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Qatar welcomes Palestinian star Mohammed Hamada until the Paris Games  

After being the first-ever weightlifter from Palestine to compete at the Olympics – he was 13th in the 96kg category in Tokyo 2020ne – Mohammed Hamada is confident in obtaining a universality place for the upcoming Games, in Paris. At 22, Hamada arrived this weekend in Doha, Qatar, where the local federation will provide him with all the training conditions until the time of the Olympic celebration. With his routine deeply affected by the conflict in Gaza, Hamada managed to compete in the 2024 IWF World Cup, held in Phuket, Thailand. This was the last qualification event for the Games and one of the two mandatory ones on the road to Paris. In the 96kg category – not an Olympic one any longer, at the Games he would compete in the 102kg – the Palestinian star ranked ninth, with 100-120-220. An outcome that, given the challenging circumstances, is far from his best, achieved at the 2021 IWF World Junior Championships, where he lifted 141-171-312. In Japan, at the Games’ time, he was slightly worse, at 137-173-310. From left to right: Mohammed Hamada; his coach (and brother); Mohamed Al Mana (AWF and Qatar Weightlifting Federation President); and Mohammed Jalood (IWF President) At his arrival in Doha, Hamada was welcomed by the IWF President Mohammed Jalood, the President of the Asian (and Qatar) Weightlifting Federation Mohamed Al Mana, and by the IWF Athletes Commission Chair Forrester Osei. “It is our duty to welcome and support any athlete having problems in his country,” Mr Al Mana explained. “We needed to ensure this athlete remains in good shape and can train in normal conditions, as we are confident he will be able to get a universality place for the Games,” continued the leader of the Asian and Qatari federation, and also an IWF Executive Board member. “We are not doing this exclusively as Qatar. We are a weightlifting family and we do this as a family, helping one of its members,” concluded Mr Al Mana. Hamada with Forrester Osei (IWF Athletes Commission chair) Accommodation and meals, but also training, medical and physio facilities will be provided to Hamada while in Doha. “There is a very good infrastructure here for all those athletes aiming at training at the highest level. I used some of the facilities and I must say that the work of the Qatar Weightlifting Federation has been amazing in developing the sport in this region of the world,” considered Forrester Osei, representing Ghana in international events, but training for some years now in Doha. “Hamada will find a friendly and optimal environment here, and we will make our best to ensure his preparation is good, should he be selected for the Games in Paris,” also noted the IWF Athletes Commission chair. Meeting Meso Hassouna (right) in Doha  Upon his arrival in Doha, the Palestinian talent had the opportunity to meet Meso Hassouna, the Qatari legend, and reigning Olympic champion in the 96kg category. “I think it’s a nice motivation (and inspiration) for Hamada in his first days here in Qatar!” Mr Osei concluded. IWF

2023 IWF/ITA report: another successful year in the fight against doping!

The IWF is happy to announce the 2023 statistics concerning its Anti-Doping activities, in co-operation with the ITA (International Testing Agency). Last year, a total of 3192 samples were collected around the world, including 1766 in-competition and 1426 out-of-competition. Moreover, in terms of urine/blood proportion, there were respectively 2403 and 789 samples. This amount of collected samples resulted in a total of 2522 completed tests, performed on 1039 athletes (52% men, 48% women) from 109 countries. Concerning the Results Management of these tests, 18 of them constitute Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRV). Last year, the IWF/ITA received 25 TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemptions) application requests. In terms of Anti-Doping Education, the attendance in webinars/seminars totalled 1211 participants from 64 different nationalities. In 2023, as part of its four-year education strategy plan, the IWF, together with the ITA, held three Anti-Doping seminars – at the IWF World Youth Championships in Durres (ALB) in March, the IWF World Championships in Riyadh (KSA) in September and the IWF World Junior Championships in Guadalajara (MEX) in November. All info on IWF/ITA Anti-Doping activities here IWF

Lima, Review: Venezuela moving up, IWF moving forward with senior World Championships plans

Venezuela reaped the rewards of planning ahead when three of its team won gold medals at the World Youth Championships in Lima, Peru. “Long-term planning and strategic vision” helped Venezuela to follow up their achievement of qualifying five athletes for the Paris Olympic Games by topping the medals table in Lima. The IWF will be hoping for similar success at the end of a process of change that moved another step forward at this landmark Championships. History was made in Lima: two platforms running simultaneously  There were two platforms in the main arena for the first time at an IWF competition, and technical officials wore t-shirts and chinos rather than their usual uniforms. Whether these two initiatives will be followed up in future is yet to be decided. Away from the arena in Lima, the IWF’s Innovation Commission, tasked with making the sport more attractive to its own stakeholders and its audience, held its latest meeting. Top of the agenda for the Commission is devising a way of making the IWF senior World Championships more marketable and less costly for prospective hosts. Officials looked more sporty in Peru “It’s the IWF’s flagship event, and we need to make changes,” said Sam Coffa, chair of the IWF Technical Committee and the Innovation Commission. At last year’s World Championships there were more than 700 athletes in action over 13 days. In 2022 the numbers were 537 and 10 days. “We want it to be all over in six or seven days,” Coffa said. There are three ways of doing it, all under consideration by the innovation group. One is to use two platforms, as in Lima where all 20 medal events, plus B Groups, were staged within five days. The other two involve cutting the number of athletes by either imposing minimum standards or using an Olympic-style qualifying system, in which there would be continental quotas. The IWF executive board has already approved a proposal to cut the number of weight categories from 20 to 16, eight per gender, although precise details are yet to be decided. Sam Coffa (on the right in the photo): "We need to ensure that representation for all continents is appropriate" Coffa said that the Technical Committee had failed to reach a conclusion last time the subject was discussed. “We (the commission) met here and agreed that we would like to present a proposal to the executive board, then Congress before the World Championships in Bahrain in December,” Coffa said. Any changes would be made after this year. “In all of this we have to ensure that representation from all continents is appropriate. For example if you have a qualifying system you might have six or seven athletes from Europe and Asia because they’re the biggest, and two or three from Africa and Oceania. “The Pan American nations qualified as many athletes for Paris as Europe. As we have seen again here, the success of Venezuela and Colombia is very significant not just in the Americas but worldwide. We have to take all this into consideration. If any federations are left behind it’s a big problem.” The United States also qualified five athletes for Paris, Colombia four, and Dominican Republic and Ecuador three each. The only European nation to qualify four was Belarus, whose athletes will compete as Individual Neutral Athletes. Jose Quinones (on the left in the photo): "With two platforms you can cut costs and time without cutting athletes" Jose Quinones, president of the Pan American Federation, said the two-platform trial in Lima had been a success. “Mexico, United States and other countries have had multi-platform competitions for many years, and we did it for the first time at our Pan Am Juniors in 2022,” he said. “We realised it would be useful for the IWF to test it because it cuts timing for a competition in half. That’s good for athletes, organising committees, teams and the public. “With two  platforms you can cut costs and time without cutting athletes. You can have 400 athletes in four days easily. We can see it with our own eyes here.” Athletes appreciated the double-platform experience As for the new referee uniforms, Quinones said, “We have tried that before, too. I know some TOs (technical officials) say, ‘No thanks, we’re not beach volleyball’, but also we’re not a funeral.  “At every event you could give the officials a branded uniform, different designs each time like the Pan Am Games and the Olympics. “The IWF board and Technical Committee will now decide whether it is worth trying two platforms and new uniforms at other competitions.” There were landmark events on the platform too – a first world champion in any age group for Argentina when Paz Casadevall won at 59kg, and a first World Championships medal for Iceland when Bergros Bjornsdottir was second at 71kg. India took both “best lifter” awards, which went to the 40kg champion Preetismita Bhoi – who set a clean and jerk world record - and Bedabrat Bharali at 73kg. Dionangel Vargas (VEN) Venezuela’s champions were Claudia Rengifo at 64kg, Sahara Ochoa at 71kg and Dionangel Vargas at 61kg. Henry Velasquez, national coach and general secretary of the Venezuela Federation, said, “These are truly impressive results. We qualified five athletes for the Paris Olympics, placing ourselves only behind China in this regard, and now we have the number one youth team in the world. “These achievements are the result of a long-term development plan. The dedication, effort and strategic vision of the board of directors and coaches have been essential to achieve these goals. “Teamwork, constant training of athletes and coaches, as well as the continuous support of sports authorities and the government, have been pillars on this path to success. “Surpassing Colombia in these achievements is a clear indicator of the significant progress that Venezuelan weightlifting has made. The most exciting thing is that this momentum appears to be sustainable well into the future.” By Brian

Lima, Day 5: It’s Canada Day in Lima – gold for Love, silver for Billen and a double on the microphone for Mason

Canada had a 1-2 in the women’s super-heavyweights when the World Youth Championships came to a close in Lima, Peru. Etta Love, who was third last year, came out after everybody else had finished and won with a career-best total of 243kg. Her team-mate Angel Billen was 24kg back in second place and Karen Mancilla from Colombia made all six lifts for bronze. Etta Love (CAN) Irakli Vekua from Georgia won the men’s super-heavyweight title for the second time. When Ke Guan Ting finished third for Chinese Taipei it took to 29 the number of nations on the medals table here, on total – a spread of 58% from the 50 teams. Venezuela topped the table with three golds, one silver and one bronze. There was another landmark moment for Canada when Richard Mason took on the speaker’s role for both platforms at the same time. “It was a hoot – but I’m not sure I’d have wanted to do it yesterday when there were three sessions rather than just one,” said Mason, who will be speaker at the Paris Olympic Games. One speaker had left for home, the back-up man was unavailable because of a family illness, so Mason had to get his split-second timing spot on as he switched from his left microphone for the men’s platform, to the right for the women. It had never happened before at an IWF Championships. He was awarded a gold medal at the closing ceremony for his efforts. Richard Mason (right), receiving his "gold" medal from Ursula Papandrea, IWF First Vice-President, and Florian Sperl (left), IWF Executive Board member Until 2021 Canada had never entered an international youth competition. In the past 14 months Canadian women have won six medals on total, including two golds, at World Youth and Junior Championships. Love and Charlotte Simoneau, the junior who will be 19 this week, are the nation’s big hopes for the future. “This is my last year as a youth, and I’ll be going for youth world records in September at the World Juniors,” said 17-year-old Love. Those records, 110-145-255, were set by the Paris medal contender Park Hyejeong from Korea in 2019. “I’m pretty close (to records) in training, but I always think of myself as a competition lifter – there’s a bit of added magic. That’s where all my energy is and that’s where I want to do it. “I’m feeling physically strong and that will grow. The barbell makes me feel alive, and my hope is that will keep happening and take me to the Olympics.” Love was third in Albania at last year’s World Youths on 95-130-225 and fourth at the World Juniors in Mexico in November, where she improved her total to 241kg. She made 105-138-243 here. Three other nations were involved in the medal ceremony. Barbara Mendoza from Venezuela and Litia Nacagilevu from New Zealand took snatch silver and bronze on 95kg and 94kg, while Su Sheng Ci from Chinese Taipei was third in clean and jerk on 118kg. Irakli Vekua (GEO) Vekua failed with a final attempt at 200kg as he won on 151-196-347 ahead of Omadillo Olimov from Uzbekistan on 150-195-345 and Ke Guan Ting from Chinese Taipei on 142-190-332. Vekua’s team-mate Givi Darsavelidze was second in snatch on 147kg before dropping to fifth on total.  By Brian Oliver Photos by Bob

Lima, Day 4: Six days ago she couldn’t walk – now Bergros is Iceland’s first ever World Championships medallist

Kazakhstan had two winners, Syria had to settle for one, Venezuela moved to the top of the medals table and 14-year-old Sara dal Bo became Italy’s first female youth world champion. Arguably the best performance of the penultimate day of the World Youth Championships in Lima, Peru, however – and possibly of the week - was by 17-year-old Bergros Bjornsdottir. Six days ago she could not walk after spraining her ankle in a CrossFit competition. She arrived in Lima this week on crutches. But Bjornsdottir became Iceland’s first ever weightlifting medallist at a global championships, and was desperately close to being world champion. Bergros Bjornsdottir (ISL) If she had made her final attempt, which she dropped behind after getting the bar above her head, Bjornsdottir would have overtaken Sahara Ochoa from Venezuela and won the 71kg category. She finished second on 88-110-198, having missed three of her attempts. Ochoa, who will be 17 in August, missed two in making 89-112-201. Camila Cervantes from Mexico was third on 85-112-197. Sahara Ochoa (VEN) Bornsdottir was doing well in France last weekend, at the European qualifier for the CrossFit Games, when she sprained her ankle. “Last Sunday I couldn’t walk,” she said. “I came here because this is my last year as a youth. I wanted to try to take the opportunity because I thought I could make the podium. After the injury, I wasn’t expecting to be ready. It’s almost a miracle that I competed. “Weightlifting is my strong suit in CrossFit, so I don’t really focus on it much in training, barely at all. I work on other areas. For this competition I did a little bit more training to prepare my body, but nothing crazy. “To be totally honest I like how CrossFit is compared with weightlifting – it’s more exciting, there’s more going on over three days of competition. CrossFit has my heart. “Weightlifting, well, it’s a little bit boring,” she laughed. There is also an array of CrossFit stars in Iceland, all of whom Bjornsdottir knows and sometimes trains with - Annie Thorisdottir, Sara Sigmundsdottir, Thuri Helgadottir, Katrin Davidsdottir and Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson. “It’s so inspirational to be around them,” said Bjornsdottir. There are no world champion role models in weightlifting, a point highlighted by national federation president Helga Hakonardottir when she said, “This is absolutely the best result any Icelandic weightlifter has ever achieved.” Hanin Elsayed from Egypt led at halfway but missed her last two clean and jerks and finished fifth on total. Snatch bronze medallist Iga Burda from Poland dropped to fourth after Cervantes moved up from seventh place by winning clean and jerk gold. To complete a good day for the Nordic countries, Minni Hormavirta from Finland also took silver on total in the 76kg contest, where she was the youngest of eight A Group athletes. She could have gone down to 71kg but chose 76kg and weighed in 2kg light. “I’m a weightlifter, I don’t do CrossFit,” she said after making 91-120-211. Hormavirta, who failed to make a total last year but expected to win a medal here, is 15 and aims to be back in Peru for next year’s World Youths, a qualifier for the Youth Olympic Games in 2026. Ayanat Zhumagali (KAZ) Ayanat Zhumagali, 17, won for Kazakhstan on 97-125-222. That gave her the second best women’s Sinclair score so far here, just behind the Spanish 49kg champion Lucia Gonzalez. Sanjana from India rounded off a good week for her team by finishing third on 90-120-210. India won six medals on total and claimed a youth world record. Suleyman Jafarov (TKM) Kazakhstan had winners on both platforms. Nurdos Sabyr took the men’s 89kg a couple of hours before Zhumagali’s victory. Valerik Movsisyan from Armenia, the European champion who was third at this weight in last year’s World Youths, improved his best snatch by 8kg and had a 5kg lead at halfway. Sabyr then made all three clean and jerks to finish 4kg clear of Movsisyan on 148-185-333. Nurdos Sabyr (KAZ) Bekzod Gofirjonov from Uzbekistan was third on 141-183-324, after which  there was a 26kg gap to the rest. Arab nations excelled in the men’s 96kg. Mohammed Alkateb from Syria won on 147-174-321, and Ali Hazim from Iraq was third on 135-177-312, ahead of the Egyptian Mahgoub Elsayed by 1kg. The man who stopped an all-Arab podium was Luka Silagadze from Georgia, who was second on 143-170-313. Mohammed Alkateb (SYR) Syria celebrated another ‘victory’ in the 102kg. not realising that Ahmad Shammaa had finished second. He needed 175kg to win but his coaching team called for 174. He made the lift and celebrated with the coaches but it only put him level with Suleyman Jafarov from Turkmenistan, who took gold on 143-170-313. Shammaa made 139-174-313 and Mashal Gabr from Egypt took bronze on 140-170-310. Sara Dal Bo (ITA) Kazakhstan could have had a third winner but Dal Bo claimed the women’s 81kg when Saniya Ormanbayeva failed with two attempts at 119kg to overtake her. Dal Bo, who will be 15 on Monday, made 90-117-207. Second place went to Lidysmar Aparicio from Venezuela on 94-112-206, and Ormanbayeva ended on 89-112-201. By Brian Oliver Photos by Bob Willingham

Lima, Day 3: Casadevall wins Argentina’s first ever world title – and senior Oceania champion Femily takes another medal

Argentina had its first weightlifting world champion when Paz Casadevall made all six lifts in the women’s 59kg at the World Youth Championships in Lima. Among other highlights on a busy day, Femily Notte from Nauru just failed to win in her own age group after taking the Oceania 64kg senior title as a 14-year-old in February, and a successful 11kg jump on the last attempt gave Uzbekistan victory in the men’s 81kg.   Casadevall was cheered throughout the medal ceremony by a small but noisy group of supporters. “I have been preparing for this competition since January and being champion was the goal, but I still can’t believe it,” said the 16-year-old. Paz Casadevall (ARG) Her older sister Luz, 23, was well placed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games when her hopes were ruined by a positive Covid test, said Gustavo Malgor, proud president of the Argentina Weightlifting Federation who is officiating in Lima. “I compete against her, but I haven’t beaten her yet,” said Paz. That is one target, another is the Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay next year. “This is fantastic,” said Malgor.  “Paz is the best weightlifter in Argentina. “We have worked very, very hard for 12 years, bringing in a new generation of athletes, coaches and officials. This is the result of all that hard work.” Paz and Luz are coached in their home town of San Jorge, in Santa Fe province, by Roman Gorosito, who was as proud as Malgor of Paz’s achievement. Casadevall made all six lifts in her 86-106-192. Alina Daderko was second for Ukraine on 84-100-184 and Marjona Abdumutalova from Uzbekistan was third on 82-100-182. Notte, now 15 and the youngest athlete in the 64kg field, put up another good performance. Claudia Chirinos (VEN) Claudia Chirinos from Venezuela was behind until she made her final lift, to the delight of her noisy team-mates in the audience. When Chirinos finished 89-113-202, Notte had to make 114kg on her last attempt for victory. She cleaned it but just failed with the jerk, finishing second on 90-111-201. Tugbanur Koz from Turkey was third on 88-105-193. “I was a runner first, and I became a weightlifter when my mum tricked me when I was nine,” said Notte. “She said why don’t you come and watch some weightlifting, and when we got there I found out I was training, not watching. “I love it, competing and training. I didn’t expect to win in Auckland, I just wanted to have some fun. Today I did think I would win a medal.” Nauru’s coach Quincy Detenamo was around in the 1990s when Nauru was a force in weightlifting, thanks to the exploits of Marcus Stephen who won seven Commonwealth Games golds and a World Championships silver. Stephen was so popular he later became President of the country. “A lot of kids lost interest when Paul Coffa (Stephen’s coach, Nauru’s national coach and head of the Oceania Weightlifting Institute) left the island,” said Detenamo. “Marcus wasn’t involved for a while either. Now Marcus is back at the federation and things have improved, kids are showing interest again.” Bedabrat Bharali (IND) India had its second winner of the week when Bedabrat Bharali finished 12kg clear in the men’s 73kg. His team have won two golds, two silvers and a bronze on total in the first three days, and Preetismita Bhoi set a clean and jerk youth world in the women’s 40kg. Bahrali made 136-160-296, up 29kg on his total last year when he was third at 67kg. The 67kg champion then, Seryozha Barseghyan from Armenia, had to withdraw injured today after making his first snatch. Ryan McDonald from the United States was second on 125-159-284 and Serhii Kotelevskyi from Ukraine third on 130-153-283. McDonald, 17, was seventh at 61kg in 2022 and eighth at 67kg last year. He is schooled at home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and is keen on physics. But he is much keener on being a full-time weightlifter. “I’ve been doing it for eight years and I want to be a full-time member of Team USA,” he said. Ruslan Rakhmatjonov from Uzbekistan made a sensational international debut when he won at 81kg.   Ruslan Rakhmatjonov (UZB) Moustafa Bakry from Egypt was 5kg ahead of Rakhmatjonov at halfway and looked sure of victory when he finished 144-166-310, despite failing with an appeal when his final attempt at 170kg was ruled a no-lift. Rakhmatjonov, 16, had missed his second clean and jerk and needed to go up 11kg to 172kg to win. He made it, finishing 139-172-311. Dawid Lisiak from Poland made all six lifts in third place, overtaking India’s snatch bronze medallist Sairaj Pardeshi with his final attempt. Lisiak made 135-166-301. By Brian Oliver Photos by Bob