News

South American lifters being serious rivals at the Youth World Championships

Men’s 62kg Bodyweight Category South American lifters are showing strong determination to overtake the victory from the Asian athletes. YUAN Chengfei (CHN) took advantage over the other competitors in the Snatch winning the Gold Medal, however it wasn’t enough to beat the Colombian winner. MOSQUERA Luis (COL) performed well in the Clean and Jerk leaving no chances for the others to catch him up. Silver Medallist in the Snatch, Gold in the Clean and Jerk and in the Total, the Colombian athlete preceded MUNOZ Jonathan (MEX) who lifted a Total of 265kg. Women’s 48kg Bodyweight Category No change in the medal share and no big surprises in the Women’s 48kg. Columbia doubled the number of its victories. After the 62kg Men’s, HINESTROZA Yiliana (COL) won the three Gold Medals. With a Total of 163kg, she was the uncontested winner of the category. The Venezuelan lifter MARIA Sierra ended the competition with 155kg and 3 Silver Medals. ZHANG Chunhua (CHN) lifted only 3kg less and won the 3 Bronze Medals. Women’s 53kg Bodyweight Category The last lift decided it all. Nothing was certain until the last Clean and Jerk attempt for the Mexican, Colombian and Romanian athletes. With six good lifts, DURAN Ana (MEX) stood up on the first place of the podium winning a Silver in the Snatch, Gold in the Clean and Jerk and in the Total. Her last attempt of 102kg in the Clean and Jerk gave her the so coveted victory. The Colombian ALVAREZ Yenny won the Gold Medal in the Snatch, Silver in the Clean and Jerk and in the Total with only 1kk less than the Mexican competitor (178kg) . PRICOP Laura Ionela (ROU) wanted to secure her third place and lifted a Total of 171kg. Bronze Medallist in the Clean and Jerk and in the Total, she outstripped other great lifters in the bodyweight category to win the medal. The Chinese lifter LI Yan couldn’t control perfectly the weight and missed the podium due to an unsuccessful last attempt. However, she managed to grab the Bronze Medal in the

Polish Olympic Medallists received Polish State and Polish Olympic Committee award

Since 1972 Munich, the London 2012 Olympic Games can be considered as the most successful Olympics for Polish weightlifting. In the ExCeL Arena, venue of the Games, Adrian Zielinski won the Gold Medal in the 85kg bodyweight category and Bartlomiej Bonk won the Bronze in the 105kg bodyweight category. After their return from London, the Polish Olympic medalists were acknowledged and celebrated by their Nation. In a ceremony held at the Warsaw National Stadium by the Minister of Sport and Tourism Mrs. Joanna Mucha, the two athletes were received by the President Bronislaw Komorowski and the Prime Minister Donald Tusk. On 17 September an Olympic Gala took place at the headquarters of the Polish Olympic Committee, where Adrian Zielinski received prize money of 30,000 Euro and his coach Jerzy Sliwinski 15,000 Euro. The winner of the Bronze Medal, Bartlomiej Bonk received 15,000 Euro, and his coach Miroslaw Choroś 7,500 Euro. After this great triumph for our sport in London, our mind is already set to the 2013 IWF World Championships to be held in Warsaw, Poland. Jacek Korczak-Mleczko Press Officer Polish Weightlifting Federation Photos by Jan

First day for the Youth weightlifters

Youth started with zest and strength at the 2012 IWF Youth World Championships in Kosice, Slovakia. The 13-17 year old young athletes are eager to win medals and show their capabilities to one day compete at senior events. Looking at their techniques and innate qualities, some of them already have the makings of great champions. Men’s 50kg bodyweight category YANG Yixiong (CHN) won it all. He dominated the field with his technique and precision and won the Gold in the Snatch, Clean and Jerk and in the Total with 204kg. Second place in the Clean and Jerk and in the Total went to the Romanian lifter MANEA Robert Stefan (ROU) who ended the competition with 9kg less than the Gold Medallist YANG. The Uzbek lifter ASLANOV Ruzimurod stood up on the third place of the podium in the Total with 194kg and won a Silver Medal in the Snatch as well as a Bronze Medal in the Clean. IARKIN Viacheslav (RUS) won a Bronze in the Snatch and ended the competition at the 4th place in the Total. Women’s 44kg Bodyweight category Women lifters’ first category was balanced and highly competitive. MAO Xiangmei (CHN) won a Bronze Medal in the Snatch, Gold in the Total, however she only won by bodyweight. The Romanian lifter CSENGERI Monica Suneta lifted exactly the same: 139kg in the Total. She managed to grab the Gold in the Snatch, Silver in the Clean and Jerk and in the Total. TARAFDAR Chandrika (IND) Bronze Medallist in the Clean and Jerk and in the Total lifted 10kg less than gold and silver medalists. KOHA Rebeka (LAT) was a great surprise in the competition showing an impressive control of the barbell on the platform. She ended with a Silver in the Snatch. Men’s 56kg bodyweight category JIANG Hao (CHN) Gold Medallist in the Snatch, Clean and Jerk and in the Total showed impressive strength. He lifted a total of 260kg dominating the field. Winning 3 Silver Medals SCARANTINO Mirco (ITA) lifted 28kg less than JIANG but still 11kg more than the Bronze Medal Medal winner Turkish lifter MAZLUM Ferhat. The first medal ever for Peru at an IWF Event was won by ROJAS CONCHA Marco who took the Bronze in the Clean and

IWF gives recognition to Great Finnish Weightlifting Champion, Jaakko Kailajärvi

Kailajärvi, a Grand Master in Weightlifting has an unparalleled record of attending 10 Olympic Games from 1964 to 2004, first as an athlete, later as a national team coach. A medallist at World and European Championships, he is also a double world record owner. On 1st of July 2012, he celebrated a wonderful double anniversary: he turned 71 years old and it was exactly 50 years ago that – after several Junior world records - Kailajärvi set the first senior world record in his Club, the Tampere Pyrintö Club, which is now proudly celebrating its 50th year of existence. In recognition of his invaluable services, the IWF conferred the IWF Award of Merit presented by IWF President Dr. Tamas Ajan and General Secretary Ma Wenguang to Mr.

Executive Board Meeting in Kosice, Slovakia

The IWF Executive Board concluded its two days meeting in Kosice, Slovakia prior to the 2012 IWF Youth World Championships. Discussing the proposals for the modification of the IWF Constitution, Technical Rules and By-Laws, the IWF Executive Board studied thorough all documents received and will make recommendations for the IWF Congress to be held in December in Baku, Azerbaijan. A full and inclusive report on the London 2012 Olympic Games was presented to the Board including facts and figures, challenges faced, sport equipment, competition, spectators and media coverage. The overall weightlifting experience at the London 2012 Olympic Games was satisfactory and successful for all participants. At its meeting in Kosice, Slovakia, the IWF Executive Board amended its Anti-Doping Policy and decided to apply a sanction of two years for a first violation. The decision takes immediate effect. This is a change from the 4-year ban the IWF applied previously within its Anti-Doping Policy. Having 3 positive doping cases within this calendar year, the Afghanistan and Albanian Federations were sanctioned to a fine of 50.000 USD. The Executive Board received detailed information with regard to the financial reserves strategy of the IWF and a proposition on the investment policy. The city to host the IWF Electoral Congress 2013 was selected. The IWF Executive Board allocated the event to the city of Moscow, Russia. The Congress is expected to be held in May. This being its last meeting in this term, the Executive Board assessed its activity and noted with satisfaction an overall progress of the sport of weightlifting, its financial wealth and global development

Seminar in Kosice

In the framework of the IWF Development Program, the Slovakian Weightlifting Federation will organize an Anti-Doping and Administrative Seminar to be held on 19 September during the 2012 IWF Youth World Championships in Kosice, Slovakia. The course will start at 9:00 at the DoubleTree hotel by Hilton. The main topics are: Performance-enhancing substances in sport and exercise Medicine and science in the fight against doping in sports We await the participation of all athletes, coaches, NF representatives and delegates. We would like to ask every official and team leader to make sure that their athletes will honor the seminar by their presence! Invitation