News

Weightlifting Champion – President of the Republic of Nauru

With the recent resignation of His Excellency Marcus Stephen as President of the Republic of Nauru, a new President has been elected. The new President His Excellency Sprent Dabwido is also a former weightlifter. National champion in 1995 and 1996, he won a silver medal at the 1995 Samoa Games and competed for Nauru at the 1995 World Championships in China in the super heavyweight category. Congratulations to the newly elected

Behdad Salimikordasiabi is Iran’s best athlete for 2011

About 400 Iranian sport journalists took part in poll, naming best male and best female athletes of the year 2011. As the result, leader of this 2011 best male poll was Behdad Salimikordasiabi the gold medallist in the Men's +105kg bodyweight category at the 2011 IWF World Championships Paris, France with 86% of the votes. By Sayed Abdolhamid

Season’s Greetings!

Please note that due to the holidays the IWF office will be closed from 23 December 2011 until 2 January 2012. On the occasion of the Festive Season, the IWF Secretariat wishes you all a Happy and Prosperous New

Anti-Doping results of the 2011 World Championships

The 2011 IWF World Championships Paris, France doping control analysis results are available. Over thirty percent of the competing athletes were tested at this qualification event, and there are 8 positive cases currently in process under the IWF Anti-Doping Policy. Out of the 8 cases, there are 4 that involve anabolic steroids, and 4 that involve stimulants. As soon as the Anti-Doping Rule violation(s) are confirmed, the IWF will publish the names and nationality of the concerned athletes. Based on the above, the Results and the Qualification Team Classification are not

Happy New Year 2012

Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and Colleagues, It is my honor and pleasure to greet all the members of the Weightlifting Family, partner organizations and anybody interested in international weightlifting on the occasion of the New Year. I would like to pay special attention to our outstanding partners: the IOC, SportAccord, the International Sport Federations and the National Olympic Committees. In the objective of the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games - being a tremendous milestone to every International Federation and the above mentioned organizations – the importance of a harmonized work and cooperation must be established and accomplished. We aim to become an efficient link between all members of the Weightlifting Family providing the latest news and highlights of our sport. On behalf of the International Weightlifting Federation, I have the honor to present you our new website. Within our constant efforts to improve communication, we are following world trends to fully inform our National Federations, athletes, members and partner organizations about important events through a permanent exchange of information. Using the latest tools of modern information technology, we further improve the transparency of our functioning and activity. In the aim of delivering the best to the weightlifting family, we created the IWF bi-weekly newsletter SPO(r)TLIGHT in three languages, our Facebook and Twitter Fan Page and a YouTube channel completed today with a brand new and useful website. To best meet the expectations of the Weightlifting Family, I believe that we must continue our efficient work in hand-in-hand in friendship and unity to promote our history and values to a broad audience worldwide. Dr. Tamas Ajan IWF President IOC Honorary

Dr. Tamas Ajan’s evaluation on the President’s Cup

The creation of the President's Cup is a great initiative. After more than twenty years of silence, the Russian Weightlifting Federation gave life signal. As far as I am concerned, I always make a distinction between countries that have a culture of weightlifting and those who have registered weightlifters. Here in Russia there is a strong tradition and a real culture of this sport. The Russian Weightlifting Federation's leadership wants to breathe life back into Russian weightlifting and host high international level competitions such as the Friendship Cup used to be in the past. The President's Cup proved the Russian weightlifters didn't stop their training after the 2011 IWF World Weightlifting Championships Paris, France and as a consequence; five fantastic world records were achieved. Of course the significant prize money had a great influence on athletes' motivation. The organization was fantastic, with a lot of new theatrical elements and effective innovations. The spectacle was truly amazing, thanks to a rich budget. High-quality music, dance, characterized these two days, combined with super lighting effects and visual solutions. We enjoyed here in friendly Belgorod's Khorkina Sport Complex a well organized competition and I am glad to know that the series will continue. Our sport needs to show these programs more often to the world. Next year, St. Petersburg will host the President's Cup, and the level will be certainly even higher. The 2012 calendar is full of very exciting competitions, and we will do out best to find the right date for this unique