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88 Madagascar athletes to train for five months in China

88 Malagasy athletes will be sent to China for five months of training this year, Malagasy Sports Minister said in March. Eighty-eight Malagasy athletes will be sent to China for five months of training this year, Malagasy sports minister said in March. "Eighty-eight Malagasy athletes in five disciplines will be selected by Chinese experts and Malagasy technicians and will leave this year for five months of training in China," Madagascar's Minister of Sports Anicet Andriamosarisoa said during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Chinese Ambassador to Madagascar Yang Xiaorong. "These Malagasy athletes perform in swimming, athletics, ping pong, weightlifting and badminton," the Minister said. "The Chinese government sent a study mission consisting of four experts to study the needs of the Malagasy side and establish the sports cooperation program," the Minister added. Apart from swimming, athletics, ping pong, weightlifting and badminton, other disciplines will also be improved as part of this Sino-Malagasy sport cooperation program, the minister disclosed. Yang said that the two countries planned to invite Chinese sports coaches in Madagascar and to send talented Malagasy athletes to train in China and provide sports equipment. "Our goal is to help Madagascar improve the performances and conditions of training," the Chinese Ambassador said. "The implementation of this project will reinforce the existing cooperation and will support the implementation of Madagascar's national sports policy, increase the exchanges of young athletes from both countries," Yang said. The Chinese Ambassador added that this is "the most important project in recent years in the field of sports cooperation between the two countries." Source: New

82 year old weightlifter strikes gold again

Retired soldier Ng Chow Seng has won his sixth gold medal in weightlifting at the age of 82. The grandfather of six from Bukit Mertajam proved his strength at the 2017 World Masters Games in Auckland, New Zealand, in the 80-84 age category in April. He lifted 42kg in the Snatch and 52kg in the Clean and Jerk for a Total of 94kg. In second place was Horoshi Kogo, 80, from Japan, who lifted 86kg while Feliks Bionkowski, 81, of Poland finished third with 75kg. “I learned discipline from my army days. I make a plan and commit to consistent training,” he said at a press conference in Komtar with Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and state Youth and Sports Committee chairman Chong Eng. “I am a pensioner so I have plenty of time to train. I sleep before 10pm and wake up at 5am. “Then it is training from 5.30am to 9am, and another session from 4.30pm to 6.30pm. “It is not easy but much depends on our ability to withstand stress.” Ng retired as Warrant Officer II in the Armed Forces in 1984 after serving 25 years and won his first gold in the IWF World Masters Weightlifting Championship in 2011 in Limassol, Cyprus. Then he retained his title throughout 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. When he won the same competition held in Finland in 2015, he said “People think I am kind of crazy lifting weights day and night at my age. But they fail to realise that this is the sport that I truly love.” He is determined to continue competing internationally for at least two more years. “My next immediate target is a gold medal at the Asia Pacific Masters Games in Penang next year,” he said. We wish Ng all the best in pursuing his dreams and keeping his passion alive despite his old age! Source: THE STAR Online,

The two Pettersson

Only relatives in name, but they have many things in common; first of all both were called Erik Albert Petteersson. Out of the 4 Swedish Olympic Bronze medals, they won one – one at the same time and at the same place in the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games. To differentiate them somehow, the Swedish themselves decided to skip the name Erik from the Petterson born earlier on May 5, 1885 and the name Albert from the other Pettersson who was born on May 18, 1890. From the two athletes, Albert Pettersson had more success: before winning the Olympic Bronze in the 75kg bodyweight category with Total 235kg, he finished third in his category at the European Championships in 1909. Erik Petterson, whose nickname was „Stark – Pell”, alias Strong Pell, finished third in Antwerp in the 82,5 kg bodyweight category with a Total of 267,5 kg. The former athlete who was the oldest weightlifter with his age of 35 at the Olympic Games passed away in 1960. The latter athlete, died one month prior to his 85th birthday in 1975. As another common fact, they both died in Stockholm.

Successful seminars at the African Championships

During the 2017 African Senior Championships in Vacoas, Mauritius the Weightlifting Federation of Africa with the cooperation of IWF held 3 educational seminars. The Anti-Doping seminar presented by Dr. Zakia Bartagi, IWF Anti-Doping Commission member focused on the new rules, new sanctions, WADA prohibited list, Therapeutic Use Exemptions and a lot more. Dr. Dogan Atlihan, IWF Medical Committee member spoke about muscle and common injuries in weightlifting covering the different types of injuries, symptoms, and of course the treatments. The Coaching seminar held by Mr. Maged Salama examined among other topics how the main muscles work in weightlifting, how to develop them, how to strengthen the muscles. Totally more than 60 participants including coaches, athletes, administrators and technical officials of the African Continent attended the seminars and all agreed that the seminars very were interactive, useful and they could benefit a lot. The IWF is always happy to provide education to those who wish to

In conversation with Amna Al Haddad, who have been making UAE proud

What started out as a solution to get fit transformed into a lifestyle for Amna. Her love for weightlifting shone through and earned her a spot in the recent Rio Olympics 2016 after four years of training. "When I first started my fitness journey, I was an unhappy person. I wanted to make a change. I was like, Amna you can do much more than this, you can be better than this, and that's when things changed for me." - Amna Al Haddad "I did not grow up with the concept of sports in my life. I've had very little role models to look up to," she says. "So being a weightlifter was a very unusual route for people in our country or in our region." Al Haddad became interested in sports in her late teens. She decided to make a change in her life, and that included eating properly and working out. As a weightlifter for the UAE, Amna Al Haddad worked to break down barriers for women in sport. Al Haddad laughs when asked if she had a lot of support in her newfound love for sport. She says weightlifting is often presumed to be a sport for men, and as a Muslim woman, her decision to participate resulted in accusations that she was not being modest. While she was not fully supported in her foray into weightlifting, Al Haddad says there was a small group of people who believed in her and understood the broader implications of her sporting career. "The path that I took, it was bigger than myself as an athlete, but it was one that was going to change the world," she says. "Being covered and competing was like some sort of dream." She says her critics have a lack of understanding about the positive effect sports can have on a person's physical and mental health. "I think it's all a misconception or lack of awareness, and lack of education about what sports actually does for a person, and how it can actually have them develop their sense of confidence, self-esteem and physical health," explains Al Haddad. She says weightlifting is a very empowering sport and that it helped her through a dark period in her life. Al Haddad spent four years competing as a weightlifter with the UAE team. In that time, she won six world gold medals. "It was something that was not very common. And it got a lot of traction because, 'Oh, she's a woman, she's covered, she's Muslim, she's doing weights'," she says. "Everyone was just like, 'Whoa!'" After breaking down barriers for Muslim women and women everywhere, Al Haddad has now retired from sports. But she hopes she has paved the way for more women to follow their dreams. "It was an interesting time to show the world that ... you could be someone who holds onto your faith and still pursue your passions." Source:

Rio Olympic medalist starts building gymnasium in Zambo

HIDILYN DIAZ, the Philippines latest silver medalist in the Olympics, is giving back to the community. She has allocated PHP 5 million for the construction of a weightlifting gymnasium in Zambo. The groundbreaking of the project was held in Barangay Mampang, where Hidilyn hails. Allen Jayfrus Diaz, a weightlifting coach and a cousin of the Olympic medalist, said the construction of the gymnasium was expected to be completed in August this year. She helps out the kids in learning the sport and makes some sort of a payback to the town that helped turn her life around. “That’s my main goal - to help out the kids in our hometown and realize their dream in weightlifting. This sport could change their lives and hopefully, they could become just like me in the future. I want them to surpass what I have achieved, probably win our first ever Olympic gold,” said Diaz, who ended the country’s 20-year medal drought in her latest feat. “Every time I go home in Zamboanga, I made it a point to teach the kids the fundamentals of weightlifting. Whenever I’m in Manila, we communicated thru group chat in Facebook the things they need to improve on,” added Diaz. Hidilyn will go home in August to lead the inauguration of the gymnasium. She is currently preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Source: Philippine News Agency, BusinessWorld Online