth and Junior Championships in Tashkent, UZB

After several successful events in recent years, Uzbekistan hosted another outstanding event, the 2020 Asian Junior and Youth Championships was held between 13th and 19th of February in Tashkent.   The Uzbek capital saw 202 athletes lifting this past week (85 women and 117 men) from 17 countries, including both age groups. In the Junior competitions, the home country topped the women’s medal table (13,5,2) followed by VIE (5,4,2) and KAZ (5,2,2). As of the men, the Kazakh junior team came out first (10,2,6), then INA (7,2,0) and IRI (4,10,5). The Uzbek athletes performed well in the youth competitions too, ending up second in the women’s tally (9,9,3) behind TPE (9,10,2) and ahead of KAZ (6,0,0), while topping the men’s table (7,11,6) followed by INA (6,0,0) and IRI (3,7,2). The event closed with 6 new Youth World Records: DO Tu Tung (VIE) M55kg, 110kg Snatch; FAATHIR Muhammad (INA) M61kg, 154kg C&J and 273kg Total; JUNIANSYAH Rizki (INA) M73kg, 139 kg Snatch and 307kg Total; BEKBOLAT Rakhat (KAZ) M96kg, 198 C&J. In conjunction with the Championships, an AWF Executive Board Meeting was held in Tashkent, where the Board agreed to relocate the 2020 Asian Championships from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan, to be held during 16-25 April in Tashkent. Building on the success of the Asian Youth and Junior Championships and years of experience in hosting various international events, the Executive Board had no doubt that the Uzbek Weightlifting Federation will deliver an excellently organised competition despite the limited time for

5th International Fajr Cup

The International Fajr Cup, a Silver Level Qualification Event for Tokyo 2020 was organized for the 5th time this year, hosted by Iran in the city of Rasht, from 1-5 February 2020. Altogether, 13 national teams, consisting 31 athletes took part, including World and Olympic champions such as EKO Yuli Irawan (INA), who did not fail to impress again with another gold or HASHEMI Ali (IRI), swiping the 109kg category. Exclusively man lifters of Iran, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Cameron, Indonesia, Bosnia, Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Norway competed in 7 bodyweight categories. The home team, Iran, proved to be the strongest with 448 points, ahead of Iraq and Indonesia who gained 245 and 241 points respectively.   The organizers did their best to provide all the amenities and facilities for both the participants and spectators and the high interest to watch the competition and cheer for the lifters on the spot proves them to be successful. Even local political notabilities, such as the Iranian Sport Minister and the Ambassador of Indonesia in Iran attended the

Asian Championships relocated to Uzbekistan

A decision was made on the AWF Executive Board meeting in Tashkent to relocate the Asian Championships from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan. The Asian Championships will be held 16th – 25th April 2020 at Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The updated competition documents are available, 2020 ASIAN

“United by Emotion” to be the Tokyo 2020 Games Motto

The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) today revealed the official Games Motto, “United by Emotion”. The Motto emphasizes the power of sport to bring together people from diverse backgrounds of every kind and allow them to connect and celebrate in a way that reaches beyond their differences. The Games Motto encapsulates the Games vision, capturing the essence of the ideas and concepts that the host city wishes to share with the world. “United by Emotion” expresses the hope that the spectators, volunteers, and athletes from over 200 National Olympic Committees and the Refugee Olympic Team gathering in Tokyo this summer, as well as the billions watching on television and online across the globe, will come together and understand that there is more that unites than divides them.     The story of the Tokyo 2020 Games Motto — “United by Emotion” This Motto summarizes the ideas and concepts that the host city of Tokyo wishes to share with the world. While reflecting the essential values of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Motto incorporates a specific and timely message embracing diversity, reflecting the 2020 zeitgeist in the urban environment of Tokyo. The Games will bring together athletes from more than 200 National Olympic Committees and the Refugee Olympic Team, as well as millions of spectators and media representatives. In this age where we so often connect with others without physically meeting, the Tokyo 2020 Games will inspire countless new face-to-face encounters among those participating in and watching events. The Games will provide a time and a place where an astounding variety of people—different nationalities, ethnicities, races, genders, cultures, as well as those with and without impairments—can meet and get to know each other and look beyond their differences. Sport gives people the opportunity to experience a variety of emotions and passions, and the Tokyo 2020 Games will allow people to witness the courage and competitive spirit of the athletes and voice their support. Crowds of spectators who do not know each other prior to the Games will come together and learn that there is more that unites them than divides them. This is precisely the power of sport – its ability to connect people through their emotions. And it is what Tokyo 2020 intends to depict with the Motto “United by