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SportAccord 2018

After five days of meetings, conferences, events, and exhibitions in the Thai capital Bangkok, the SportAccord convention held since April 15 is wrapping up on Friday, as organizers and participants considered the event to be a “huge success”, during which key agreements were concluded. Focusing on sports and its challenges, SportAccord Convention offers a great platform for IFs to engage with professional companies, host cities, event organizers and businesses to reach development in all key areas. With the discussions articulated around the main topic: "Uniting a global audience: Marketing and Sponsorship for the future", all workshops and panel discussions proposed innovative ways to incorporate technology into the delivery of major sport events. “The convention has been hugely successful. We have had around 2,500 people attending the convention this year, which is a very high number”, Nis Hatt, the managing director of SportAccord, told Anadolu Agency. For the fist time, the International Weightlifting Federation was present with a booth at the expo area while the Thai Amateur Weightlifting Association also provided opportunities for the participants to get familiar with their activities and the sport of weightlifting. IWF Booth at SportAccord The International Weightlifting Federation was represented by Mohamed Jalood, IWF General Secretary, Intarat Yodbangtoey, IWF First Vice President, Attila Adamfi, IWF Director General and Lilla Rozgonyi, IWF Communications and Marketing Director. The Convention also gave place to a series of meetings such as the GAISF General Assembly, as well as a joint meeting of the IOC and the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). At the joint meeting, the IOC President Thomas Bach highlighted the work done by the IWF and especially the Sport Program Commission in delivering the new Qualification System for Tokyo 2020 being an example to be followed. "Some of you are considering measures and sanctions with regard to National Member Federations,” Bach told representatives from all 33 sports due to appear on the Tokyo 2020 programme. "In this respect I would like to highlight maybe the approach that the IWF is taking now with this measure of reducing the quota of participation in the [Olympic] Games and in their World Championships for countries which have significant high number of doping tests from which you can conclude that the anti-doping system in this member federation needs to be improved. "I think the IOC Executive Board has approved this approach and we’re supporting this and it is good food for thought for all of us." Source: Insidethegames Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube  

Christine Girard – Olympic Champion

Christine Girard has been officially upgraded to the gold medal in the 63 kg bodyweight from London 2012, and to the bronze medal in the same category from Beijing 2008. Six years after she should have stood atop the Olympic podium, Girard will finally get her moment of glory. Arrangements still have to be made for the gold medal to be delivered to Canada, followed at a later date by a presentation ceremony. So even if it is only on paper for now, Girard is Canada’s first ever Olympic weightlifting champion and soon-to-be proud owner of two of the country’s four Olympic medals in the sport. [caption id="attachment_21984" align="aligncenter" width="442"] Christine Girard of Canada women's 63-kg, 2012 Summer Olympics, London. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)[/caption]   Girard said: “When I came back from Beijing people were telling me, because I was fourth, ‘well you know you’re almost good, don’t give up you’re almost good’. It was really hard for me but now this fourth turns to third and now I will be third and first so I feel like I understand better what athletes go through. I know the difference between having a medal and not having a medal, what it means to the world.” “I’m pretty proud of the athlete I was, probably more now than I was before because I understand differently what it means now,” [caption id="attachment_21987" align="aligncenter" width="423"] Canada's Christine Girard, women's 63kg, Beijing, China, 2008 (RESS/Adrian Wyld)[/caption] “Not that long ago, even in Canada, people thought that it was impossible for a girl to snatch a hundred kilos without taking drugs. Well, I showed it. My sample has been tested I am sure many times. It always came clean.” “I met some lifters that got discouraged because of other countries taking drugs and always feeling that they were behind because of it,” she continued. “It took me 18 years to get on the podium in the Olympics but it was still worth it just to show people that it is possible, so I really hope that’s the message that will be associated to my name, that if we work really hard and we stay at it and we keep going then it is possible.” Source: https://olympic.ca/ Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter

Argentinean Weightlifting Federation Seminars

The Argentinean Weightlifting Federation has organized two educational seminars, of which the first one was a Technical Official seminar and the other one was about Anti-Doping. On the Technical seminar, 30 new candidates participated to become national and category 2 international technical officials. This course was especially targeted for candidates under 35 years of age with a clear intention to comply with the norms for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games. The Federation invited Ms Jessica Castillo Vazquez (PER) and Cristian Harthey Silva (CHI) category 1 International Technical Officials as lecturers. The presenters did a great job explaining the technical rules and told their personal experiences at the several big competitions they participated. The course finished with a practical exam at the Argentine National Tournament where the new technical officials had active roles.    The Anti-Doping seminar was presented by Mr Marcelo Munoz (CHI). The audience was huge as all coaches and athletes who participated in the tournament must have attended, just like the TO candidates. His lecture was very interactive, he answered a lot of questions raised by the attendees. The President of the Argentinean Weightlifting Federation, Mr Gustavo Malgor thanked IWF for the support of these so important seminars for the weightlifting sport. Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter

Independent Clean Sport Commission notes IWF progress in implementing anti-doping recommendations

Lausanne, 19 April 2018: The independent IWF Clean Sport Commission has found that the vast majority of its recommendations have already been implemented by the IWF, demonstrating the federation’s complete commitment to clean sport. The Clean Sport Commission, which was established in 2017 to reform the IWF ’s anti-doping practices, met from 16-17 April to evaluate the progress the IWF has made. “The IWF has worked very hard to protect our clean lifters and it is a great encouragement to see the Clean Sport Commission is more than satisfied by the way we have been implementing its recommendations,” said IWF President Tamas Ajan. “Implementing the Clean Sport Commission recommendations so quickly and so thoroughly has required a great commitment. Not only by our own teams but also by our member federations, WADA, national anti-doping organisations (NADOs) and other partners, from laboratories. On behalf of clean lifters throughout the world, and on behalf of the IWF, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude for all their hard work.” During the Clean Sport Commission’s meeting, WADA’s Gabriel Zangenfeind representing Benjamin Cohen, Director, European Office and International Federation Relations noted that the IWF was one of the first International Sports Federations to satisfactorily complete WADA’s Compliance Monitoring Programme. Nicolas Zbinden, the IWF’s outside counsel from Kellerhals-Carrard, welcomed the application of improvements to the IWF’s anti-doping policy, which came into effect on 15 April. Dr Hans Geyer, Deputy Director of the Cologne Anti-Doping Laboratory reported on several new cutting-edge analytical methods which the Cologne and Montreal Laboratories are now using to analyse IWF samples. The unique arrangement between the IWF and these two laboratories includes the deployment of a new test for gene doping, a new test to detect myostatin inhibitors and a new analytical method, which produces a digital matrix of each sample. In the case of abuse of new prohibited substances being discovered, this digital matrix can be used to identify stored samples for retesting and to identify particular athletes for future target testing. As recommended by the Commission, IWF has also increased the number of samples stored over the long term for future analysis. Billy Gannon of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) reported that, as recommended by the Commission, IWF has entered into a contract with CCES to direct IWF’s out-of-competition testing programme going forward. The number of out-of-competition tests, targeting high-risk countries in particular, has already been substantially increased. “There are some countries that have proven to have a high historical prevalence of doping, regardless of the sport. As a committed member of the Olympic Movement, the IWF is proud to be working in partnership with WADA and the anti-doping community, to lead the way in delivering cultural change in those countries for the benefit of all sport. We have made great progress in a short period of time. However, like all sports, there is always more that can be done and we will continue to implement anti-doping measures to protect clean athletes,” added IWF President Ajan. The IWF has been working with WADA and NADOs to ensure high-risk countries benefit from mentorship. Partnership with WADA and NADOs has also proved vital to ensuring access to high-risk countries for doping control officers and expedient shipment of samples for testing. Of the nine countries suspended by the IWF for doping violations related to the retesting of samples from the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games, eight have formally agreed to a broad set of conditions for a return to eligibility. Russia is the only country which was not able to fulfil all the conditions; however, they are putting in place a series of measures to bring about widespread cultural change in the country. Russia is taking the lead in hosting an educational seminar in Moscow this May, which the IWF and WADA are contributing to, and will be attended by representatives of all nine suspended member federations. Further examples of implementation notably include the IWF’s Tokyo 2020 Qualification System, which was announced last week. At the request of the IOC, and with its approval, this system provides the greatest possible opportunities to those countries with the strongest records of clean sport during the three Olympic cycles preceding each edition of the

XVI Spanish Cup

The 16th Spanish Cup will take place in Molins de Rei, Saturday, April 21 from 9.30 AM. [caption id="attachment_21931" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Spanish Weightlifting Federation[/caption] The 10 best men and 12 best women of Spain will compete to qualify for the Mediterranean Games to be held in Tarragona, from June 22 to July 1. The Cup can be followed live from the LaLiga4Sports website at the following link: https://www.laliga4sports.es/directos/halterofilia-xvi-copa-de-espana

IWF Anti-Doping Policy

The IWF Anti-Doping Policy came into force on Sunday 15 April 2018 and it was amended on 30 June 2019, as the IWF continues to implement robust anti-doping reforms to protect clean athletes by improving its systems in place. The new policy has been developed based on the 2015 World Anti-Doping Code and the expert recommendations of the IWF Clean Sports Commission, to ensure the IWF demonstrates international best practice. Among the key amendments to the anti-doping policy is a greater responsibility placed on Member Federations to ensure clean sport within their countries. Under the policy, Member Federations must ensure athletes and Athlete Support Personnel agree to be bound by the IWF’s Anti-Doping Rules. Repeated failure of athletes or their support staff to comply with the IWF’s anti-doping rules could lead to sanctions being imposed on the Member Federation, in addition to sanctions on the athletes and staff themselves. Member Federations must also provide the IWF with notifications and decisions related to all Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) committed at national level. Member Federations are obligated to provide the IWF with a full list of the Athlete Support Personnel affiliated to athletes within their National Team. In addition, they must provide a signed statement from each of these support personnel and ensure none of them are serving a period of ineligibility or subject criminal/disciplinary proceedings. IWF President Tamas Ajan said: “The new IWF Anti-Doping Policy is a critical step forward in our commitment to ensuring weightlifting is a clean sport now and in the future. It will govern how we implement our anti-doping measures at international and national level and ensure that we are aligned with the very latest industry best practice. “The new policy makes it clear what we expect of our Member Federations. Clean sport must start at national level and the IWF will work closely with all our Member Federations to make sure they fulfil their responsibility to protect and promote clean lifters.” The Independent Member Federations Sanctions Panel (IMFSP), appointed by the IWF Executive Board, will have the sole direction to impose sanctions on Member Federations, in line with Anti-Doping Policy. The IWF Anti-Doping Policy can be found in full on the IWF website. Follow IWF: Facebook Instagram Twitter