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Interview: Morghan King – YOG Athlete Role Model

The International Olympic Committee, along with the International Weightlifting Federation, appointed Morghan King and Oscar Albeiro Figueroa Mosquera as Athlete Role Models at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. So, how is Morghan feeling about her new role? [caption id="attachment_23874" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Morghan King at Rio2016 (USA Today Sports)[/caption] What will your role as YOG ambassador entail? My overall mission is to support and inspire our young athletes. Weightlifting is an incredible sport – it’s an incredible feat of human physical ability. So, I’m going to do my best to promote weightlifting on one of the biggest stages.   What advice would you give to those competing at YOG? One thing Melanie Roach (USA Olympian 53kg) said to me after the 2008 Olympic Games was to make sure you enjoy it, because it goes by so fast. For weightlifters specifically – appreciate the moment of walking out onto the platform. Try to take in everything, including everyone who’s there to support you. If you remember your training and keep calm, you’ll do great things.   Have you had any experience of the Youth Olympic Games before? I haven’t. I only started weightlifting at the end of 2012! However, I’ve spoken to athletes who competed at the last Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing and they said they had the most amazing time. Travelling to a different country, for some of these kids the first time, and opening their eyes to different cultures will be an incredible experience.   What excites you about this specific YOG? I’m excited to be in a competitive environment and be supportive of these young athletes. My focus is on having fun and enjoying the sport while being a role model. Being a young athlete, it will most likely be the first time they're participating in the Olympic movement - it will be cool to feel that energy in Buenos Aires. It will be special to be part of where it all starts for these young athletes.   How can athletes get the most out of this event? The Youth Olympic Games has an inclusive and open feel about it. The Olympic movement is all about unity and love of sport, I feel as though everyone is keen to meet everyone else and experience it together. Athletes will get to meet so many new people, so be outgoing and try to remember how few people actually get to experience what you are experiencing.   What do you just before you're about to go lift that others might find helpful? I’m a big proponent of meditating. Learning to control what’s going on in your own mind and letting go of the things out of your control can help so much with performance. The Games can be chaotic, especially in the weightlifting back room, so practicing breathing techniques will be useful. In terms of performance – do what you’ve always done, don’t change a thing. When you’re about to step out onto the platform, allow yourself to enjoy the moment and simply remember your training. For the most part, a coach will not put weight on the bar that they think you can’t lift. That should be reassuring. Don’t worry about what’s on the bar and most importantly - have fun!   Do you think YOG is a good stepping stone to the Olympic Games? The Olympic process isn’t as straightforward as progressing in traditional sports, as every quad can be very different. So, having an event like the Youth Olympic Games where kids can reach such a high level so early is a great tool to inspire the next generation of athletes. Weightlifting is on the rise, so having an internationally-recognised event is a way to get more young people involved with the sport and to nurture the goal of becoming an Olympian.   Apart from weightlifting, are you excited to watch any other events? Loads! When I competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, I finished competing the day after the opening ceremony, so I had lots of free time to explore and take in the wonderful Olympic experience. If I could watch every single sport I would. Just knowing what these athletes have gone through to get to this level makes me appreciate them all. I'm hoping to be with the young athletes and watch many of the events. At the Olympics I missed out on watching tennis, table tennis and rugby, so I would love to see some of those. — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter

2018 WUC closed: Exellence in mind, body – and in organisation

The heavyweights got into action on the final day of the 2018 WUC. USA, Austria and Germany vied for the top positions in the men's 105kg and shared the snatch medals. KOCH Florian from Austria was best in snatch, but in clean and jerk LIN Sheng-Lun from TPE rose to prominence. However, the overall winner was GUNTHER Bjorn, Germany. In the women's 90kg Tom GOEGEBUER's lifter, European Championship silver medallist VANBELLINGHEN Anna represented Belgium, won hands down, and added 3 WUC gold medals to her collection. Women's +90kg - 2017 Universiade 4th Korean KO A-Rang and 2016 WUC 3rd Mexican BUENO PLACENCIA Gladis G. were fighting for the gold medals. Since the Korean was better on both lifts, finishing with 339kg in total, she won all the three gold medals ahead of BUENO. The men's superheavies were last to board the platform. Serbia's KAJDOCI Tamas came out last but in snatch he received strong competition from HSIEH Yun-Ting, TPE who received the gold for 170kg, four kilograms over the Serbian's. Ecitement rose in clean and jerk where KAJDOCI met his match in NONAKA Masahiro, Japan. Their chase ended with the Serbian tackling 222kg successfully for a 388kg winning total. The WUC in Biala Podlaska came to an end with a Closing Ceremony whereby FISU 1st Vice President Leonz EDER praised the organisers and the excellence of the participants. "As FISU Technical Delegate for Weightlifting, I am happy and proud to have had another successful World University Championships like this one in Biala Podlaska. All participants had a great time and enjoyed perfect competing, lodging and catering conditions. Last but not least, we must be grateful to the hosts for their traditional warm Polish hospitality." - said Anikó NÉMETH-MÓRA, in charge of supervising the event. "The IWF has also expressed its full satisfaction and appreciation to the hosts for what was an entirely excellent event with 26 countries participating." - confirmed IWF Technical Delegate Mátyás

Asia dominates in Biala Podlaska

USA and Japan shared the gold medals in the women's 69kg, with the former taking two thanks to BREMNER Aria (204kg). Japanese ISHII Miku, winner in snatch, had to settle for the runner-up place with her 203kg overall. Two bronzes went to Canada, while HERTLOVA from CZE also pinched one silver medal in snatch. 85kg, men - Korean YEOM Dahoon and Canadian BELLEMARRE Alex had their own special duel for the top positions, however, the big rivalry that drove the audience into excitement was running for the third positions and down. Ultimately, the Canadian surprised by failing in all his clean and jerk attempts and having to cede two gold medals to YEOM Dahoon, Korea. Women's 75kg - With JAEGGI Nora, Switzerland clinched a medal in snatch and another one in total in a very close competition. University World Champion in this category is CHEN En-Tzu from TPE and the silvers were won by FEYOVA Karin, SVK. Men's 94kg - CHEN Po-Jen from Chinese Taipei stood out from the field and fought his lonely game with the barbell after all the other medals had found their winners. In clean and jerk he first frightened by missing the opening 185kg, while BOONLANG Weeraphat, THA challenged him with 186kg, a weight he finally could not even clean. Already the triple winner, CHEN lifted 191kg for an overwhelming win in total as

WUC participants looking into Biomechanical Research

The 2018 World University Championships offered a unique opportunity for athletes and coaches to get a look into the biomechanical research program at the host Biala Podlaska University of Physical Education. The research is conducted by 2018 FISU WUC OC Executive Director Dr. Paulina SZYSZKA, who wrote her Ph.D. thesis on the subject how biomechanical research can help weightlifters improve their performance, a work that received the Polish Award for Best Ph.D. thesis in Biomechanics . Dr.SZYSZKA held a symposium with demonstration in her university laboratory in which over 30 WUC participants were

Colourful medal allocations on Day 2 of University Worlds

Poland celebrated their first gold medal and USA surged forward in the women's 58kg. The snatch was dominated by home favourite DZIENIS Monika, but in the second part BRAMWELL Kaija drew away from her opponents and scored a very convincing victory in clean and jerk and total. We saw the same pattern in the men's 69kg category; i.e. Poland's ROTNICKI Szymon was supreme in the snatch taking gold, yet his 6kg advantage over Chinese Taipei HUANG Ding-Chieh was not enough to keep the lead until the end. HUANG overwhelmed with 155kg and won overall. The bronzes were picked up by Canada's DUMAS Alexandre. Women's 63kg: CHARRON Maude, CAN, 2017 WWC snatch silver medallist and Commonwealth champion took the snatch gold medal and continued dominating in clean and jerk. After all athletes had finished their act - including snatch bomber GANZORIG Anuujin, MGL taking the C&J silver, and Australian ELLIOTT Kiana, silver in total - she appeared for 120-124-127kg in a one-woman show and collected al honours. The Canadian's result is 24kg more than the next best's. Men's 77kg: In a big fight and suspenseful competition, Serbian competitor ROZSNYIK Ervin emerged as the winner of the snatch (139kg). In clean and jerk with steady lifting and superb tactics he managed to keep his advantage of 6 kilograms until the moment when two lifts were left for Japanese HARA Yuki to beat ROZSNYIK. Eventually, both of HARA's efforts remained unsuccessful landing him in the silver medallist position while VACHON Nicolas, Canada took the

Japan swipes gold medals on the first day of FISU World Championships

What a good day to start the competitions at the 6th edition of the FISU World University Weightlifting Championships than yesterday in Biala Podlaska, Poland! 20th September was declared by UNESCO as the International Day of University Sport (IDUS) and the academic students gathered for their World Championships from 27 countries of the 5 continents celebrated it by starting to compete yesterday. The World Championships are hosted in the campus of the Physical Education Faculty of the J. Pilsudski University in Biala Podlaska, East Poland and offer ideal conditions for the participants. The first day of the WUC ran the first two women's and the first two men's categories. Japan was the absolute winner of the day having swept the women's 48kg, the men's 56kg and 62kg categories. In the women's 53kg first France celebrated a winner in snatch: RIGAUD Garance. In the clean and jerk, however, she faced a strong challenge from Mexico, USA and Great Britain. In the close fight, the ultimate winner was FUENTES ZAVALA Susana from Mexico. — Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube