News

IWF Medical Committee Meeting in Lausanne

The IWF Medical Committee held its extraordinary meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland on 27 March 2014. Besides 9 members, Chairman Dr. Michael Irani Anti-Doping Commission Chairman Dr. Patrick Schamasch and IWF President Dr. Tamas Ajan being present, the IOC Medical Director Dr. Richard Budgett also participated in the meeting. Major topics discussed: The IWF Medical Committee set its 3 years working plan including the elaboration of a Medical Manual. Event organizers guidelines will also include a comprehensive Anti-Doping section with well-defined requirements to be provided at IWF events. The IWF Medical Kit to be used on major events such as World Championships was introduced in order to assure a proper and professional medical treatment for athletes on competition sites. Sports specific characteristics were established to differentiate weightlifting from other sports from the medical and analytical point of view. The meeting marked the first step of a tighter cooperation between the IOC Medical and Scientific Department, the IWF Medical Committee and the IWF Anti-Doping Commission in order to further harmonize the work in this

IWF President visits the Olympic Capital

On the occasion of his visit to the Olympic Capital the city of Lausanne, Dr. Tamas Ajan, IWF President together with Attila Adamfi, IWF Director General hold several meetings with international sports organizations. They met with Kit McConnell, newly appointed IOC Sports Director. During the meeting the IWF gave information regarding the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, focusing on the actual qualification status in weightlifting. With the Rio 2016 Olympic Games getting closer, the IOC provided crucial details related to the organization and weightlifting venue construction. At its meeting with Tim Goethals, ASOIF Project Manager, the IWF President received information about the latest steps made in the development of the International Sport Information System (ISIS) Project. SportAccord Director General, Vlad Marinescu gave information on the upcoming SportAccord Convention to be held in Belek, Turkey and the parties coordinated the possibilities of a closer cooperation for the future. Matthew Curtain, Sports Director of the Commonwealth Games Federation informed the IWF about the upcoming Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Also the introduction of an athlete quota system / qualification standard for future Games and a Memorandum Of Understanding between the CGF and IWF has been

South American Games Santiago 2014

The 10th South American Games Santiago 2014 was held in Santiago of Chile from 5-18 March gathering near 4000 athletes from 42 disciplines. Weightlifting competitions were held in the “Cúpula del Parque O’Higgins” between 13 and 16 of March with the participation of 97 lifters (51 men and 46 women) coming from 12 countries (Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Panamá, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Aruba), becoming one of the disciplines that managed to overcome the threshold imposed by ODESUR of 5 countries for the realization of each category. Weightlifters showed outstanding performances, strength and talent during the 4 days event setting 2 New South American Games Records, in a spectacular venue and a joyful atmosphere heated by a generous public, great part of it watching weightlifting for the first time. Just as Brazil was the leader of the overall medal table, Colombia with 10 gold medals was the winner of weightlifting competitions, followed by Venezuela and Ecuador. Chile said present with the silver medal of the 56 Kg category. Special mention deserves the visit of the Mayor of Santiago Mrs Carolina Tohá, who shows very enthusiastic with the competition. It was also the opportunity for the Chilean Weightlifting Authorities to talk about development of sport and future projects, such as the possibility of a world championship in Chile. Source: Federación Chilena de Levantamiento de Pesas

IWF Development Program – documents available

The IWF continues supporting the National and Continental/Regional Federations in the framework of the IWF Development Program. For the fifth time, the IWF Member Federations have the possibility to improve their organisational, coaching, training, educational and anti-doping activities by filling the Application. Please click here to download the documentation package for the year 2014. We remind you that the deadline to return the completed forms is 11 April 2014. Please send the filled in documents to

Lima will host the Pan-American Youth Championships

The location of the Pan-American Youth Championships Qualification event for the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games has been changed from Chiclayo to Lima. Lima already hosted the 2007 IWF University World Championships, the 2011 IWF Youth World Championships and the 2013 IWF Junior World Championships. New location: Lima, Peru Date and competition schedule remains unchanged: 7-11 May

Kendrick J. Farris (USA) Nanjing 2014 YOG Athlete Role Model

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced the list of 37 Athlete Role Models (ARMs) who will attend the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) from 16 to 28 August in Nanjing, China. We are happy to announce that the Athlete Role Model to represent Weightlifting at the YOG is Kendrick J. Farris (USA). He participated in two Olympic Games: Beijing 2008 and London 2012, Silver Medallist at the 2013 Summer Universiade, Kendrick J. Farris was Pan-American Champion in 2010. As Athlete Role Model, he will aim to inspire, mentor and take part in activities with young athletes during a five day programme hosted by the IOC. Kendrick J. Farris will be accessible to the athletes both in the Youth Olympic Village and during a series of educational activities and workshops that will focus on areas such as skills development, how to lead healthy lifestyles, environment and social responsibility and Olympism. How do you feel as recently appointed ARM for the YOG, what does it mean to you? Kendrick J. Farris (USA): It makes me feel like what I've always set out to do which is inspire others, to love, work hard, and show people how to be themselves is spreading through the sport of weightlifting and hopefully into their lives as well. This opportunity to spend time with these young people means a great deal to me because I want them to understand what lies ahead for them on an off the platform. What will be your main target as ARM during the YOG, what do you want to achieve? Kendrick J. Farris (USA): I hope I'm able to show these young people how to train smarter, how to choose what competitions they should peak for, and most importantly how to treat others around them. What would be your most important message to the Youth athletes? Kendrick J. Farris (USA): That your energy is real and effect the atmosphere, your words are powerful and determine how you view your world, and you are in control of your